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Recycling
Landfills in The Gambia - and by extension in most low-income countries - can be regarded as an ecological disaster. Surrounded by toxic wafts of smoke and a stench, people in the landfills separate usable materials from combustible ones.
There are no incinerators and few opportunities to recycle and reuse the waste from imported goods. Local governments lack resources to guarantee efficient waste collection policies. The upshot is chemical pollution on a vast scale in landfills and burning in urban areas, creating even more unhealthy air.
Women Initiative The Gambia (WIG) was founded by Isatou Ceesay and is dedicated to training women who process waste on a small scale in order to increase their incomes. For instance, WIG has developed a way of making cooking briquettes from coconut shells and peanut shells. This is an environmentally-friendly alternative to charcoal. Charcoal is the most commonly used energy source for cooking, but makes a harmful contribution to deforestation.
In 2020, the Ostend-Banjul city link received a European project grant which was used for, among other things, the purchase of two waste collection trucks and 5700 waste containers. This will enable Banjul City Council (BCC) to develop a more effective waste collection policy.
