Dow announced it has invested in the recycling company Mr. Green Africa to enable further diversion of plastic waste from informal dumpsites and the environment, drive positive change in local communities, address inadequacies in existing waste management systems and close the loop on plastics waste across Africa.

This investment is a first of its kind for Dow on the continent, and expects to enable approximately 90 kilotons (kt) of plastic waste to be recovered over four years and recycled into new packaging applications. At full scale, the investment is expected to create approximately 200 more direct jobs, impact the lives of 5,000 waste pickers and engage more than 250,000 consumers in separation at source programmes.

With the support from Dow and other investors, Mr. Green Africa plans to expand its operations in Kenya where it is headquartered as well as in other countries in Africa, further extending the capabilities of its recycling efforts across the continent, as per the statement.

In addition, Dow and the recycler also aim to co-develop more traceable, fair, high-quality post-consumer recyclate (PCR) that can be used in the production of new flexible plastic packaging – helping brand owners and other plastic manufacturers achieve their goals towards sustainable packaging solutions in Africa. The recycler converts locally collected plastic waste into high-quality PCR (Post Consumer Recyclates) which is then sold as a substitute for imported virgin plastics to help to close the loop on plastic waste. Alongside Dow, Mr. Green Africa works closely with brand owners and third-party plastics manufacturers to access ethically sourced, locally produced PCR, and support companies in meeting their sustainability targets.

“Our partnership with Mr. Green Africa is testament to our commitment to play our part in solving the plastics waste issue in Africa, where waste collection and sorting is a real challenge. We are delighted to announce this milestone in our continued collaboration with Mr. Green Africa, which will enable us to have an even greater impact on diverting plastic waste from landfill and giving this valuable material a second life,” said Marco ten Bruggencate, Dow’s Commercial Vice President for Packaging and Specialty Plastics for EMEA. “We’re fully committed to advancing the circular economy for plastics in Africa and the rest of the world to mitigate the negative impacts of environmental degradation, in line with our global sustainability goals.”

Dow’s partnership with Mr. Green Africa officially launched in November 2019 in Kenya and was specifically established to drive the collection and recycling of flexible packaging, which was not supported by existing systems.  

By incentivizing waste pickers with a higher, stable income through a fair-trade plastic waste sourcing model, establishing sorting centres that allow them to bring plastic waste in for payment, and then enabling this waste to be processed in recycling centres, the partnership is expected to make material recovery significantly more effective in the region.  

“Collaborations such as this are incredibly important for us at Dow, because alongside our industry partners, we can tackle the all-important plastic waste challenge, create a market for flexibles and support local reclaimers to have an additional income stream from previously uncollected material,” commented Adwoa Coleman, Dow’s Africa Sustainability and Advocacy Manager for Packaging and Specialty Plastics.