Waste Not, Want Not

Happy Earth Day, everyone! Today is a great opportunity to showcase the innovative work of the PMI VectorLink project’s Environmental Compliance team. This week’s Fist Bump goes to VectorLink Senegal ECO, Coumba Aicha Niang for creating furniture out of empty boxes of insecticide that can be used during IRS campaign activities.

Before any spray campaign, each country team must determine what kinds of waste will be generated by the project and develop an adequate waste management plan in accordance with PMI VectorLink standards and applicable in-country regulations. In Senegal, the plan for cardboard boxes—that previously contained sachets of insecticide—is to reuse them when possible or to incinerate them.

Animated by continuous process improvement, Coumba Aicha had the ingenious idea of collecting some insecticide boxes to turn into furniture that could be used during the IRS campaign. She brought home empty cardboard boxes to make, by herself, two storage drawers and a table as prototypes to present, and thus show that it is possible to give a second life to these cartons which were considered waste. These recycled cardboard boxes will be used in the health district, Koungheul 1 operations site, during the 2022 IRS campaign.

The storage drawers are light, but strong enough to support stationery, chain of custody tools, and files in an operations site. Coumba Aicha covered one storage drawer with an impermeable material to show that the drawer can be customized to extend its life. There are also stands that raise the drawers to protect against humidity. Coumba Aicha’s goal is to recycle cardboard into items that could be useful for IRS activities and in our daily lives.

This achievement demonstrates that there are lots of ways to reduce waste and minimize the environmental impact of our activities. Thank you for showing us that it is possible to take something from one life and repurpose it for another, Coumba Aicha!