CONGO: Cleared of waste, Pointe-Noire beach regains its appeal

In the Congo, sanitation is everyone’s business. The members of Lions Club International proved this again recently when they carried out a clean-up operation on the beach in Pointe-Noire, the second largest city in the Congo. The initiative resulted in the collection of 2.6 tonnes of waste, mainly plastic bags and objects.

The team, supported by Congolese civil society, worked with equipment (grabbers, bin bags and rubbish bins) supplied by the Lebanese company Averda, which provides waste management services in Morocco, South Africa and the Congo. “Our aim is to help build a sustainable and clean future for generations to come,” says Lions Club International.

In this Central African country, every effort is being made, or is increasingly being made, to combine sanitation and the circular economy. In Nkayi, in the Bouenza department, the European Union (EU) is providing 21 billion CFA francs (32 million euros) to finance the installation of a waste recycling unit. The household waste and other detritus generated by the 120,000 inhabitants will be used to make paving stones that will be installed on the city’s arteries to improve the living environment and create jobs.

Some Congolese people are not waiting for administrative measures and are investing in waste recycling themselves. This is the case of the members of the Recy Plast association based in the Kombé district, on the outskirts of the capital Brazzaville. They give a second life to plastic and glass waste by transforming it after recovery. The paving stones produced are used for a variety of landscaping projects, and are sold for 5,000 CFA francs (over €7) per m2.