Upland Rice Millers (U) Ltd is a miller based in Jinja Uganda and deals with milling of paddy rice. The miller was a beneficiary of industrial symbiosis solution for generated rice husks. The start of a pilot project on Enhancing Resource Productivity and Environmental performance of MSMEs in Uganda provided a platform for supporting these activities. Implemented by Africa Round Table on Sustainable Consumption and Production in partnership with Uganda Cleaner Production Centres the project was supported by the European Union. The Switch Africa Green programme therefore, came at the right time.
The programme enabled the rice miller to procure a new complete burner and drying unit that uses husks to dry paddy rice to aid with its efficient production. The miller also replaced the old burner which used diesel while also creating synergies with other enterprises. As a result of these measures, Greenhouse gases emission reduced due to a shift from use of fossil fuel to use of rice husks as fuel. The environment also improved due to an elimination of flyoffs from the rice husks.
Waste management of both industrial and domestic employs a linear approach where waste is generated and disposed of in designated dumpsites. Uganda is facing rapid urbanization and increasing population at a rate of 5.1% and 3.3% per annum respectively, leading to overcrowding and the development of slums and informal settlements with poor waste management practices. Waste generation increases with increasing population growth and urbanization and authorities are now overwhelmed by the sheer volume of waste generated. In this regard, there is a need to eliminate the unnecessary use of raw materials and the need to support sustainable product design, resource efficiency and waste prevention. This can only be done through re-using products where possible and recovering value from products when they reach the end of their life span through recycling, composting or energy recovery.
Through synergies created with companies such as Karilo Sugar Factory, Abacus Parental Drug Ltd, Tembo Steel Ltd and Biyinzika International Ltd, the company got rid of rice husks and generated an addition annual revenue of up to USD 30,252 from rice husks waste.
Initially the grains were dried using fossil burners which used 28 litres of diesel per hour, 8hrs a day and 10 days in a month with a combined consumption of 2,240Lts per month. By taking these measures, the miller was able to save USD 22,588 annually including lowering Carbon dioxide emissions. The company has also generated an average added revenue of about USD 65,000 annually from the sale the sale of rice bran. Upland Rice Millers has so far invested about USD 60,000 in procurement of a drier that uses rice husks as fuel to replace an old one that used fossil fuels. The miller has managed to improve the working environment of the workforce due to eliminated flyoffs from the heaps of rice husks and created green jobs. Now the company employs 48 people; 36 men and 12 women.
“When they came to us, SWITCH Africa Green wanted us to measure every aspect of our activities,” says Ambassador Philip Idro, Chief Executive Officer of Upland Rice Millers Ltd. “They taught us the importance of using waste because in the end we discovered it was not waste. From that time, we have been exporting a lot of rice bran to Kenya, and this has become an extra source of revenue.”
While potential matches for implementation of industrial symbiotic synergies remains a great challenge, the rice miller plans to buy a boiler and steam turbine for a 2 MW capacity co- generation of electricity and drying of paddy using husks. This will result to a reduction of cost of power USD 4 cents per kilowatt hour, instead of the current USD 16 cents paid out now. The extra power produced will be sold to neighbours to increase its profitability.
Industrial symbiosis is a necessary tool for all enterprises in Uganda since it solves the challenges of waste management in an economically sustainable manner.
“They brought all the industries together and during those sessions, you would find that you have raw materials which is waste to others, and through the process of industrial symbiosis, we were able to find markets for people who require husks, and now rice husks are in big demand,” adds Philip. “We have also got a new revenue stream of revenue from there, and these are sold to a lot of programs. We realized we could now seriously look at each other, not as competitors, but as essential partners in industrial growth, and I think that is a very beautiful method of co-existence in this industry.”
