Collect and recycle waste to integrate populations in difficulty

Since its creation in 2010, the Burkinabé Association for Flushing and Cleaning (AB Curnet) works in favour of young girls and women suffering from AIDS. Based in sector 38 of the 9th district of Ouagadougou, it has set itself the target of reintegrating this population in situations of poverty.

Sylvain d'Almeida, its founder, worked for many years in Veolia’s Environmental Services. With the help of his expertise and a network of former colleagues, he set up a project for the collection and agricultural recycling of organic waste in Ouagadougou. He also received a grant from the PS-Eau programme to carry out a feasibility study, before implementing his project, supported from the outset by the Veolia Foundation.

From collection to recycling

Led by AB Curnet, the project consists of having the waste collected by the young girls and women from the collective. The idea is also to promote environmental eco-citizenship, namely to make the population aware that these collective services come at a price. In fact, the collection of waste from residents of this district is charged at a pre-established price.

The association members also wish to set up a market gardening perimeter. A.B. Curnet’s goal is in fact to transform human and animal excreta, as well as vegetable waste, into different varieties of composts. These are obtained by mixing the product from the collections with organic waste and faecal sludge provided by the Burkinabé Office for Water and Sanitation. Production of the finished (odourless) products is estimated at 50 tonnes per year. They can have different uses, especially in private gardens, green spaces and agricultural plots.

A well‑advanced project

The association owns three hectares of land on the outskirts of Ouagadougou and has built the necessary infrastructure to carry out its project: office, sorting shed, composting ponds, wastewater storage ponds and waste storage area. Some of the equipment was purchased in 2012 with the help of the Veolia Foundation, in particular a collection truck. Women have been chosen to collect sanitation waste using carts and wheelbarrows.

The next step is to start composting. On account of its good local presence, AB Curnet was offered the opportunity to recycle wastewater and pasty sludge from the stations of the Burkina Faso national office for water and sanitation (Office national de l’eau et de l’assainissement - Onea). The first authorizations were obtained at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017: the operation of a composting platform in Pabré, a rural municipality of Ouagadougou, is now possible. While waste collection has already been in operation for several years, the launch of composting activities started in 2017. The Veolia foundation then once again supports the association in this new ambition with the purchase of a cleaning truck which allows the transport of the recycled sludge from Onea, and the equipment of the production site. Over three hectares, the platform brings together a waste storage area, composting basins, a wastewater storage basin and a sorting shed.

A long-term programme made possible by the involvement of the association and the unwavering support of the Veolia Foundation.