Industrialists have been urged to adopt proper business practices and devise more measures to save the environment.

The Director General of Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Eng. Coletha Ruhamya, who was on Friday speaking at the awarding ceremony of industries that came up with cleaner production technologies in water use, energy, waste water, and material and solid waste management, said they sensitise new industries to set up technologies that will not pollute the air, soil and water.

"The industrial sector should realise that raw materials come from environment, this is why we call upon them to preserve it for crosscut interests,” she said at the awards in Kigali where BRALIRWA emerged the overall winner.

Jean Pierre Uwizeye, the external communication officers at BRALIRWA, said they always think of services that would bring positive impacts to the company, its surrounding and the country.

"This is why we started a new strategy called ‘Growing a Better World ‘ which aimed at better management of water, energy and waste. This resulted in purifying used water for reuse in irrigating our gardens and in cleaning activities. On the same trend we introduced safety at work programme for our employees’ security,” he said.

Uwizeye said they started the programme in 2013 and every year they set targets which help them to run the programme well.

"When you are using energy, you have to think about effects that could follow,” he added, calling on other companies to emulate such initiatives.

Trade and Industry minister Francois Kanimba said adoption of resource efficient and cleaner production by entities especially those in the private sector is a bridge toward achieving targets specified in Private Sector Development Strategy, Visions 2020; and thereby contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals on poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

He promised to support the national cleaner production centre in mainstreaming resource efficient and cleaner production (RECP) programme in order to reduce pollution. 

Kanimba said, in the future, some of the components of resource efficient and cleaner production will be measured and then industries which will not meet the requirements will be penalised.

"Though our country’s effect in air pollution is still low compared to developed countries, we should continue to work hard to avoid any hazardous effects from our industries,” Kanimba added.

The RECP programme is a preventative environmental strategy to address low productivity and high pollution intensity of industries.

The national cleaner production centre is mandated to build capacities of industries and Small Medium Enterprises for waste minimisation and efficient utilisation of resources through the adoption of the Resource efficient and cleaner production technologies. 

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