The Benin community has successfully transformed ‘Trash to gold’ as it opened a waste treatment facility to convert waste to biogas, and eventually cash through the trading of biogas.
A Swiss foundation for sustainable development – ReBin, built the 1.3-hectare (3.2-acre) facility, with a capacity to turn around six tonnes of organic waste materials into 200 cubic metres of biogas on a weekly basis, thereby saving an estimate of 164 tonnes of wood from being used to make charcoal.
The rural region which can now rely on the fuel, as electricity remains scarce, has about a hundred homes signed up to the scheme to deposit their waste for cash at the centre on a daily basis.
Image Credit: YANICK FOLLY
