Local manufacturers need to improve their waste management practices in order to cut operating costs and boost their competitiveness in the region, according to top government officials.Mark Cyubahiro, the Director General of Rwanda Bureau of Standards (RBS), said this week that it is equally important for local companies to minimise invisible wastes such as time wasting. “Resource optimisation and standards maintenance should be a culture. There is a lot of waste in form of wasting time and energy among other forms,” he said.While celebrating the 11th annual international standards day under theme “Less waste, better results-standards increase efficiency”, Cyubahiro noted that one of RBS’ challenges was to change the poor attitude of manufacturers towards maintaining standards.Francois Kanimba, the Minister of Trade and Industry, encouraged RBS to broaden its nets for resource optimisation.“With our limited resources, waste and quality control is the way to go for Rwanda. We must optimise time and the services we offer,” the minister noted. According to Kanimba, international studies indicate that that resource optimisation can save up to 60 per cent of energy used globally.The minister warned that if Rwanda fails to comply with international standards, it will remain home to foreign products against her vision of becoming a competing exporter.
