MEDI1TV Afrique : Dakar : " restaurant zéro déchet", plus qu'un concept, un label - 12/12/2024
Category
🗞
NewsTranscription
00:00You are watching Green Growth on the Pan-African Median, and thank you for staying true to us.
00:19Adopting sustainable consumption habits and promoting respectful environmental practices
00:24is one of the key objectives of the Zero Waste Senegal initiative.
00:29On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the Mont-Restaurant Zero Waste project,
00:33the Green Growth team went to meet committed actors to measure the progress made.
00:40This innovative project, based on concrete experiments, continuous learning and constructive exchanges,
00:47played an essential role in reducing single-use waste while encouraging eco-responsible behavior.
00:54Our report to follow in a moment.
00:57And to have an additional insight into the importance of the fight against single-use waste pollution,
01:03and in particular that related to plastic, a waste that considerably degrades our environment,
01:09we are with Mr. Abdoulaï Sen, in charge of labeling the Mont-Restaurant Zero Waste project in Dakar.
01:15Thank you for accepting our invitation.
01:17Thank you Median TV for the invitation.
01:20Mr. Sen, we will meet again right after our report.
01:23It is signed Eva Sagna and Bachir Boudian.
01:32Fighting plastic pollution, a global challenge that is clearly visible not only in the oceans,
01:39but also in coastal cities like Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
01:45Senegal, the capital of the ocean
01:53Every day, Senegalese and tourists frequent the restaurants of the country,
01:58which are both places of passage and pollution.
02:02I am a child of the sea, so I grew up and did all my hobbies by the sea.
02:14As I grew up, I developed a love for nature.
02:20As I became an adult, I felt more and more concerned about the problems we had with the environment.
02:30At my level here, because I always went surfing,
02:33and every time I surfed I saw plastic waste everywhere.
02:39And I promised myself that once I finished my studies,
02:42I would do an initiative to really raise awareness among the population.
02:47Faced with this worrying situation, several Zero Waste initiatives emerge in Dakar.
02:54The goal? To reduce plastic pollution and its devastating impacts on the environment.
03:02We carried out an impact measurement to measure the main waste that we had managed to remove.
03:10And we realized that the waste that came first were plastic bottles,
03:15disposable straws and coffee capsules.
03:17And then we thought about how to go further and how to spread the approach to as many restaurants as possible.
03:23And we decided to create labels associated with these waste,
03:26so that the restaurants can engage little by little and have one, two or three labels,
03:31and that it is really a process.
03:33The initiative was launched by the Copacabana Surfing Village.
03:37And then there was the Zero Waste Association that came to the rescue.
03:40Even during our transition, the restaurant Copacabana,
03:44it was Zero Waste that accompanied us on how to find alternatives
03:49and put them in place and eliminate all plastic.
03:53Now, as soon as this phase has been done,
03:56Zero Waste has proposed to make three labels
04:00and to offer them to the restaurants that are in Senegal.
04:04This is the anti-plastic, anti-straw, anti-plastic bottle, anti-straw and anti-coffee capsules label.
04:11As soon as a restaurant adopts one of the labels, it immediately becomes a Zero Waste restaurant.
04:17The Copacabana Surfing Village has succeeded in reducing 35% of the waste
04:23by using some alternative solutions.
04:46We used plastic straws and we had coffee capsules.
04:52And we realized that these were the materials we used the most.
04:57Reducing it reduced almost 35% of our waste.
05:01So it was still quite a lot.
05:04So that's really where the initiative came from.
05:07In the meantime, I met several people to talk about this project
05:11that was important to me as a native of the village
05:14and really concerned about what is happening around us.
05:18I really wanted to change this situation.
05:21This initiative now federates 66 restaurants across Senegal.
05:27So mainly in the areas of Dakar, Saint-Louis, La Petite Côte and Cine Saloum.
05:33And in fact, all this contributes to avoiding more than 200,000 single-use products each year.
05:40So when we say single-use products, it's going to be both plastic bottles,
05:44coffee capsules and disposable straws.
06:02The concept applies.
06:04Because Saint-Louis is home to about a hundred of the Senegal Waste Zero Association.
06:10And for three years now, my Zero Waste Restaurant project has also been developed in Saint-Louis.
06:15And we have several restaurants of different sizes,
06:18from typically Senegalese restaurants to more or less European restaurants
06:23that are also labeled and that implement the principle of zero waste.
06:28And that's why from the beginning I was totally invested in this project.
06:32Because restaurants are a place where we can easily raise awareness of the population.
06:37And so when we manage to support the restaurants,
06:40to get involved in a certain waste reduction process,
06:44non-waste, waste reduction,
06:47indirectly it is the whole population that we raise awareness of.
06:50And the project also shows us, with digitized data,
06:54the amount of waste that is avoided each year.
06:57And it gives hope.
06:59We know that through 60 labeled restaurants,
07:02hundreds of thousands of waste are avoided each year.
07:05We hope that by continuing this project,
07:08by having many more labeled restaurants,
07:10we can really reduce in an important way
07:13the amount of waste produced in general in the country.
07:30Ayof, a neighborhood located in the north of Dakar,
07:34a restaurant with three project labels,
07:37my restaurant, Zero Waste,
07:39made the choice to use plastic.
07:46Instead of plastic straws, bamboo straws are used.
07:51Plastic bottles have been replaced by glass bottles.
07:56And the coffee capsules have disappeared.
07:59My restaurant is part of the restaurants that are labeled.
08:03And we were lucky to have all three labels.
08:06The first is the plastic bottles,
08:09which we replaced with water bottles and water jugs,
08:13recyclable.
08:15The second is the plastic straws,
08:18or cardboard, which we use with bamboo or typhoon straws.
08:23And the third is the coffee capsules,
08:26which we replaced with a coffee machine.
08:29We can only use the coffee powder,
08:31so as not to use the capsules.
08:33We are the first people to be impacted.
08:35So it's a fight from the beginning,
08:37which made us get closer to Zero Waste from the beginning
08:42to be able to understand,
08:44even if it was a little late,
08:46how it works so that we can
08:49start on the right track
08:51to be able to develop more and more
08:53on the level of plastic and the level of pollution.
08:56A little further, we find Amido,
08:58chef-chef of this restaurant,
09:00who wears two labels.
09:02We only have two.
09:04We should pay attention to our straws
09:07and also to the coffee capsules.
09:10Like, the capsules,
09:12the plastic capsules.
09:15We prefer ground coffee,
09:17zero waste,
09:19and less waste, we can say.
09:21If we really see the damage it does,
09:24whether it's in our streets,
09:26or next to the sea.
09:30It's true that I've had customers
09:33who have already told me
09:35that they don't like the coffee capsules.
09:38They say,
09:40I've had customers who have already told me
09:43that the taste changes
09:46with the cardboard straws,
09:49but it's better than having it in plastic.
09:59It's their way of contributing too,
10:02even if it doesn't do them any good.
10:05They have a crazy good,
10:07but at least
10:09they prefer this alternative.
10:12Alternative solutions,
10:14key to EDI,
10:16the Senegalese restaurants.
10:18They have taken action
10:20by removing three major plastic waste.
10:23Three labels to federate
10:25and promote restaurants
10:27who are committed to removing
10:29these three plastic waste.
10:31What is important
10:33to make it practical
10:35and easy to set up for restaurants
10:37is to provide alternative solutions
10:39that are key to them.
10:41It's easy to say,
10:43we're going to remove plastic bottles,
10:45but the question is,
10:47how are we going to do it?
10:49For example, for the Zero Plastic Bottles label,
10:52the alternative solutions that we recommend
10:55will be, for example,
10:57the 19-litre water bottles
10:59with the water fountain
11:01and put water in the glass jars.
11:03Or we have brands
11:05that make glass bottles
11:07of designated water.
11:09Today, the Zero Waste Senegal Association
11:11is part of a collective
11:13with other actors
11:15from civil society
11:17called Endando by Plastic
11:19who meet regularly
11:21to make a plea
11:23for a better application
11:25of the plastic law
11:27with recommendations
11:29made to the government
11:31and the Ministry of the Environment
11:33that we are trying to improve.
11:35What we decided to do
11:37because it's obviously
11:39difficult to go
11:41to zero disposable containers
11:43to take away,
11:45but we decided to launch
11:47an incentive campaign
11:49to reduce the waste
11:51from the sale to take away
11:53in restaurants.
11:55For example,
11:57we have created
11:59acceptable reusable containers
12:01and then there are pilot restaurants
12:03that we will accompany
12:05in the reduction, little by little,
12:07of disposable containers
12:09by setting up
12:11reusable containers that are designated.
12:13In the oceans,
12:1580% of the waste found
12:17is of terrestrial origin
12:19and corresponds
12:21mostly
12:23to food packaging
12:25and plastic
12:27for single use
12:29Ask me about consumption.
12:31I actually
12:33wanted to leave
12:35the big city, to leave Paris
12:37to live by the ocean
12:39and to protect and also live
12:41by the ocean and also participate
12:43in its preservation.
12:45So it's clearly related
12:47to what I'm looking for today.
12:49Senegal is the 28th
12:51most plastic polluting country
12:53in the world.
12:55The political and citizen will
12:57to reduce plastic pollution
12:59is growing. Associations
13:01are fighting against winds and tides
13:03to block the road to this pollution.
13:05It is essential to accompany
13:07and to enhance these approaches
13:09by concrete actions
13:11aimed at uniting the actors.
13:13This project of Risto
13:15Zero Waste shows
13:17that it is possible to change
13:19the habits of consumption
13:21and to adopt more respectful practices
13:23of the environment.
13:27We are back on the green growth
13:29with Mr. Abdoulaye Sen
13:31in charge of labelling
13:33in Dakar
13:35of the project
13:37Risto Zero Waste.
13:39Mr. Sen, tell us concretely
13:41how the process
13:43of labelling
13:45has been carried out
13:47in order to reduce
13:49the pollution
13:51of the environment
13:53and the environment
13:55and how the process
13:57of labelling
13:59of the different restaurants
14:01recognized Zero Waste has been carried out?
14:03First, there is the pilot project
14:05of my restaurant Zero Waste
14:07which started with Copacabana.
14:09Then, to implement this project
14:11to extend it
14:13in several restaurants
14:15we decided
14:17to create three labels
14:19Zero Plastic Bottle,
14:21Zero Coffee Capsule,
14:23we have restaurants
14:25that are committed
14:27and the first step
14:29is the form
14:31of labelling.
14:33There is a form of labelling
14:35that we have put in place
14:37and the restaurant fills it
14:39and we automatically receive
14:41an email, a notification
14:43that a restaurant has filled
14:45the form of labelling.
14:47After that, we make
14:49calls to the restaurant
14:51for verification
14:53to see if all the commitments
14:55that are included in the labels
14:57are respected by the restaurant.
14:59You often go on the field
15:01to see for yourself
15:03if the restaurant respects
15:05the criteria of labelling.
15:07Yes, this is what we call
15:09the labelling visit.
15:11We will schedule this visit
15:13with the restaurant
15:15to check if the restaurant
15:17has put in place
15:19a label,
15:21two or three labels.
15:23If it does,
15:25we will label it
15:27Zero Waste Restaurant.
15:29It will be a restaurant
15:31that has a label,
15:33two or three.
15:35How does this initiative
15:37encourage innovation
15:39in waste management?
15:41When we talk about innovation
15:43in waste management,
15:45we are talking about alternative solutions
15:47to reduce the amount of waste.
15:49We have trouble managing
15:51the waste that we already produce.
15:53The best solution is to reduce
15:55the amount of waste.
15:57There are alternative solutions
15:59that we offer to restaurants.
16:01We work with the suppliers
16:03of these alternative solutions.
16:05We get feedback from restaurants.
16:07We send it to the suppliers
16:09and try to co-design
16:11something that will
16:13meet environmental needs
16:15when it comes to reducing waste.
16:17It will be an innovation.
16:19For example,
16:21we work with Pai Tifa
16:23in collaboration
16:25with Pai Tifa
16:27to try to improve the process
16:29and develop this.
16:31We do this with other alternative solutions suppliers.
16:33How many restaurants
16:35in Dakar or in Senegal
16:37have so far
16:39obtained the Zero Waste label?
16:41At the moment, there are
16:4340 Dakar restaurants that have obtained
16:45the Zero Waste label.
16:47They are, for example,
16:49in Angor, Almady,
16:51Plateau, Sacré-Cœur.
16:53We have a large
16:55distribution of restaurants
16:57in Dakar.
16:59There is still some satisfaction.
17:01Yes, because if we look
17:03at the beginning, we started
17:05with 11 restaurants.
17:07Now we have 38 in Dakar
17:09and 66 nationally.
17:11Have you been confronted with
17:13constraints and reluctance
17:15with some restaurants whose
17:17labelling process, like me,
17:19I prefer to keep my straws in plastic?
17:21Yes, there are some restaurants
17:23that give in to the whims of
17:25certain customers.
17:27In any case, we have 72 restaurants
17:29that have been labelled.
17:31We had to label 6 restaurants
17:33because
17:35there are renewal visits
17:37that we do every year.
17:39We do regular checks
17:41to check if all the
17:43commitments that were made at the beginning
17:45are still respected.
17:47Sometimes someone does not
17:49respect the commitments anymore
17:51and so sometimes it is de-labelled.
17:53Sometimes there are delays.
17:55How do you manage to bring them back on the right track?
17:57Before removing the label,
17:59for example,
18:01there is a call
18:03that is made.
18:05We call the restaurant to see
18:07if it was on occasion
18:09or if it is something
18:11where they want to disengage.
18:13We discuss
18:15the approach to adopt
18:17and if there is, for example,
18:19a break in these alternative solutions,
18:21we put it in touch
18:23with the supplier to avoid
18:25these breaks
18:27in these alternative solutions.
18:29Or a restaurant comes
18:31because, for example,
18:33they no longer want to engage.
18:35The restaurant changes manager
18:37and so sometimes these are the cases
18:39that we find the most frequent.
18:41If a manager changes and no longer has
18:43this environmental responsibility,
18:45it sometimes happens that he no longer engages
18:47in the process and so he is sometimes
18:49unfortunately de-labelled.
18:51In this process of labelling,
18:53what role does training and support play
18:55in the success
18:57of this type of project, Zero Waste?
18:59To implement this,
19:01we have a restaurant labelling team.
19:03We have four labelling teams
19:05in the different areas,
19:07but we also have a labelling team.
19:09We organise training
19:11for Zero Waste members
19:13who want to engage,
19:15to contribute to the cause,
19:17to accompany restaurants and others.
19:19We train them regularly
19:21on the approach to adopt,
19:23how to have a speech
19:25that will convince the restaurant
19:27to engage in the process.
19:29We do it every year
19:31at the Petite Côte.
19:33We train our
19:35labelling managers
19:37but also the labelling team
19:39to be able to
19:41make the project sustainable.
19:43How do you see the impact of this project
19:45on the entire restaurant industry,
19:47especially those operating
19:49on the beaches in Senegal?
19:51Yes, there is a link.
19:53For example, most of the restaurants labelled
19:55are next to the beach
19:57and therefore with plastic pollution
19:59we know that every year
20:01there are 8 million tonnes of plastic waste
20:03in the oceans.
20:05This will have consequences
20:07on marine biodiversity
20:09but also on tourism and restaurants.
20:11If the beach is not clean,
20:13if the beach is dirty,
20:15if the beach is full of plastic waste,
20:17it will not be good
20:19for the restaurants.
20:21Instead of attracting customers,
20:23it will be repulsive.
20:25This project comes in time
20:27to help reduce the amount
20:29of plastic waste they produce
20:31and especially the plastic waste
20:33with unique use.
20:35We support restaurants in this direction
20:37to reduce the maximum
20:39amount of waste they produce
20:41and thus avoid that this waste
20:43ends up in the ocean.
20:45If this waste ends up in the ocean,
20:47we all know the consequences
20:49and we support them in this direction.
20:51Speaking of beaches in Morocco,
20:53initiatives such as the Clean Beach Program
20:55aim to ensure the safety and cleanliness
20:57of more than a hundred popular beaches,
20:59thus favoring a healthy
21:01and monitored environment for visitors.
21:03What about Senegal?
21:05Can you give us
21:07similar examples?
21:09You who are in contact with actors
21:11engaged in environmental protection.
21:13Here, for example,
21:15we have restaurants
21:17that have other environmental commitments.
21:19There are not only
21:21the three labels of the project,
21:23but they also take
21:25other environmental commitments,
21:27such as beach cleaning.
21:29There are several restaurants
21:31that we accompany
21:33that do this beach cleaning.
21:35We, as Zero Waste,
21:37will participate in the beach cleaning,
21:39do a waste characterization
21:41and therefore focus on sensitization
21:43on this type of waste
21:45that we produce that will end up
21:47at the beach level and thus destroy
21:49the biodiversity.
21:51There is also the Zero Waste restaurant project,
21:53a clean beach area
21:55and also included?
21:57It is not totally included,
21:59but there is also
22:01the Zero Waste beach project
22:03that the association
22:05started to implement.
22:07For example,
22:09we started it in Dakar South Atlantic,
22:11which is a labeled restaurant.
22:13The restaurant invited us
22:15to do, as I said,
22:17a set-settle.
22:19A cleaning day.
22:21A beach cleaning day.
22:23After that,
22:25we brought the Zero Waste sensitization stand.
22:27The collected waste
22:29was sorted
22:31and then characterized
22:33to make a sensitization
22:35for the general public.
22:37This is also something that we will extend
22:39and continue this collaboration
22:41with other restaurants that contacted us
22:43to implement
22:45this Zero Waste beach.
22:47We will also work
22:49with other environmental associations
22:51to have more impact
22:53at the beach level, to have clean beaches
22:55that are less attractive and therefore
22:57that will have a maximum impact
22:59on the environmental level.
23:01The Zero Waste initiative is noble,
23:03but concretely, what are the economic benefits
23:05for restaurateurs
23:07who adopt these sustainable practices?
23:09For example, I will give you
23:11a concrete example. There is the Copacabana
23:13which has been labeled
23:15and has been accompanied for 9 months
23:17with the 3 labels.
23:19After that, we made an impact report
23:21to show what are the benefits
23:23that the restaurant has obtained.
23:25These are benefits of about 1,093,000 francs
23:27that the restaurant has had
23:29for a year
23:31of support with its project.
23:33This shows that
23:35being in the eco-responsible restaurant
23:37also has
23:39economic benefits.
23:41We can gain a lot
23:43by having the label
23:45Zero Plastic Bottles.
23:47Buying small plastic bottles
23:49for public use is much more expensive
23:51for the restaurant than buying
23:53a 19-liter can.
23:55There are also restaurants that have their 19-liter can
23:57filled with bottles in glass.
23:59This will have an impact
24:01on the economic level.
24:03It is much cheaper and therefore
24:05it has an impact on the environmental level.
24:07We produce less waste, but we also gain
24:09on the economic level.
24:11It requires an investment
24:13at the beginning, but it will be profitable
24:15because you will no longer have to
24:17buy these products.
24:19It just requires an investment
24:21at the beginning and therefore
24:23it will be profitable as it goes.
24:25According to you, what would be the impact
24:27of this initiative on other sectors
24:29such as hotel management or
24:31large distribution?
24:33We plan to work
24:35with the hotel management sector
24:37because we have a few hotels
24:39that are labelled
24:41or other houses
24:43that have labelled the restaurant
24:45Zero Plastic Bottles, especially at the police station.
24:47But we plan to extend it
24:49because we recently celebrated
24:51the 4th year of the project.
24:53In the future, for the 5th year,
24:55it will affect the hotel management sector
24:57and the service
24:59service providers,
25:01to accompany them in Zero Plastic Bottles
25:03to have a little more impact.
25:05They produce a lot of waste
25:07and so accompanying them in this process
25:09will have a lot more impact.
25:11So when we talk about the impact figures
25:13of the project, we have gained a lot more
25:15on the environmental level, on the health level
25:17but also in terms of visibility.
25:19So making these hotels,
25:21so self-responsible establishments,
25:23that too is something
25:25that we use
25:27to accompany them in this direction.
25:29Mr. Senna, before concluding this interview,
25:31tell us how the Senegal Zero Waste Project
25:33can it inspire other similar initiatives
25:35at the national and continental level?
25:37For example, the project
25:39was presented
25:41during the African Peoples' Contra Cup,
25:43an event that brought together
25:45more than thirty African countries.
25:47In terms of good practices
25:49on the level of self-responsible
25:51restoration,
25:53environmental projects
25:55to fight plastic pollution
25:57that worked,
25:59the Zero Waste Project
26:01has been put forward.
26:03After presenting the project,
26:05we have been solicited by several countries
26:07to try to extend
26:09the Zero Waste Project in these countries.
26:11As I said,
26:13with the fifth year
26:15of implementation of this project,
26:17we will extend,
26:19with the support of our
26:21buyers,
26:23to extend this project in other African countries
26:25to have the Zero Waste Project
26:27not only in Qatar,
26:29not only in Senegal,
26:31but also in Africa,
26:33and therefore extend this label in several countries.
26:35The prospects for the year 2025
26:37are very good. Thank you, Mr. Sen,
26:39for accepting this interview.
26:41Thank you to Mediatheque Unique for the invitation.
26:43And this is how this show ends,
26:45an excellent continuation of the programs on the Pan-African.