Mutare(Pungwe News-New Ziana) -Tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe should come up with innovative ways to assist local authorities in waste management, an official has said.

Africa University vice chancellor Professor Munashe Furusa said this recently while addressing stakeholders during a cleanup campaign held at the Mutare Provincial Hospital (MPH).

The AU is one of the institutions in the province spearheading waste management programs and mobilising resources clean-up campaigns.

According to the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), urban centers in the country generate about 165 million tons of waste per year, which ends up in open dumpsites posing serious health hazard to citizens.

“Cleaning our environment and managing waste is not a choice but a shared responsibility and hence as institutions of higher learning we should adopt waste management systems which helps in the correct disposal of waste,” said Furusa.

He said that was in sync with the move by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to build innovation hubs in all tertiary institutions across the country to meet the developmental agenda.

“Universities and other tertiary institutions must be innovative and should carry out cutting edge researches that bring technological solutions to management of waste and protection of the environment,” he said, adding at least 10 institutions in the country had since started constructing innovation hubs.

Waste Management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing urban local authorities in the country.

The volume of waste being generated continues to increase faster than the ability of local authorities to improve on financial and technical resources needed to equal that growth.

Economic challenges that the country is facing has also worsened waste management in urban councils.

New Ziana