In Senegal, a new project aims to provide all councils with fixed and permanent solid waste collection points. The project, called the "brigade de proximité de la propreté" (Bipro), was launched on 14 February 2023 by the National Integrated Waste Management Company (SONAGED).
Just a few months after its creation, the National Integrated Waste Management Company(SONAGED) has set itself the challenge of providing all 172 councils in Senegal with permanent solid waste collection points. The sanitation project was announced on 14 February 2023 by the managers of the public company.
First, the project, called “the proximity cleanliness brigade” (Bipro), will be deployed in ten divisional councils of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. In these municipalities, SONAGED will deploy 140 young people, 10 tricycles and 10 motorbike scooters to transport the collected waste to storage points.
Reducing pollution in Senegal
“The objective is to have a permanent system in the neighbourhoods to solve the cleaning problems. This fixed system will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This will allow us to anticipate problems at the Sonaged call centre so that we can trigger interventions,” explains Mass Thiam, the general manager of Sonaged. The project will also help reduce waste pollution in Senegal. According to the Senegalese government, the country produces 200,000 tonnes of solid waste per year, of which only 9,000 tonnes are recycled.
After the first 10 councils in Dakar, which will serve as pilot councils for the Bipro project, the initiative will continue in Senegal. This project is part of the government’s policy to achieve “zero waste Senegal”. It is a change of approach, which rethinks the waste collection system in order to allow, on the one hand, the recycling of components (plastic, glass, paper, etc.) and, on the other hand, the industrial destruction of materials deemed toxic, dangerous, or harmful to public health and the environment. But the West African country is still far from achieving this, given that several laws on waste management have not yet been implemented, notably the 2020 law banning single-use plastics of less than 30 microns (cups, cutlery, bags).
Inès Magoum
