Don't waste it

Improved economic livelihoods and a healthy environment through strengthening of waste management practices

Green Living Movement Eswatini (GLM) is a new partner of sahee. GLM is one of the few NGOs in Eswatini dealing with waste management. The idea for this project builds on a past project carried out by GLM in 2014-2016, funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During that project, dry toilets and a waste management systems were established in the Lobamba region. Two recycling centers were built. The aim was to collect glass, plastic, paper, cans and cardboard and process them into decorative items and jewelry. The center in Khula is still functioning, the women are working on their products, but they do not yet have sufficient manual skills to make the quality of their products marketable. sahee visited the women's recycling center in 2019 and was amazed at the perseverance and commitment of the women, despite their very little earnings. The gaps and lessons learned from the previous project have been analyzed by GLM and shall be addressed within this project.
The main objective is to further strengthen waste management in the communities through the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) practices focusing on waste minimization, collection and handling of waste.
The dry waste will be collected weekly and transferred recycling stations to separate the different types of waste. Then, the separated materials in the recycling stations are transferred to particular buy-back centers.
Besides waste management, the 40 beneficiaries will be trained in the reuse of waste as a source of income (up-cycling) and as a source for local food production (composting kitchen waste for cultivating permaculture backyard gardens).
The overall aim of the project is to have local and sustainable value chains established for up-cycling products, for unprocessed waste and for kitchen waste.

Project site

Lobamba region / Mashibini and Khula communities (Map)

Beneficiaries

30 women and 10 young men benefit directly from the project. Their families and the community (through a cleaner, healthier environment) benefit indirectly.

Project costs and assistance by sahee

The entire project costs are CHF 58’000.–, whereas sahee takes over CHF 52’000.–.

sahee stays in regular contact with the project leaders, monitors the activities and visits the project once a year on site.

Duration of assistance

1st of July 2020 to 30th of June 2023

Local counterpart

Green Living Movement Eswatini (GLM)