In Gabon, the German company Bomag, which specializes in soil, asphalt and waste compaction machines, is in talks with the government to set up a waste management plant in Greater Libreville, located in the Estuaire province. The company is proposing its technological solutions in response to the problem of maintaining landfills in this urban area with very high population growth.
Greater Libreville has to deal with uncontrolled landfills on a daily basis, which make life difficult for its 980,000 inhabitants, i.e. half of the Gabonese population. Faced with this situation, the German company Bomag, which specializes in waste compacting, is proposing to provide waste management in this urban area, which includes the councils of Oweno, Akanda, Ntoum and Libreville, the country’s capital.
“The aim is to guarantee better management of the safety risks associated with the emanation of toxic gases at the landfill and also to set up a system to spread out the waste in order to minimize collapses. This will optimize the waste dumping areas,” explains Bomag’s Africa sales manager Marc Werner Meir. The long-term aim of this initiative is to support public authorities in improving waste management in urban areas.
Talks are continuing between the Gabonese government and Bomag. The developer of soil, asphalt and waste compaction technologies is committed to supplying Gabon with its range of machines already sold by a network of distributors in 150 cities around the world, including Libreville.
Improving waste management in Libreville
In Gabon, difficulties in household waste management are due to the lack of adequate facilities and equipment. In this context, the public company Clean Africa, in charge of household waste collection in the Greater Libreville area, has launched a vast operation to distribute 240 to 1,000-liter garbage bins to households in the 1st and 5th districts of the capital.
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Bomag’s offer is a sign of a new lease of life for the saturated Mindoubé landfill, located 6 kilometers west of downtown Libreville. This landfill, which accumulates tons of garbage from the surrounding communes on a daily basis, releases fumes from open-air incineration activities, to the great displeasure of the people who pay the cost of air, water and soil pollution. Faced with this situation, the relocation of the landfill and the construction of a waste recycling plant are among the solutions being considered by the authorities of this Central African country.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
