Abia government plans to build waste recycling plant in Aba

ABIA State Government has promised to build a multi-million Naira wastes recycling plant in Aba, the commercial city of the state to take care of the high quantum of refuse being generated from the city daily.

It is believed that more than 750, 000 tons of waste is generated daily in Aba.
According to the Deputy General Manager of Abia Environmental Protection Agency in charge of Aba zone, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu who announced this, the Government was still consulting with interested investors on the project.

Ikpeazu attributed the high rate of wastes generation in the commercial city to the numerous markets within the city.
“The waste is on the increase because markets spring up in Aba almost on weekly basis”, Ikpeazu said.

According to him, apart from domestic cooking gas and organic manure, the wastes from Aba could be recycled into other economic use.
He said that his agency would introduce the use of three refuse bins to properly sort out refuse at primary sources to enhance the project.

”We intend to have a green waste bin for bio-degradable waste like vegetable, fruits, pilings of corns etc, another one will be for non-bio-degradable waste like plastics, spoons, metals, while the other bin would be those that did not fall in the two categories.
“The waste-to-wealth initiative is a multi-million naira project and Abia government cannot tackle it alone, given other competing needs, therefore, government might require the involvement of the private sector on the project’’, Ikpeazu said.
According to him, refuse pose a serious challenge in Aba which he said the Theodore Orji administration was putting a lot of effort to tackle.
He called on the residents to be active in the effort to tackle wastes in Aba. “Because markets spring up in Aba at will, it is apt for residents to play key role in addressing the problem posed by waste’’.
Ikpeazu disclosed that he would adopt a neighborhood approach initiative, whereby the residents would be engaged in an effort to keep Aba town clean.