Plastic pollution has cut down electricity in Congo

The Ruzizi dam is polluted by using thousands of bottles, cans and different objects thrown into the lake.

amongst rolling hills across the southern tip of majestic Lake Kivu, big layers of plastic waste ride the water and block the generators of the largest hydroelectric plant in jap Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ruzizi dam is polluted by hundreds of bottles, cans and other objects thrown into the lake, which stretches 90 kilometres alongside the border between DR Congo and Rwanda.

"for the reason that lake flows in the direction of the Ruzizi River, all the waste thrown into it comes right here little by little," Lievin Chizungu, manufacturing supervisor on the dam's strength station, instructed AFP.

The mountainous terrain and wet climate round lakeside Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province, do not assist.

"The rainwater includes the waste into the lake and then into the river," Jovy Mulemangabo, an engineer for the countrywide electricity business enterprise (SNEL) in south Kivu, instructed AFP.

Chizungu says piles of waste can "attain a depth of 14 meters." Divers clean the river bed to maintain debris from clogging the mills. If waste receives trapped, cities inside the region are deprived of electricity.

different employees easy the surface, using barges.

"i have been doing this task for 13 years," Byunanine Mubalama informed AFP. "every day there is rubbish I need to clean up.”

however it is not sufficient. one of the 4 gadgets in the plant changed into broken through debris at the end of January, and it's miles still down.

"The impact is massive. we've got a deficit of 6.three megawatts out of 30 overall MW that we need to produce not simplest for South Kivu, but also for neighbouring North Kivu province and for Burundi," Chizungu stated.

rubbish also precipitated an alternator to fail at the Ruzizi 2 strength plant approximately 25 km south of Bukavu. With the damage at both plant life, they are 20 MW quick, Chizungu stated.