Waste not, want not in Benin

Garbage has never smelled so sweet for a small village in Benin since it opened a pilot waste treatment centre to turn household rubbish into gas – and cash.

“Our trash has become gold. We no longer throw it into the bush. We use it to make money,” beams Alphonse Ago, who lives in Houegbo village in the south of the country.

ReBin, a Swiss foundation for sustainable development, built the 1.3 hectare facility, which every week turns about six tons of organic waste into 200 cubic metres of biogas – saving some 164 tons of wood from being used to make charcoal. So far, about 100 households deposit their waste at the centre daily. Every 10kg of waste fetches 250 CFA francs (R6), paid either in cash or credit – to buy biogas. –