UGANDA – Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, has signed an agreement with Yo-Waste, Ecoplastile and Asante Waste Management to reduce plastic waste pollution in Kampala.
The newly signed partnership will see the three companies collaborate with CCBA to set up more collection centers in the community and supply Plastic Recycling Industries (PRI) with plastic collected.
According to Kirunda Magoola, Public Affairs & Communication Director at CCBA, under the ‘World without Waste’ campaign, Uganda has continued to register commendable progress in collecting at least 78% of the plastic produced.
The campaign targets to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one sold by 2030 turning 50% into recycled materials.
“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,” said Magoola.
“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 added.
Commenting on the deal, Rodney Makula, Founder and CEO of Asante Waste Management noted that his company is committed to reducing waste while recovering valuable resources and reducing carbon imprint.
In addition, he noted that Asante Waste Management shares the same values with a reputable and trusted entity such as Coca-Cola.
The joint initiative will also help Eoplastile to expand its 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, notes Frank Kamugyisha, the Founder and CEO of Eoplastile.
“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,” added Kamugyisha.
The third company, 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 start-up by five Makerere university Computer science undergraduate students in 2019 to implement their research projects in the community.
The initiative is one of the many partnerships and projects needed to reduce carbon print in the country by embracing a circular economy.
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’.
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