Caring For Our Environment And Empowering One Another
Our Slogan: Together, We can, and We will!
Our Three Pillars
- People
- Environment and,
- Waste Management / Recycling
People: To ensure a safe and healthy environment, inclusive participation of the public is necessary. We stand to empower people to be inclusive, starting from the youth (students).
Environment: The deterioration of the environment is our prime motivation for establishing
this umbrella. Ensuring a healthy environment is our goal.
Waste Management/Recycling: By ensuring sound environmental practices, including the
proper management and recycling of waste, we can boost our resource recovery, protection of
human health and a sustainable environment/economy.
Key Problems of Waste Management in Cameroon and other developing Countries.
1. Absence of Waste Segregation
In Cameroon, wastes are mixed and dumped without any segregation or separation. Waste is often mixed and dumped in the environment, causing littering, pollution and environmental degradation. The waste collected is dumped in landfills and burned in the open. Individuals also burn wastes around human settlements, which cause a lot of pollution and health concerns, plastic wastes in particular.
2. Poor Waste Collection and Recycling
A significant contractor, HYSACAM (a French acronym meaning hygiene and health in Cameroon), is mainly responsible for waste collection and disposal in landfills and other intermediate private company initiatives. To achieve an emerging economy, Cameroon has revealed its goal to reduce greenhouse gases by 32% by 2035 (Global Recycling; Cameroon Vision 2035). The weak regulatory framework on municipal waste management ensures that HYSACAM is mainly responsible for waste collection and disposal in landfills. Most HYSACAM points are along the main streets, but the interior parts are left without collection.
3. Unaware Population
The population of Cameroon are unaware of the appropriate ways of maintaining a clean and healthy environment. They often practice open burning, including the burning of plastics around neighborhoods, which are toxic to the inhabitants. It is a “normal” practice by most people. Others include littering of waste, including food waste, around their immediate surroundings, resulting in bad odor, pollution, and health concerns such as cholera.