 How We Work

 Country Programs
o Burkina Faso
o Cambodia
o Caribbean
o Colombia
o Côte d’Ivoire
o Costa Rica
o Ethiopia
o Fiji
o Guyana
o Hungary
o India
o Indonesia
o Jordan
o Kiribati
o Lao PDR
o México
o Mongolia
o Morocco
o Mozambique
o Myanmar
o Nepal
o Pacific
o Papua New Guinea
o Peru
o Philippines
o Qatar
o Rwanda
o Senegal
o Thailand
o Tonga
o Uganda
o United Arab Emirates
o Vanuatu
o Viet Nam

 
  Global Practice
o Green Investment Services (GIS)
o Climate Action and Inclusive Development (CAID)
o Carbon Pricing Unit (CPU)
o Greenpreneurs
o GGGI: GCF Portfolio

 Thematic Strategies: Communities of Practice

o Waste
o Solar Energy
o Sustainable Transport
o Green Buildings and Industry
o Forest (Sustainable) Landscapes
o Gender and Inclusive Development

 Projects

 News

 Knowledge
o Flagship Publications
o Webinars and Training
o Presentation Slides
o Interviews & Articles

SEARCH

Powered by
News

Can Uganda end plastic pollution?

The common talk is what can we do to end poor solid waste management in Uganda. The
only question would be, what are you doing about it? On February 13, 2020, GGGI Uganda
joined other environmentalists to officially walk the talk to beat plastic pollution.

The speaker of parliament of Uganda Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga officially flagged off the
#EarthHourug 2020 walk against plastic pollution in Kampala. She was joined by the
Minister of State for Water, from the Ministry of Environment, Hon. Beatrice Anywar joined
the walk from city square to KCCA Lugogo grounds.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Water and Environment, WWF Uganda and the
Kampala Capital City Authority. The walk was joined by many environmental protection and
advocacy bodies including the urban and rural school-going children, youth go green,
Environment and social safeguards international, among others.

Plastic pollution is currently one of the biggest environmental concerns due to the rise of
single-use plastics. It has toxic pollutants that damage the environment and cause land, water,
and water pollution. The waste pickers and loaders pack the valuables into separate bags and
tie them on top of the collection trucks and sell them to waste dealers located on the roadside
in-route to Kiteezi landfill, which is the only landfill in Uganda serving Kampala and the near
suburbs. Since sorting is not part of their official job description, the pickers and loaders’
segregation efforts are minimal and haphazard which is why much of the valuable waste ends
up in the landfill after all. The problem of solid waste accumulation at the landfill continues
to rise day by day. Yet, seemingly, recycling activity in Uganda especially Kampala is still
happening on a small scale.

According to GGGI’s Kampala MSW Value Chain Mapping report, there are over 30
companies registered as plastic recycling companies in Uganda. Most of these are engaged in
the recycling of PET, Polyethylene (both HDPE and LDPE) and Polypropylene (PP). PET is
the most recycled plastic in Uganda. Four major companies are involved in turning PET into
PET flake for export to China and India mainly for use in making polyester fabric. They
manufacture PET flakes mostly for export to China and to a lesser extent, recycle HDPE
blow to feed local manufacturing of plastic products such as jerry cans, basins, and bottle
caps. The four companies export ~582MT in total per month, worth $250k. The largest
recycler of PET is PRI, an offshoot of Coca-Cola with 45% market share of PET exports
operating at 50% capacity.

Paper and cardboard recycling is also happening at a small scale, whereas metal is the most
established recycling industry in Uganda, driven by growth in the construction industry as
well as welding and fabrication in the informal foundry sector. The Polythene bag
(“Kaveera”) industry has experienced turmoil, with a government ban that the government
has not been successful in implementing. Ugandans have continuously failed to implement
the ban on Kaveera. The industry has a lobby group Uganda Plastic Manufacturers and
Recyclers Association (UPMRA) comprised of 45 manufacturers and recyclers of Kaveera.
Organic waste that is turned into compost ends up in small farms while that which is turned
into briquettes is used by institutions such as restaurants and schools for cooking.
Plastic Recycling Industries Uganda Limited (PRI), the largest plastic recycling company in
Uganda, in partnership with KCCA, has created a model that creates and supports a CBO to
collect plastics at the household level. Nearly all waste collected from households and
institutions is mixed or unsorted waste. When a waste collection truck pick up waste, the
collector’s employees or “Loaders” quickly rummage through the waste and extract as much
of the valuables as possible; most especially plastics (e.g. PET bottles, plastic containers,
Kaveera and metal (e.g. aluminum, copper and steel).

Most plastic recyclers also recycle used jerrycans, plastic plates etc. used in making new
products. 22% of PRI’s recycling material is HDPE (its second-largest product). HDPE is not
easily available, and its scarcity is reflected in its price of 850/= to 1,050/= ($0.24 – $0.29)
per kg. This may be due to the long-lasting nature of the products e.g. jerrycans, plastic plates
etc. The recycled resin is sold locally to manufacturers such as Victoria Nile (for Jerrycans),
Mukwano (for bottle caps), and even local plastic floor tile manufacturers.

This is an opportunity to form partnerships with companies that deal in plastic recycling and
create green jobs in composting, while diverting waste away from the landfill. The Green
Growth Event guidelines advocate for change in lifestyles and events that are use reusable
such as dishes, (no paper, plastic or polystyrene cups, no paper napkins or table covers, no
plastic cutlery or bottles. “Let us go green, our actions count.”

Now our question is, can we end plastic pollution in Uganda? So you now know.

DATE

 February 20, 2020

COUNTRIES

 Uganda
THEMATIC AREAS

 Green Cities
 
 Forest (Sustainable) Landscapes
CATEGORIES

 In the News
 
 Press Releases
TAGS

 #Plasticfree #Earthhourug2020
SEARCH
SHARE / FOLLOW
  TWITTER
 FACEBOOK

RECEIVE UPDATES

Subscribe

 How We Work

 Country Programs

 
Meanwhile, in Uganda, there are many plastic manufacturers producing different categories
of products from tires to plastic floor tiles. Among these factories, plastic bottle
manufacturers for water packaging are growing fast. The average production capacity of a
plastic bottling factory is 30,000 bottles per hour, making the total bottle production in the
country very high annually. The production is growing year by year with the introduction of
new factories and all of these bottles are not recycled properly and end at the landfills and
incinerators. Previous works suggest the addition of plastics in soils not only improve the
compressibility of the soil but also increases the load bearing capacity of sandy soil in road
construction. This research uses clay type soils instead of sandy soils.
In this study, the waste products from plastic bottle materials (polyethylene Terephthalate
fibres) were managed to be recycled and modified as synthetic reinforcement fibres for soils.
The usage of these plastic strips is reasonable, cost-effective and constantly available.