EMA has engaged a local sawdust company, Harbour Traders, and a local sawdust stove indigenous inventor, Godfrey Mudariki, to help in the initiative. The development comes after Environmental Africa Country Director, Banarbas Mawire, warned that the City of Mutare was sitting on a ticking inferno break out due to the ever increasing presence of dumped sawdust.
Industries such as Mutare Border Timbers and indigenous timber traders situated at Green Market are reportedly dumping sawdust on designated sites.
EMA Provincial Manager, Kingstones Chitotombe, said they had moved in after realising the danger posed by sawdust to the environment.
“Sawdust now constitutes 50 percent of waste in Mutare. This is because the province produces 80 percent of the country’s timber. This has led to the overwhelming presence of sawdust dumps in the industrial area. Sawdust poses a great risk to the environment and infrastructure as it can burn for almost a year once set on fire,” said Chitotombe.
Harbour Traders Manager, Jack Faranera, said they ventured into the sawdust briquette business in November last year after receiving a $22,000 capital injection from a private partner.
Faranera said they used an Agico biomass briquette maker machine to produce the sawdust blocks, which can be used as firewood. He said the machine has a capacity to manufacture 400 briquettes an hour.
“We have engaged EMA to reduce the environmental threat posed by the ever increasing dumping of sawdust. We collect all the sawdust from the dumps and from industrial firms such as Border Timbers,” he said.
The briquettes are being sold for $3 for 7kgs and $0.20 cents for off cuts.
Post published in: News