Republic of Mauritius- Minister Ramano encourages the population to produce and use organic compost

In his address, the Minister highlighted that the promotion of effective waste management, recycling and waste sorting are at the cornerstone of his Ministry’s agenda. In our objective to move towards a circular economy, sustainable waste management will be called upon to play a pivotal role, he stated.

Mr. Kavydass Ramano underlined that the beneficiaries of the initiative will act as agents of change to promote a cleaner, greener and more inclusive Mauritius. The compost produced could be used as fertilizer in gardens, thus reducing the use of chemical fertilizers.

He underpinned the core objective of the initiative which is to educate and raise awareness on the importance of producing compost and its uses. It aims at improving the lifestyle of Mauritians by encouraging them to change their behaviour and adopt responsible attitudes towards the production and disposal of waste and encourage household waste sorting, the production of household compost and the use of organic fertilizers for gardening, he added.

 In addition, the Minister indicated that the project aims at reducing the amount of landfilled waste. Rethinking waste management, he said, is crucial at this point, as some 540 000 tons of waste are collected each year in the country and the Mare Chicose Sanitary Landfill has reached a saturation point.

Furthermore, Minister Ramano spoke on the benefits of establishing a circular economy as an alternative to the traditional linear economy, namely the continual use of resources and utilising materials at their highest utility and value at all times.

He also indicated that the elaboration of the National Environmental Strategy for 2020- 2030 is in its final phase and will help the country to scale up efforts to address environmental challenges and implement actions for a sustainable environment.

The Minister emphasised that protecting and preserving the environment are fundamental human values that need to be upheld by everyone and inculcated to the next generations.

Key measures that Budget 2020-2021 makes provision for , namely:  Eco-bins will be made available at strategic places across the island for the collection of plastic wastes; the setting up a network of Civic Amenity Centres at the 5 Transfer Stations; encouraging segregation of waste at source and Local Authorities will carry out composting of market waste.