By Spy Uganda
Fort Portal: Authorities in Fort Portal Tourism City are setting a new benchmark in waste management by transforming garbage into valuable resources. Leading this effort, Kabarole Research and Resource Centre-Uganda (KRC-Uganda) aims to shift the perception of waste from a burden to an asset.
After a tragic incident at Kiteezi landfill that claimed over 30 lives due to accumulated waste, our Chief Spy, Andrew Irumba, visited Fort Portal City to explore its approach to waste management.
Like many other urban areas, Fort Portal city has struggled to keep up with increasing waste, and authorities are determined to find innovative solutions to deal with the crisis.
One significant intervention for waste management has been championed by KRC-Uganda which has established a compost plant that produces charcoal briquettes from organic waste.
Jack Nyakairu, the Manager of KRC’s Environment and Energy Unit, revealed that leaders in Fort Portal City have launched multiple projects to keep the city clean. These include community education on recycling and responsible waste disposal, empowering residents to contribute to a more sustainable and eco-friendly city.
According to Nyakairu, the compost plant helps to reduce the demand for traditional charcoal, which is a major driver of deforestation. By converting organic waste into briquettes, the plant not only addresses waste management but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, as briquettes burn cleaner and last longer.
KRC believes that this is a practical response to climate change and hope to expand the project to benefit the entire region. Through these projects, Fort Portal City is creating a model that other urban areas in the region can emulate.
He explained that the process of creating these briquettes involves careful sorting and drying of organic materials, which are then carbonized and ground into powder. The carbonized material is mixed with binders such as clay and cassava flour, then passed through an extruder to create briquettes of various shapes.
Although still in the pilot phase, the plant has the capacity to produce one ton of briquettes per day, with plans to convert up to 15% of the city’s waste and KRC looks forward to scaling this initiative to cover the entire country, positioning Fort Portal as a leader in sustainable waste management.
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