The Council’s Health Department recently held a multi-stakeholder meeting to provide feedback on the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. The multi stakeholder meeting is the product of a series of meetings, workshops and a survey conducted last year by the department in collaboration with GIZ and cooperating partners like EMA, Residents’ Associations, members of the business community and several partners. The coterie of meetings, workshops and surveys resulted in the formulation of theTown’s first Integrated Solid Waste  Management Plan, making it the 6th urban council to come up with such an initiative out of the thirty-two urban authorities in the country. Mr Bere, the GIZ consultant and the meeting facilitator led delegates in deliberating about the various expectations and problems that the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is expected to resolve. Chief among these expectations is that the plan aims to prevent waste production to a great extent within the Rusape jurisdiction.

The plan is also expected to bolster measures to foster recycling and reuse whilst drastically reducing waste accumulation. One of the critical objectives of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is that it should lower the cost of refuse removal while improving collection efficiency. This is to be attained by beefing up solid waste machinery and also championing the use of waste energy. Overall, the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is set
to transform landfilling practices and ultimately lead to the decommissioning of the Tsanzaguru landfill. It emerged during meeting deliberations that for the plan to work, every entity and individual within Rusape must take ownership of the plan. In addition, the implementation of the plan must be buttressed by robust recycling programs, and comprehensive public awareness campaigns anchored on empowering residents to be conscious of the best practices in solid waste management at the community level. In implementing the plan, the polluter pays principle will be applied in order to foster a culture of environmental responsibility within the Rusape community. Performance management standards will be put in place to ensure that adequate monitoring and evaluation frameworks are in place to guarantee the success of the plan.

The meeting established a multi-stakeholder steering committee to coordinate the Integrated Solid Waste Management plan. The steering committee is made up of representatives from the following agencies EMA, Ministry of Health, ZRP, Ministry of Women Affairs, CBOs, Private players, Residents’ Associations, Save the Environment and Climate Foundation Trust (SECFT), Vendor representatives and officials from the Council’s health department.
The meeting coincided with the unveiling of the kitchen hut at the Makoni Old Peoples Home. The kitchen was built by the Save the Environment and Climate Trust and the structure was made from used plastic pet bottles filled with siltation sand from the Rusape River. Delegates witnessed the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the kitchen hut. The meeting was concluded by the provisional adoption of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan by Rusape Town Council councillors and awaits full adoption at the next full council meeting. The plan is set to guide the town for the next twenty years. The meeting was attended by Councillors, Council management and staff, GIZ officials, and officials from Harare, Marondera and Chipinge urban authorities amongst other important invited strategic partners.