By Our Reporter
As part of its commitment to improving plastic waste management in the country, Plastic Recycling Industries Uganda Limited (PRI) an initiative of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) in Uganda, has signed a partnership deal with three community-based plastic collection, management, and recycling companies namely Yo-Waste, Ecoplastile and Asante Waste Management.
The newly signed partnership will see the three companies collaborate with CCBA to set-up more collection centers in the community and supply PRI with plastic collected.
Speaking at the MoU signing, Samuel Kangave, the Plastic Recycling Industries Plant Manager called upon the public to change their mindset toward plastic usage and management of the disposal process.
“The use of plastics is deeply embedded in our daily lives, but its mismanagement is a growing menace. We need to re-examine our behavior when it comes to the handling of plastic, at individual, household and even commercial levels. This is a problem that cannot be left just to the government and private sector. We all have a part to play,” Samuel Kangave cautioned.
“We are always looking for opportunities to partner with the public and other private sector players to realign priorities, rethink approaches and change mindsets towards viewing plastic as a valuable resource and business if managed well,” he added.
Rodney Makula, Founder and CEO Asante Waste Management said the company was founded in 2013 to manage and reduce waste while recovering valuable resources and reducing carbon imprint.
“We are happy to share the same values with a reputable and trusted entity such as Coca-Cola. As part of this partnership, we commit ourselves to have this initiative enforced and emphasized in the community and advocate for mindset change,” he said.
“This partnership will enable us to expand our recycling capacity from 30 to approximately 150 metric tonnes of plastic per month by working with at least 1,050 informal plastic waste collectors including youth and women in our communities. Our partnership with PRI involves us becoming one of the off-takers thereby consuming the plastic that PRI is unable to take on and we use this plastic to make roofing tiles. We also supply PRI with PET bottles so it’s a win-win sort of partnership,” said Frank Kamugyisha, the Founder and CEO Eoplastile.
Yo-Waste Limited is a tech company that helps connect businesses and retail customers at home to reliable garbage collection and recyclers. The company was incorporated as a startup by five Makerere university Computer science undergrad students in 2019 to implement their research projects in the community.
According to Kirunda Magoola, Public Affairs & Communication Director at CCBA, under the ‘World without Waste’ campaign, Uganda has continued to register commendable progress collecting at least 78% of the plastic produced.
“Sustainability and promoting inclusivity are at the core of what we do. We are inspired daily by our purpose ‘Refresh the world. Make a difference,’ by doing business in a sustainable way thereby building a circular economy. We take responsibility as members of the community and seek to work with our people; employees, partners, suppliers, and the community to find solutions that benefit all while refreshing our community. We value inclusivity and are happy to note that many women and youth are benefiting from the plastic recycling chain from the grassroots,” he concluded.
In 2021, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa made progress in its waste collection and recycling efforts achieving a 58% recycling rate for FY2021 despite the COVID-19 imposed challenges. The recyclability of the packaging is at more than 95%, tracking ahead of the global target of 100% by 2025 under the campaign ‘World without Waste’.