Briquettes

There are two ways that we will use to produce briquettes, the first is using the charcoal dust and fine material that is leftover from charcoal making and the second is using waste from crop production and other organic material like grass.

When a charcoal kiln is finally cool and when it is broken open, there is plenty of dust and small pieces of charcoal that are left at the kiln site. This material will be now swept up and bagged in regular grain bags. Care must be taken not to contaminate the charcoal fines with the dirt used to cover the kiln. These bags of fines are then taken to the community forest depot in the village along with the charcoal produced in the kiln. The community forests will then be paid for the fines along with the charcoal. They will then pay the charcoal makers and transport. All other fees and levees will be deducted at this time. From the depot, it will be then transported to the briquette making facility located closer to population centres and made into briquettes, and packaged ready for sale. The product will be sold in bags specifically made for charcoal and briquettes. They will be bio degradable and come with handles and branded with a ‘sustainable made product’ label. Each bag from 5 to 30 kilos will have a barcode attached and this data will be used for tracking the product to the end-user. Product will be shipped to warehouses in population centres and sold to charcoal dealers and merchants.

The second method to produce briquettes will be from agriculture waste and other organic material found in and around the community forest. This method will be introduced as job creation at the community level. The briquettes from this material will be manufactured in the community and sold locally. Already there are enterprising individuals that are producing briquettes for local markets such as chicken farms and households.