Piles of waste are a common sight in some neighborhoods of Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s Northwest region.
BAMENDA, CAMEROON – Constance Gubong Tangu, 56, was tired of seeing plastic waste clog the streets and streams of Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s Northwest region. So in 2010, Tangu, a teacher and craftswoman, became an environmental entrepreneur when she decided to transform the city’s waste into jewelry.
Waste management is a serious problem in Bamenda, Tangu says. Households and businesses produce enormous amounts of waste, then burn it in public or throw it into backyards and streams.
“Waste management, especially management of plastic waste, is a big problem because of the adverse effects of plastic wastes on our health and on environment,” she says. “But I considered the problem and thought of what contribution I can make towards a sustainable solution.”
So she and four friends started the New Era Foundation in 2010. The organization oversees several environmental projects in Bamenda and trains women to produce jewelry from recycled paper and plastic.
Many communities in Cameroon struggle with waste management, especially in cities like Bamenda. Tangu and other groups of women in the city have taken matters into their own hands through their creative reuse of plastic waste.
“Producing jewelry and other articles from paper and plastic waste is our own contribution to taking care of our environment,” says Tangu, the coordinator of New Era Foundation. “The waste in town is too much.”
Through their arts and crafts workshops and training programs, they are turning the waste into wealth while empowering local women economically, she says.
The large output of trash overwhelms the city’s resources, says Julie Chambi, the garbage management official on the Bamenda City Council.
“For now, there is more waste generated in Bamenda than the city council can effectively collect and dispose of,” she says. “We don’t yet have enough authorized dumping sites, and most households are located off the main streets that are inaccessible to our garbage collection vans.”
This creates environmental pollution and health hazards, Tangu says.
“Some of the waste is disposed of by the city council,” she says. “But most of it is burnt or thrown in backyards and streams.”
The plastic waste that accumulates around Bamenda collects water and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitos that spread malaria, she says.
So Tangu and the trainees at the New Era Foundation visit hair salons, offices and garbage dumps to collect their materials, she says.
First, they clean and dry the waste. Then, they cut, roll and process the paper and plastic into place mats, jewelry, bags and other accessories.
Not only does the initiative benefit the environment, but it also empowers local women, she says.
“At the center, we train women and girls for free on how to clean the environment and also how to create wealth from waste,” she says. “None of the trainees pay a dime for the training. Each lady who produces an article has her name labeled on it, and she gets a percentage from the sales.”
Some of the trainees earn up to 25,000 Central African francs ($50) weekly by selling their work, Tangu says. This makes up nearly 20 percent of their income.
Her center has trained 12 women since it opened in 2010, she says. The women take at least three months to complete the training. Afterward, many establish their own jewelry and crafts shops in Bamenda. Rosina Langwa is the founder of Women Initiative of Natural Innovation, another local organization that teaches women to create art from plastic waste.
She had the idea to recycle plastic into jewelry more than 19 years ago, she says. Now, her three children and several neighbors all help her transform waste into beauty.
As women, they have a special responsibility to their environment and their town, she says.
“Women use plastics the most,” she says. “Go to the markets, and you’ll see that many petty traders are women. Women are the ones who shop for households. They are responsible for cleaning the homes and disposing of wastes. Women, too, should be part of the solution to plastic waste problem.”
Like Tangu, she sells her work from her craft workshop. Shops in Bamenda that cater to tourists and locals also sell her jewelry and accessories.
Her work may originate with Bamenda’s plastic waste, but it has ended up garnering regional and national attention.
“I am proud to say governors, and even some ministers, have bought our products from recycled paper and plastic wastes,” she says.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Northwest regional delegation of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation awarded her for innovation in environmentally friendly technology, she says.
“I have been doing this for many years,” she says, “but people are getting more interested in it now that even the government recognizes what we are doing. More women want to be trained in the domain.”
The women’s initiatives to recycle paper and plastic waste are laudable, Chambi says.
Still, to fully address plastic waste management, the government must establish and enforce a national policy that regulates the importation and use of plastics, she says. Currently, local governments’ policies differ in their legislation.
The women’s initiatives are good, says Victor Fosah, an environmentalist with the Cameroonian conservation group Environmental Education, Conservation and Research, in a telephone interview. But the women can recycle only a small amount of garbage, and a lot of plastic waste still winds up in streams, on the streets or in fires.
A more sustainable solution to plastic waste management is for the government to require the entire community to use plastics that are biodegradable or to restrict the use of plastics, he says.
The national government of Cameroon is taking steps to reduce the country’s use of plastic. In October 2012, Pierre Hele, the minister of the environment, protection of nature and sustainable development, signed a decree that outlawed the manufacture, importation or sale of certain types of nonbiodegradable plastic.
The law will go into effect 18 months from the date of the signature, says Tansi Laban Bambo, regional delegate of the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development for the Northwest.
Langwa says she is aware that the national government is restricting plastic waste. But she is not worried about how it will affect her work.
“We’re trying to solve a problem, and a business opportunity has emerged from this,” she says. “A ban will not limit us! At my organization, we continue to innovate and make use of even fruit seeds and kola nuts to produce beautiful art.”
Ever an entrepreneur, Langwa says she is already thinking of new ways to expand her efforts to combat plastic waste pollution in Bamenda.
