Project Detail

Production of Affordable ceiling panels using Waste paper and plastic in Lesotho

The Maseru Aloe?s process of making agave gels from the leaves results in very strong natural fibres as by-products. The fibres are currently discarded as waste. They have a potential to be used in strengthening plastics to make strong composite materials. Research has shown that these fibres could be used to reinforce high density polyethylene to make very strong insulating ceiling tiles. Studies (2002) have also found that waste paper and waste plastic made 53.5% and 36% of the total solid waste generated in Maseru and Maputsoe respectively. These figures may be presently higher due to an increase in industrial and commercial activities since then. In the absence of a standard landfill, the waste undergoes a limited recycling or mainly goes to dumpsites. For instance Tsosane dumpsite is the main dumpsite in Maseru. It is situated 25m from residential housing and has waste burning 24 hours. Helping reduce the sources of POPs such as open burning of waste in Lesotho could help the country in its efforts to meet its obligations to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Maseru Aloe Multi-purpose Cooperative Union

Country:

Lesotho

Area Of Work:

Chemicals

Operational Phase:

OP4 - Y3 (Jul 09 - Jun 10)

Grant Amount:

US$ 47,391.89

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 70,054.00

Project Number:

LSO/SGP/OP4/Y3/CORE/CH/2009/13

Start Date:

11/2009

End Date:

12/2013

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

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Section of MA Members During Appraisal Visit

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Project Characteristics and Results

Capacity - Building Component

By the end of the projects capacity members of Maseru Aloe and local partners will have been built: - to organize material collection, design and produce relevant equipment and tools vital for making the composites - to produce tiles from waste and mount them to a test house - to document the production process and understand the consequences

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

Members of Grantee and its partners have already been and will continue to be made aware of the impacts of open burning of waste locally and globally.

Planning non gef grant

THe current project is a pilot and potential for commercialization has been demonstrated. THe grantee is currently is working on their first order and the grantee is knocking on doors for funding to procure commercial machinery and better and bigger facility for production

Notable Community Participation

The implementation strategy will be such that it allows maximum possible community participation: ?Meeting of all stakeholders to discuss details of the project execution to ensure that all the participants fully understand and are prepared to carry out their specific roles in the project. ?Use of locally available raw material, manpower, knowledge and skills will be encouraged ?Active involvement and participation of local institutions (NUL. Lerotholi Polytechnic, Department of Cooperatives) throughout project cycle ?The project will strife to find its niche within the waste plastic producers and users network without negatively affecting the already existing but loosely organized network of scavengers to ensure that they are not driven out of business

Policy Influence

The project has created a platform for collaboration between the community, government and research institutions which is critical for sound research and development programme and policy development.

Project sustainability

The project is based on local situation needs. Skills development and thechnology transfer have ensured local community ownerhip of the project. Use of locallyavailable raw materials and locally made equipment will ensure that maintenance and repairs for equipment does not hinder operations. The project is supported by local insitutions.

Gender Focus

The project is targeting all groups of the community. However the membership of Maseru Aloe is predominantly women.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The purpose of the pilot project is mainly to demonstrate the process rather than to publish or create patented knowledge base. The second step will be to initiate a full scale project in which Maseru Aloe will be fully equipped to make and sell the ceiling products both in and outside of Lesotho.

Project Results

Very strong partnership between the grantee, National University of Lesotho (NUL) and the Lerotholi Polytechnic established, with potential for collaboration in future endeavours

Skills development through training of grantee members (66 women, 20 men, 6 youth) in waste paper recycling and production of marketable products using waste paper and plastic. Basic equipment has been acquired and the grantee received training on operation of the equipment. The grantee is currently working on their first order of cladding tiles.

Youth skills development through attachments to grantee projects. A fifth year chemistry student was sent on attachment to the grantee for further fine-tuning of the product and as part of the grantee capacity building and empowerment programme. Through this arrangement a simple computor based programme for computation of quantity of waste paper required per square metre and costing of orders was developed for use by the grantee when they go commercial.

Through the partnership with Lerotholi Polytechnic, a cold-press machine for production of ceiling panels made from waste paper and plastic, is being built as a collaborative initiative between the Polytehcnic, NUL and the grantee. Third year students are attached to the project as part of their training. The machine is yet to be completed and the product is yet to be produced.

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Indicators

Empowerment

Number of CBOs / NGOs participated / involved in SGP project 24

Biophysical

Number of innovations or new technologies developed / applied 1

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