The new-look Geo Pomona Waste Management Project, which was recently commissioned by President Mnangagwa has been one of the biggest innovations under the Second Republic that will not only create employment but will be one of the country’s economic enablers. Herald Reporter Wallace Ruzvidzo (WR) had an in-depth interview with Geo Pomona Pvt Ltd’s company chief executive officer and executive chairman Mr Dilesh Nguwaya (DN), where he chronicled the project’s journey from its inception to where it is today, as well as plans for the future. Below is the interview.
WR: Congratulations on the several awards Geo Pomona Waste Management Private Limited has bagged in the last few months. How does this make you feel in terms of your efforts being recognised?
DN: In 2023, Geo Pomona Waste Management Private Limited won several awards in recognition of the outstanding work we are doing of transforming the Pomona dumpsite into a world-class waste-to-energy plant among other facilities that constitute the Geo Pomona Waste Management Project.
Below are the awards we won in 2023:
- Zimbabwe Agricultural Show 2023 – Best Exhibitor in the Energy sector Award and it was our first time exhibiting at this year’s agricultural show
- ESGNZ’s Sustainability Innovation Champion award by the ESGNZ — 2023 ZIMBABWE NATIONAL ESG & CSR AWARD
- Environmental Impact Project Of The Year Award: Waste Management Trophy: Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd — by the CIPMZ
- Project Focused CEO: Dilesh Nguwaya — Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd by the CIPMZ
We are greatly honoured to be recognised in our endeavours in championing sustainability innovation in waste management and the use of clean renewable energy in Zimbabwe. This is a result of hard work, teamwork, diligence, resilience and the drive to provide solutions. Where others see a challenge, we see a solution.
It’s fulfilling and exciting for me to live out my dream of creating clean environments in Harare and other cities, where we plan to do similar projects.
Thank you to the team at Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd for their dedication and hard work in ensuring that we achieve our vision.
A special thank you to President Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa for creating an enabling environment to conduct business under the Second Republic and his mantra ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’ which is being seen in the different sectors of the economy.
WR: Can you give us a detailed brief on the waste management project’s conceptualisation. What was the inspiration behind the idea?
DN: One of the major challenges that the City of Harare was facing was ensuring sustainable use of the Pomona area for dumping. At the end of 2021, it was very difficult to get into the dumping area because all access routes had been closed off by the waste.
Upon noticing this, I then thought of ways to alleviate these challenges. As I alluded to earlier, where others see a problem/challenge, we see a solution.
The Pomona site posed a health hazard and a risk to the residents in Pomona suburb. Fires were rampant on site and the place was full of squatters and had no access roads into the site.
Before Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd took over the Pomona site, it was in a deplorable state with waste lying all over the place and squatters and scavengers staying on site.
The stench from the site could be smelled from as far as Harare Drive and Alpes Road. There was air pollution from fires that broke out on site as well as the waste that was lying all over the place. There was environmental pollution due to leakages from the ground resulting from contaminated water that was collecting on the site.
Based on the above, I was inspired to offer a solution and hence the birth of Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd to offer sustainable solutions in terms of waste management. I travelled to Albania to learn and see ways in which we could adopt some of the methods and technologies being used there for waste management.
I am happy to say that as a result of in-depth research, we are the first in Southern Africa to offer long-term and sustainable environmental solutions through innovative technology of waste-to-energy plants, and the second in Africa, after the Reppie Waste to Energy plant in Ethiopia.
Our project focuses on a well-organised direction for health, safety, and the environment, considering the best practices in this field, that will be applied by both local and international experts employed.
WR: Before Geo Pomona stepped in, the place was just a dumpsite characterised by a lot of smoke from the burning of waste and a foul smell from the rotting of waste, how did you manage to get rid of this and turnaround the place’s fortunes?
DN: We obviously sat down with my team to come up with strategies and innovative ways to turn Pomona site around.
The first challenge that Geo Pomona Waste Management had to tackle was one of accessibility into the Pomona site, as all access routes had been closed off by the waste. The second one was to ensure that the place was cleared of waste and a big space created for disposing of the waste. This we managed to do through machinery that we bought to use on site as well as additional equipment being hired. A tarred road has been constructed for ease of transport for the trucks working on site.
Daily pushing and compaction of waste is carried out on the site to lay groundwork for the different components of the project. To get rid of the smell from the rotting waste, we have done encapsulation, using geomembrane and geotextile layers, imported from Europe, to cover the existing waste.
In addition to this, soil layers have been done on top of these and we will plant trees, lawn and flowers.
We have fire guards in place to control any fires as sometimes we have City of Harare trucks bringing through smouldering waste, which may cause fires when it comes in contact with oxygen.
However, I am happy to say we haven’t had any fires that characterised the site before Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd took over.
In addition, we do not burn waste, like squatters used to. Instead, we have constructed two weighbridges on the site. Waste registration takes place here when trucks bring in their waste.
WR: Can you elaborate on the work done so far at the Geo Pomona Waste Management site and timelines of the project?
DN: Of major note is that this is a 30-year project and the Pomona site was handed over to Geo Pomona Waste Management by the City of Harare in April 2022 and we commenced work on the site in May 2022. To date, a lot of work has gone in on site and tremendous improvements seen on the site are a testament of this.
Below are components of the project and progress thereof:
For the internal infrastructure — new road lights from the old gate to the new gate as well as pavers close to the new road have been done. In addition, signage at the gate has been done. An electric automatic gate and a boom gate has been installed and a small gate close to the office for use by pedestrians. Fencing of the area has been done.
The parking lot close to the offices and the weighbridge has been done. In addition, a guard house close to the main gate has been constructed.
Road markings have been done. We also have offices that have been constructed for staff members that work on site.
Weighbridges for waste registration on the site. Waste registration takes place here when trucks bring in their waste. Details of the type of waste, where the waste is collected from, weight of the waste plus the truck, truck registration number, truck driver’s name, time the truck gets on the weighbridge and name of the company represented are taken. There is a designated area on the site where trucks dispose of the waste. I am happy to advise that the site is open on a 24/7 basis and this service is offered to everyone in the City of Harare.
Landscaping for an area covering 27 000 square metres has been done, with lawn, trees and flowers planted. These are watered through the irrigation system that was installed on site.
For the recreational area. We are constructing a state-of-the-art recreational facility that will consist of a soccer field, basketball courts, tennis courts, changing rooms as well as a restaurant. These are at an advanced stage with material having come through from Europe for the soccer field as well as basketball and tennis courts.
For the existing waste, the solution that Geo Pomona Waste Management has offered is Encapsulation with geomembrane, geotextile and soil layers having been done. After which, drilling to collect biogas will be done.
Based on hierarchy of waste management, we should separate waste. Plans are underway to build a sorting plant to separate recyclable and non-recyclable material. Clearing of waste and concrete works are underway.
We will have three landfills on site, one for municipal waste, the other for ashes and the last one for hazardous waste. We are in the process of constructing a landfill for hazardous waste after being granted permission by EMA to proceed with this.
This is a solution we have offered upon seeing a challenge that Harare has no place to manage hazardous waste and also as part of the MOU we signed on the 27th of November with Instak — The Institute of African Knowledge Trust (INSTAK) that houses the African Museum, to assist in managing the waste from the Old Golden Quarry dumpsite.
Waste Water treatment plant — Pools to collect contaminated water or leakages from the ground. In this water treatment plant, water will be purified and used for irrigation of the lawn, flowers and trees, to ensure that the area is kept green and beautiful. Plans are in progress with contaminated water, that was there before Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd took over, having been collected.
Waste to energy plant — The main aim of the project is incineration of solid waste to generate electricity that will be fed into the national grid. We will incinerate 1 000 tonnes per day to produce between 16MW-22MW of electricity.
Plans are on track to have two lines, each with a capacity of incinerating 500 tonnes of solid waste to produce between 8MW to 11 MW of electricity. This is complementing Government efforts to ensure all Zimbabweans have electricity. We have been granted a licence by ZERA to have the waste to energy plant. Construction of this plant will commence in year 3 of the project, although a lot of groundwork commenced in June 2023 for this. We are currently in year 2.
WR: What kind of technology are you using in your operations and where was it sourced from?
DN: We are using the latest technology which converts waste to energy and the components to build this waste to energy plant are being imported from Europe. We have employed experts in this field and we are planning to bring in more experts to run the plant.
We plan to have the following components for the plant:
One waste reception and storage pit
Two combustion lines
Two exhaust gas treatment systems
Two steam turbines
Two condensers
WR: Can you give us modalities of the day-to-day operations at the site? What really happens there?
DN: Works are going on at the site with various skilled workers involved in the development of the waste-to-energy plant and other related construction works at the Geo Pomona Waste Management Pvt Ltd site.
We have the Weighbridge where waste Registration takes place. Waste registration is done at the two weighbridges that were installed at the site.
Details of the type of waste, where the waste is collected from, weight of the waste plus the truck, truck registration number, truck driver’s name, time the truck gets on the weighbridge and name of the company represented are taken. Upon disposing of the waste in the designated area on site, the truck goes through the weighbridge for the weight to be taken. After which the net weight is ascertained and clients are advised. For private players payment is done soon after, at the accounts office on site, whilst the City of Harare is billed at the end of each month. This service is offered on a 24/7 basis.
We have landscaping taking place daily and we have engineers based on site to man and manage the construction of the different components of the project.
To ensure the place is kept clean, we have workers that clean the place daily.
We have security details that man the area and maintain order.
WR: How many people are currently employed there presently? And is this number expected to increase in the future?
DN: We have more than 200 employees and yes, plans are on track to increase this number as the project progresses. We are planning to employ more than 500 people to run the waste to energy plant and the other components of the project. We are here to empower local skills and even those who used to scavenge in the then Pomona dumpsite were roped in to make sure we leave no one behind, as espoused by His Excellency President Cde Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa.
WR: Moving on to your recent granting of a power generation license, how will Geo Pomona be generating the 22MW from waste-to-energy? Can you take us through the process?
DN: We will be running a modern recycling plant which will generate up to 22 megawatts of electricity from methane generated from rotting waste. Firstly, waste is sorted according to material, separating recyclable and non-recyclable material. We will burn municipal solid waste (MSW), to produce steam in a boiler, and the steam is used to power an electric generator turbine.
WR: How many tonnes of waste will be processed here?
DN: We will incinerate 1000 tonnes of waste to produce between 16MW to 22 MW of electricity.
WR: Will the energy produced be for in house use or it will add into the national grid?
DN: The 22MW that will be generated at the Waste to Energy Plant will be fed into the national grid to complement Government efforts in electricity generation. As you may appreciate that Zimbabwe has recorded an increase in electricity demand, there is a need to be innovative in power generation instead of depending on traditional means such as coal and hydro.
WR: Thank you very much for granting us this interview.
DN: Thanks to you for showing great interest in what we are doing to contribute to the development of Zimbabwe. – The Herald
