REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

Paix - Travail - Patrie

REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON
Peace - Work - Fatherland

UNIVERSITE DE YAOUNDE I
FACULTE DES SCIENCES

UNIVERSITY OF YAOUNDE I
FACULTY OF SCIENCES

DEPARTEMENT DE BIOLOGIE ET
PHYSIOLOGIE VEGETALES

DEPARTMENT OF PLANT BIOLOGY

OPTION: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

SEN 500: INTERNSHIP

AN INTERNSHIP REPORT ON THE MANAGEMENT OF

WASTE
PLASTICS
CARRIED
OUT
AT
EPSILON
TH
PRESENTED
BY: THE 5
ENVIRONNEMENT-KRIBI
FROM
OF JULY TO THE
TH
4 OF DECEMBER, 2015
An academic insertion for the fulfilment of a professional master diploma in environmental science

PRESENTED BY:
ATKIN EGBE OBIE
Bachelor of Science
Matricule No13S2994

SUPERVISED BY:

Dr.ELVIRA Hortense BIYE

Senior lecturer

Mr. Daniel N. DJANKEP

(Director, Epsilon Kribi)

University of Yaounde 1

DECEMBER 2015

DEDICATION

This piece of work is dedicated to my parents, Mr Obie Stephen and Arrey Mary Ojong. It
also dedicated to my dear wife Mrs Geneva Atkins and to all my siblings.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Profound gratitude goes to the Director of Epsilon, Mr. Daniel Djankep for accepting me into
his company and for his general supervision during the internship period.

Gratitude also goes to my coordinators and facilitator at Epsilon in the persons of Mrs Kengne
Lesley, Mr. Gouabo Serge, and Mr. Herve respectively. My gratitude also goes to the team of
pickers for facilitating my work and for their friendliness.

A big thank you to the chief of hygiene and public sanitation at the Kribi Urban Council for
his permission to visit the municipal landfill and to all crew members of landfill operation
especially Mr. Andre Amedeke for his lectures.

I wish to thank the programme coordinator of my discipline at the University of Yaounde 1,

Prof. Djocgoue Francoise and my academic supervisor, Dr. Elvira Hortense Biye for their
encouragement during field work.

Finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the head and collaborators of the Association
of African Universities for their immense financial support during the entire internship period
not forgetting the encouragement and hospitality of Judith Myers and Ransford - those I was
linking directly.

INTRODUCTION
The environment is fast degrading as it is faced with an increasing rate of pollution.
Solid wastes play a crucial role in this pollution. Plastic waste is one of such solid wastes
produced in an alarming rate. The rate of pollution is high due to increase in human population
and the high demand for mostly plastic packaged products. The outcome of the plastics after
consumption of the product is the illegal disposal in the surroundings. These waste plastics
impeach free flow of nutrients and water into the soil, a consequence which falls back on man
and the ecological complexes.
The government of Cameroon is engaged in the preservation of the environment by
assuring sustainable management of natural resources through the protection of these
complexes which are sources of human survival. The principle of environmental preservation
was announced in the preamble of the 2007 National Strategy of Waste Management in
Cameroon which states that everybody has the right to a pure environment. The protection of
the environment is the occupation for all persons. The state watches to defend and protect the
environment. To implement this, the government instituted law no 96/12 of August 5, 1996
stipulating conditions for waste management.
The two sectors that are involved in the management of waste in Cameroon are the
state and private sectors. The state manages waste through government ministries, local and
urban councils while the private sector manages waste through civil organisations like NonGovernmental Organisations (NGO), Common Initiative Groups (CIG), associations, etc.
Epsilon Environnement - Entretien is one of such civil organisations that manage non
dangerous waste (plastics) in Kribi. Resolving the problem of waste in big towns in general
and fast developing cities like Kribi in particular is a hard spot. There would have been no
better laboratory to reveal the state of plastic waste pollution and the methods of plastic waste
management in Kribi than Epsilon. This exercise was carried out through an internship
programme from the 5th of July to the 4th of December 2015.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INTERNSHIP

The general objective of this internship was to observe the different methods used by the
NGO (Epsilon) to manage plastic wastes in Kribi. During the course of the work, some other
objectives were added such as:

1. To identify the major pollution zones in the town.

2. To identify the major manufacturers and distributors of plastics packaged products in
town,
3. To examine the methods of plastic waste disposal by the population.

LOCATION OF KRIBI
This internship was carried out in the touristic town of Kribi in the Ocean Division in the South
Region of Cameroon. Kribi is found at approximately 150 kilometres by road, south of Douala.
This location is at the Gulf of Guinea, with the Kienk River running across the town.
Geographically, it is located between latitude 2o5606N and longitude 9o5436E. This
position on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean gives it the role of a touristic settlement with
activities like fishing and catering.

Figure 1: The town of Kribi.

PRESENTATION OF COMPANY
Epsilon Environnement Entrtien was created on the 15th of December, 2011 following a
partnership accord with the Kribi Urban Council. According to article 2 of law no 2004/018 of
22 July, 2004 the State gave authority to Urban Delegates to solicit the assistance and expertise
of qualified organisations in the collection and treatment of waste. This paved the way for the
partnership agreement and in October, 2012, Epsilon went operational. The main objective of
the structure is to fight against environmental pollution through the collection and treatment of
waste plastics in attempt to restore the integrity of the environment. Apart from this, it
envisages the installation of a recycling unit. For now, waste collected is treated and sent to
Douala the economic capital, for recycling. Other activities of the organisation include

Cleaning and disinfection of residence

Drainage of septic tanks

Supply of water to construction sites and residence.

METHODOLOGY
Work started every working day at 8 am and ended at 6 pm. The major activities included:
management of waste; collection of tax for waste treatment and sanitation. The management
methods were: picking, pre-collection, collection, transportation, separation and stocking. In
order to attain the objectives of the internship, considerable time was given for strict follow up
of management methods. A picking plan was drawn and the picking exercise was scheduled
for Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am to 12pm. The picking zones were classified into
12 according to the size of the town. These zones were as follows:
Zone 1: Mokolo Central Hospital Fokou MRS Junction
Zone 2: SAR Kienke Bridge Mboa Manga
Zone 3: Bello Junction Zaire Quarter Ecole du Centre Catholic Church Petit Paris
Zone 4: Bello Junction to Ngoye Beach
Zone 5: MBK Junction Municipal Stadium Lycee Bilingue
Zone 6: CES Dombe to Bello Junction and CES Dombe to Kingue Junction
Zone 7: Dombe
Zone 8: S.D.Os office at Dombe II Military Camp Alpha Junction behind Municipal
stadium
Zone 9: Behind Municipal stadium to antenne orange
Zone 10: Post office junction Fokou MRS Bello junction
Zone 11: Kingue junction SAR Special branch
Zone 12: Mokolo Bello junction Dombe Motor Park.

MANAGEMENT METHODS

PICKING
Every working day, pickers dressed in aprons which are uniforms to identify and
differentiate them from other public workers. To facilitate picking and avoid contact with
diseases, they put on gloves. They also used racklets and spades to pick up plastics found in
very dirty and watery surroundings.
The type of picking that was done was selective. This means that only particular types
of plastic papers were picked. This is because in Cameroon, there are some types of plastics
that are not recyclable. The recyclable ones that were picked included high density
polyethylene (HDPE) such as sachets of water, yogurt, and juice and also polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) such as mineral water bottles, cooking and rubbing oil bottles etc. During
picking, all sachets and bottles of these plastic types were removed from gutters, accessible
paths such as recreational areas, markets, along the roads and quarters. All plastic waste picked
was put in portable bins having a capacity of 100 litres each. Whenever the bins were full, the
company van transported them to the discharge unit where they were weighed using the
weighting scale. The total value got from the measurement gave the exact number of kilograms
of plastic wastes collected for that day in that zone as seen below.

Figure 2: pickers on duty

Figure 3: weighing picked plastic waste

PLASTIC WASTE COLLECTION

Here, the team of pickers collected waste from public plastic waste cans which were put at the
disposal of the public. The cans were put at strategic locations where inhabitants of the location
will easily dispose their plastic waste. Collection was manually done by emptying the waste
into the mobile trolleys since the company does not have lorries or waste compactors.

Figure 4: Plastic waste collection cans and trolleys

TRANSPORTATION

After all the waste was collected, it was moved to the discharge unit with the use of a van. The
number of times the van circulated depended on the quantity of waste that was available.

SEPARATION
At the discharge unit, a careful separation of unacceptable items from the waste was done.
These items included sticks, ordinary papers and cartons etc. The separation of the different
plastic types was done using the code and the textural methods after which, they were grouped
and tied in bags to be transported to Douala for recycling

Figure 5: Plastic waste discharge unit

Figure 6: Bags of separated plastic waste

PLASTIC WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS AT EPSILON

There are three major solid waste disposal methods. They include incineration, landfilling
and recycling. The first two are not sustainable means of waste disposal especially if they are
carried out without energy recovery. Recycling is mostly advised because the waste products

are transformed into raw materials for reuse. At Epsilon, the objective is to recycle but due to
lack of recycling machines, the plastic waste is transported to Douala where it is done.
Apart from the collection of plastic waste, there was also the collection of taxes for
plastic waste pollution (pollute and pay). This took place from Monday to Saturday between 8
am and 6 pm. The taxes varied according to the activities carried out by business operators.
The class of business operators included retailers, boutiques, construction and building material
shops, and distributors of plastic packaged products. A team of collectors called Control
Brigade moved from one plastic promoting shop to another and also stood at strategic points
in the town to stop incoming vehicles carrying products packaged in plastics like cosmetics,
foods, drinks, sweets etc. The equipment used to facilitate strict follow-up of recalcitrant
operators especially vehicles distributing plastic packaged products included: chains, seals,
locks, locally fabricated iron nail bars and a motor bike to run after vehicles as seen below.

Figure 7: Some instruments for vehicle impoundment

OTHER ACTIVITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES
Public hygiene was done by disinfection and cleaning of private residences on the basis
of payment. It involved the spraying of chemicals in and out of the residence. Two types of
treatments were done: in-door and out-door treatments.

IN-DOOR SANITATION
In-door treatments started with the covering of food and edible products in the residence
where the operation was done in order to avoid contamination. All other areas were exposed to
allow free circulation of the chemical spray. The machine used for indoor treatment is called
Thermo-nebulisator (Swinfog SN 50). It is used to spray chemicals that chase away insects like
mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, ants and other domestic insects through an automatic pumping.
After the pumping of the chemicals in the form of smoke, the whole house was locked up for
at least four hours before anybody went inside.

OUT-DOOR SANITATION
Outdoor treatments were carried out on walls, lawns and flowers with the use of a motor
pump (solo). The motor pump sprays chemicals in liquid form. This kills insects like leaf frogs
spiders, ants, crickets, insect larvae and others that are found at the surrounding. The figure
below shows the in-door pump on the left and the out-door pump on the right.

Figure 8: standing right with an out-door insecticide pump

RESPONSIBILITIES
During this period I carried out a supervisory work with the team of pickers. I also carried out
prospection work for the town of Kribi that enabled me divide the town into the 12 zones above
to come up with a picking plan that lasted for three months. I trained new employees on picking
and plastic waste management methods. I also went to the field with control brigades to collect
tax, I took part in two disinfection exercises and finally, I ran errand for the company.

CHALLENGES IN MY RESPONSIBLITIES

During the internship period, there were some challenges encountered. These are as follows:
1. It was in the rainy season. Most often, collection of waste was not regular because of
severe rainfall. This affected the monthly volume of plastic waste which was intended
to be collected.
2. The number of collection trolleys was insignificant to render effective plastic waste
collection in the town. Dealing with this challenge, I was forced to propose weekly
motivation to the picker who made above 20kgs of plastic waste a day, a proposal that
was accepted by the management and whose implementation increased the number of
kilograms collected monthly.
3. Meeting business operators to collect plastic waste pollution tax was not easy. I faced
resistance and threats from some who refused to pay their tax.

BENEFITS
1. The entire internship programme leaves me with additional knowledge and greater
performance to create a job for myself and reduce dependency on the government.
2. I have also acquired additional skills in administration, team work and communication
as a result of contact with the establishment and other stakeholders in plastic waste
management such as the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable
Development.

CONCLUSION
Irrespective of the fact that Kribi was nominated as the cleanest town in Cameroon, a particular
look on plastic waste in Kribi during this study revealed that Kribi is slightly polluted.

The absence of separation and reduction of plastic waste at source, the poor disposal methods
used in the town and the low rate of plastic waste reused, are all strong points to consider if
plastic waste management in Kribi will be effective and sustainable.
Poor implementation of legislation on plastic waste management and the absence of an
environmental notice increased the non-conformity to rules governing plastic waste
management by the companies that manufacture and distribute plastic packaged products in
Kribi. This thus created a free entry and circulation of plastic packaged goods and carrier bags.
The effect is the uncontrolled consumption and increased post-used littering on the
environment. If management efforts are not reiterated and standardized, given the continuous
increase in demography, Kribi will be extremely polluted by 2025 with plastic waste.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
National Strategy for Waste Management, 2007. Draft 3; Yaound-Cameroon.

Appendices

Location of Kribi

Some polluted zones

Bello junction

Afan Mabe

Responsibilities

Spraying exercise

instructing pickers for picking exercise