Luanda — The southern Province of Huíla will host, next year, the 4th edition of "Expo Recicla", as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Angola's independence, November 11.

The announcement was made this Sunday, in Luanda, by the chairwoman of the board of directors of the National Waste Agency (ANR), Nelma Caetano, at the closing ceremony of the third edition of Expo Recicla, held from the 29th to the 30th of this month.

She said that they will soon start working on the first details at a local level, taking into account that the event will bring together representatives from all over the country.

Nelma Caetano justified the choice of Huíla Province based on the results achieved in terms of waste management, within the framework of the exceptional door-to-door collection model, which made it possible to identify harvesting periods and increase the degree of participation and involvement of collectors.

Studies from 2023 point to an average per capita production of 0.59 kilos of waste daily per inhabitant, which amounts to more than 19k tons per day.

As regulators, said the source, we want waste producers to separate them to facilitate collection, in order to have a higher level of use and recovery.

"We are training and empowering people in schools, universities, churches, homes and neighborhoods, an initiative that we count on with several partners to be successful", she highlighted.

The official asked the population to report, to municipal administrations, citizens who do not dispose of waste properly, as it is an administrative transgression.

On the other hand, Nelma Caetano said that the third edition of the expo exceeded the figure of 100 million Kwanzas ($1 = 849 Kz), as a result of the participation of 80 exhibitors, including waste recovery artists, service providers, academic institutions and foundations.

She also informed that, in the coming days, the material and financial balance of the current edition of the expo will be made, which included the participation of the provinces of Luanda, Cuanza-Norte, Bengo, Huíla, Malanje and Namibe.

However, she made a positive assessment of the event, opened on Saturday by the minister of the Environment, Ana Paula de Carvalho, having seen that each edition has something different to be displayed.

As an example, she spoke about the space aimed at children "Residolândia", within the framework of the educate to recycle project, implemented in seven provinces of the country, as one of the innovations of this exhibition.

The first edition of Expo Recicla took place back in 2021, with the participation of 50 exhibitors and more than a thousand visitors.

The second happened in 2023, registering a greater number of visitors and exhibitors, with a turnover valued at more than 100 million Kwanzas.

The independence of Angola was proclaimed on November 11, 1975, by António Agostinho Neto, who became the first President of the Republic.