The 2020-2021 Budget speech announced the payment of a fee of Rs 300 for each tonne of waste diverted from the Mare Chicose landfill site as well as the execution of a national study of the Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste recycling market in Mauritius. While asking that these announcements be implemented, Gamma Materials Ltd* expresses its view that this waste can be recovered, recycled and reused for more productive purposes.

Gamma Materials Ltd recalls, through the voice of its Business Development Manager Frederic Polenne (photo) that “the 1.3 million inhabitants of Mauritius generate about 1500 tons of waste per day and that the government and regional administrations spend a sum of Rs 1.5 billion per year on waste management, including collection, operation of transfer stations, transportation to Mare Chicose and the running of this landfill, among others. A study for recycling is therefore not only logical but urgent and vital today if the island does not want to collapse under its waste! Gamma Materials reminds us that the Mare Chicose landfill will theoretically reach saturation in June 2021 and that its vertical extension will require major complex works and heavy investments. Hence the urgency of having to send less waste to landfill, which is a very costly solution both in financial terms and in terms of environmental impact. More details in our next editions… *Gamma Materials Ltd, based at The Hub, Industrial Estate, Phoenix, specialises in the production and marketing of sand, tarmac, blocks, ready-mix concrete and precast products. It employs approximately 400 people.