PRAIA ZERO, a project funded by the Port of Maputo and Heineken, implemented by Cooperativa Ntumbuluku (an association for environmental education), and supported by the Municipality of Maputo, was launched in late December 2018.
The beachfront of Maputo has a severe littering problem and the beach sands are full of broken glass. Lack of civism from its citizens, the inability to control and clean, are the main causes of the terrible situation in which the beach front is today.
Praia Zero was created to solve this problem in a permanent way that goes beyond the beach cleaning volunteer actions. Phase 1 has already been deployed (on the 22nd of December) and includes the installation of 6 sets of recycling bins and the employment of “educators”, trained people that are creating awareness. Second phase (to be deployed in March) will include the installation of containers for collecting, buying, segregating and reselling plastic and glass.
Praia Zero (translated to Beach Zero) symbolizes not only the Zero Waste philosophy but also the intent to start from zero, from scratch, since the project will clean the sands from plastic and glass and start again, with a clean beach.
The project decided, from its start, to include the informal sellers. AFRAMA – the association of women that sell chicken on the beach – were included in the project and will be at the center of educating the citizens. The project is also seeking a solution to improve the hygienic conditions in which the food is sold.
