The Environmental Management Agency is encouraging locals in Matabeleland South to embrace waste recycling as a business and a smart waste disposal method.

EMA Matabeleland South environmental education and publicity officer, Simon Musasiwa, said the agency has also trained a number of locals on waste recycling.

“As an agency, we have trained community members on waste recycling as a business after noting that the linear model being used by many local authorities was resulting in losses of free raw materials, so we have embarked on a training exercise for community members with an interest in waste recycling as a business,” Musasiwa said.

“So instead of simply disposing all waste at our landfills, we are encouraging people to practise waste segregation at homes so as to make it easy for recyclers to collect the waste.”

He said the agency was also disbursing loans to individuals and groups interested in the waste recycling business.

“To further incentivise the recycling initiative, as an agency, we are currently disbursing loans and grants to those groups that are already established and wish to grow their recycling business, so for one to qualify they need to be a registered community group with both their local authority and EMA,” Musasiwa added.

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