Strengthening the waste collection and processing circuit in Foumban

Created in 2010 as an association under the French law of 1901, the Jouy-en-Josas Twinning Committee manages relations with four twin or partner communities. These include the town of Foumban, in north-west Cameroon, where a program to improve coffee-growing techniques has already been set up.

The new project developed by the Twinning Committee for this town in the Noun province concerns waste management. In 2021, an estimated 70 tonnes of waste will be produced every day by Foumban's 200,000 inhabitants. Only 40% was collected and transported to an (uncontrolled) landfill site on the outskirts of the town. The remaining 60% was dumped or burnt on site, with serious consequences for the environment (surface water pollution, air pollution), health and, more broadly, the living conditions of the population.

The first phase of the project, which ran from February 2023 to January 2024, set up a system of paid pre-collection of waste in five test districts in the town of Foumban. Phase 2 will involve extending the collection service to seven new districts, implementing the sorting and recovery of organic waste, and upgrading the existing landfill to make it permanently accessible and controlled.

Functional equipment and suitable machinery will be handed over to the management department so that the pre-collection service, set up in the first five districts, can be strengthened and extended to seven new districts. The Montpellier-based association Experts Solidaires will act as prime contractor for this project, which is supported by the Veolia Foundation.