Diageo, Unilever, others join forces to fight plastic waste in Africa

Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC’s parent company Diageo, has co-founded the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance to collaborate on plastics recycling and reprocessing in sub-Saharan Africa, with the explicit intent to focus on the economic opportunity it presents.

Diageo also partnered  consumer goods multinationals, including Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, Promisador and Nestlé, to launch the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance.

The launch took place on Monday, March  25,2019 in Kigali, Rwanda at the CEO Africa Forum.

This Alliance aims to turn the current challenge of plastic waste in sub-Saharan Africa into jobs and commercial activity by improving the collection and recycling of plastics.

The companies will facilitate and support their local subsidiaries to engage proactively in market level public-private partnerships, industry collaboration and alliances. They will share knowledge, encourage innovation and collaborate on technical and other solutions appropriate for sub-Saharan Africa as well as participate in local pilot initiatives.

Within the markets they operate in, the companies will also engage with the investment community, policymakers and others to accelerate the development and financing of the necessary waste management infrastructure and systems.

Speaking on behalf of the Alliance,Head of Diageo society in Africa,Gabriel Opoku -Asare 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 the packaging used ends up in the right place. 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. Collaboration within and across markets will be key to success so we are proud to launch the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance today to increase those efforts and play our part as companies in finding solutions that work for Africa.”