UNAM and BOKU to conduct study on plastic waste management

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The University of Namibia (UNAM), in collaboration with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU), will conduct a study on how to better manage plastic waste in the future.

The grant-funded project, titled ‘Assessment of household plastic waste handling in the city,’ was awarded in February 2022 and will investigate household waste management in both Vienna and Windhoek, with funding from Austria’s Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Research for up to two years.

The project hopes to begin collecting data in May 2022.

Sadrag Panduleni Shihomeka, the Head of UNAM’s Department of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning and senior lecturer, stated in a press release on Tuesday that the study will provide potential solutions for better plastic waste management.

‘Understanding people’s environmental footprints could be a model from which other Namibian institutions could extrapolate to raise awareness about the disposal and sustainable management of plastic waste, particularly household waste,’ he said.

He said BOKU and UNAM are established universities with a proven track record of conducting research, adding that as a result, the collaboration and joint research will strengthen this position.

‘The project has also brought together experienced researchers who have worked in various fields of multidisciplinary research, such as waste management.

A team of stellar UNAM researchers and students will conduct sampling and laboratory analysis in Windhoek and the samples will be collected, sorted, and analysed in UNAM’s lab facilities. The first Namibian data will be shared and discussed with BOKU researchers,’ he explained.

‘Researchers from BOKU include Tangeni Haimbala, a Master of Science student working on his PhD project, focusing on plastic waste and the use of digital technologies to improve plastic waste management, and his supervisor, Prof. Stefan Salhofer from BOKU’s Institute of Waste Management,’ he said.

This project will enable UNAM and BOKU to conduct joint laboratory analyses, as well as knowledge exchange through in-person guest lectures on the research topic at the respective institutes.

In 2023, a waste management seminar will be held in Windhoek, where the project’s findings will be presented and discussed with various stakeholders in preparation for implementation.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency