The Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance has been established by various international consumer goods companies such as Diageo, Unilever, Coca Cola and Nestlé, in a bid to better deal with plastic waste in Sub Saharan Africa.
Image: Major international consumer goods companies such as Diageo, Unilever, Coca Cola and Nestlé have joined Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance. Photo: courtesy of Nestlé.
By addressing the current challenge of plastic waste, the alliance intends to create jobs and commercial activity by improving the collection and recycling of plastics in Sub Saharan Africa.
The Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance has been formed for companies to facilitate and support local subsidiaries to involve proactively in market level public private partnerships, industry collaboration and alliances.
The alliance will also help to share knowledge, promote innovation and collaborate on technical and other solutions suitable for Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as involve in local pilot initiatives.
It will also allow to engage with the investment community, policy makers and others to optimize the development and financing of the necessary waste management infrastructure and systems.
In a statement, the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance said: “Plastics will remain an important packaging material if we are to give African consumers the safe and affordable products they need. However, we need to ensure that used packaging does not end up as litter.
“Unfortunately, a lack of collection and recycling capacity in many African markets coupled with growing populations is creating a growing problem of plastics waste. We see an opportunity to tackle that problem in a way that creates jobs and reduces dependency on imported materials while alternatives to plastics are developed.”
Nestlé noted that the alliance target is in line with the company’s commitment to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.
The alliance will also allow Nestlé’ to accelerate its initiatives in the Sub-Saharan African region to make waste-free future.
With the support of alliance, Nestlé will actively participate in organizations such as Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) to enhance waste management practices in Ghana, as well as The Food & Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) to establish an industry compliance model on the Extended Producer Responsibility program in Nigeria.