02 Sep 2023

 The Pulp and Paper firm, launched on Friday, fulfills in part government’s firm commitment to developing a strong waste recycling industry as a means to protect the environment and create sustainable employment.

Officially opening the paper recycling and manufacturing plant in Mogoditshane, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said projects of this magnitude were aligned to the Reset Agenda as well as National Vision 2036 and Sustainable Development Goals.

It was for this reason, he said, government approved the integrated Waste Management Policy of 2021 which sought to empower communities to derive value out of waste to sustain livelihoods.

He said the policy further sought to promote value chain development in the waste sector that would unlock job opportunities and nurture the growth of Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMME).

“I implore Batswana to adopt a mindset change that embraces waste as a profitable resource, and see opportunities in waste management,” he said in reference to the company’s mandate of collecting all types of wastepaper for recycling and manufacturing of paper products.

While the company is anticipated to bring back the much needed jobs previously exported to neighbouring countries, the President revealed that research had shown that the global waste management market was valued at US$383 billion in 2020 and expected to register a growth rate of 5 per cent between 2021 and 2026.

He said this was a clear demonstration that great opportunity existed for citizens to unlock more value from the waste management industry.

The President expressed concern that waste recovery and recycling initiatives in Botswana were still at infancy stage and currently dominated by companies that mainly collected and export to neighbouring countries.

“These companies also collect both recyclable waste and non-recyclable waste at landfills because at the moment there are no waste reclamation centres,” he said.

In addition, he pointed out that it was worrisome that households, commercial and industrial centres were far behind in appreciating, understanding and upholding the practice of separating waste at source before taking it to waste reclamation centres.

Consequently, he noted, due to the absence of a strong culture of waste separation, much of the recyclable waste gets thrown about in open spaces, resulting in environmental degradation.

The board chairperson of Strides of Success company which owns the recycling plant Mr Ramachandran Ottapathu said the idea of establishing a recycling plant was conceived in 2013 and P200 million was spent to set up in the first phase.

He said the company created 200 direct jobs and the facility was anticipated to create over 250 indirect jobs.

He also said the facility was the first paper project in the country funded by Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) financiers from South Africa. In the second phase, he said the company would spend about P60 million and anticipates creating 50 more jobs while in the third phase, they would spend about US$30 million (about P404.9million)and export some of their products.

He thanked government and other entities such as BITC, Botswana Power Corporation, Water Utilities and other government departments for making the dream a reality.

The company would in the foreseeable future purchase solid paper waste from the community to help them generate income. Ends