Last year in Malawi’s Nkhotakota district, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative-supported spray campaigns helped to protect 453,383 people from malaria-carrying mosquitoes by applying insecticide to indoor walls and ceilings where mosquitoes rest. In partnership with National Malaria Control Programs, the PMI VectorLink Project adheres to strict local and U.S. Government environmental protection guidelines and protocols for the campaigns in order to protect land, water, air, and human health.
One of the ways PMI minimizes the environmental impact of annual spray campaigns is by responsibly managing waste such as plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, worn personal protective equipment, and other materials.
Solid waste that cannot be reused and has not come into contact with insecticides or has been washed clean of the insecticides meet the criteria for recycling. This conserves natural resources, strengthens the economy through sales of products from the recycling processes, and helps to create jobs in the industry.
Waste management remains a challenge in Malawi, however, as there are few companies able and licensed to work in the country. The PMI VectorLink Project established public-private partnerships with three reputable waste recyclers in Malawi that are approved and licensed by the Government of Malawi through the Department of Environmental Affairs. The PMI VectorLink Project signed memorandums of understanding with O.G. Plastic Industries (2008) Limited, CSH Investments, and HongSheng Packaging Limited that lay out how the waste should be handled, recycled, and managed.
With these agreements in place, PMI now keeps eligible waste out of landfills in Malawi by donating it to be transformed into new products. Spray operators’ scratched face shields have been recycled into solvent containers, laundry jugs, and liquid soap bottles. The plastic containers from the beverages consumed by spray operators before the day’s work are made into black plastic sheets, which can be used together with grass as roof covers for houses.
Plastic bottles and scratched face shields are collected (left) and are taken to a recycling center where they are melted down (right). Photos by PMI VectorLink Malawi (left) and O.G. Plastic Industries Limited (right).
“The battle against diseases such as malaria cannot be won by government alone,” said Patrick Medius Nyirenda of Malawi’s Environmental Affairs Department. “It is pleasing to note that to ensure sustainable implementation of the project, PMI VectorLink has committed itself towards recycling of waste and unwanted materials from their operations. This is in line with Malawi’s National Waste Management Strategy.”
This past year in Malawi, PMI recycled 1,071 kilograms of cardboard/cartons and paper; 1,321 face shields; 21,313 water bottles and 22,439 Maheu drink packets. Other recycled items included unrepairable sprayers, worn out helmets; damaged plastic basins, containers, jerry cans, cups, and other plastic ware; and torn and used black plastic sheets used for covering household items during spray.
Recycling is an essential method of sustainable materials management, which emphasizes the productive and sustainable use of materials across their entire life cycle while minimizing the environmental impact. Recycling also further conserves material which would have been used as raw materials from the natural environment to produce the same needed products.
Cover photo by Laura McCarty, PMI VectorLink