3R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Waste: from Resource to Business Opportunity
Beira, the second largest City of Mozambique Beira with around half a million inhabitants produces more than 300 tons of waste every day but has a very precarious waste management system. A lot of the waste is dumped on a landfill or is just burned directly in the neighbourhood.
3R – Reduce Reuse Recycle, a company founded in 2014, aims to change this scenario, not just in Beira but also in other cities across Mozambique.
“3R is working to transform the waste management sector Mozambique trough services and infrastructure. We work together with national and local governments, private sector and local organizations to build the waste value chains and put in the agenda of the sector concepts like sustainability and circular economy”, says Maíra Valladares, CEO of 3R.
3R has 3 MRFs – Material Recovery Facilities in Beira, Maputo and Vilanculos and provides integrated waste management services in these municipalities, collecting, sorting and monitoring the waste from more than 40 medium and large organizations. In Beira, the company also established an ecopoint network in partnership with several local organizations.
In these secondary collection points, the citizens, especially waste pickers, can bring their recyclables and be paid per kg delivered.
“More than 1000 people brought their waste to 3R in Beira. Waste is a resource and it is a business opportunity. After we collect the material at the ecopoints, we further segregate, process and transport to recyclers in Mozambique and abroad.” said Rodolfo Assane, the ecopoint manager in Beira.
Currently, the MRF in Beira mainly processes hard plastic (HDP), PET and metal (aluminium cans). The facility has a capacity to process 30 tons/day. In the near future, the company intends to expand the types of material treated at its facilities to transform them in a one-stop shop for waste in Mozambique, treating different waste streams: organic, recyclables, biomedical, and temporary hazardous storage.
For more information, please visit 3R official web page.
