If you’re looking for practical insights to setting up and scaling plastic waste initiatives, look no further. The SMEP-funded Flipflopi Project has launched a step-by-step guide to help recyclers build resilient, impact-driven recycling programmes. The Toolkit is available for free at toolkit.theflipflopi.com.
The scourge of waste plastics is a global issue, including in remote and coastal areas of sub-Saharan Africa. These locations are fraught with obstacles for plastic waste management solutions. It’s a challenging enough business in an urban centre with secure offtake markets for recycled products and logistically feasible collection systems, but take this to remote and coastal location, and a myriad of complexity arises. Logistical challenges range from navigating the purchase and delivery of heavy equipment such as extruders; dealing with poor or non-existent road infrastructure; and unreliable power and water supply.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for deeply rural contexts. Adaptable solutions are required to maintain commercial viability especially when the value of recycled plastic in relation to transport costs to market is unlikely to be sufficient to keep “business as usual” operations running sustainably in remote contexts. Cognisant of these myriad challenges, the SMEP Programme is pleased to announce the launch of the Flipflopi Toolkit: Recycling Solutions for Remote Communities. This is a free, practical guide designed to help small organisations think through, plan for, and overcome the toughest challenges in community-based plastic recycling.
Key topics covered include:
- Community outreach and participation
- Feedstock management – sorting, cleaning, and troubleshooting
- Fundamentals of recycling and plastic transformation – turning waste into useful products
- Enterprise development – understanding markets and managing finances
- Impact tracking, training, partnership building, policy advocacy, and campaigning
Alexa von Geusau, Programme Manager for SMEP, says “Having walked alongside Flipflopi in the establishment of this facility, we know that this team have valuable insights to share with other coastal and remote communities.” Drawing on the years of hands-on experience working in Kenya’s Lamu archipelago, the toolkit is practical, adaptable and, most of all, very accessible.
The process does not stop here. Learning exchanges are taking place and webinars, such as those recently hosted by BeWasteWise, ensure that the learning tool will adjust to accommodate hot topics and learning updates. Davina Ngei, Programme Manager at The Flipflopi Project, adds “By sharing what we’ve learned, we hope coastal and remote communities are better equipped to tackle plastic pollution ensuring flow of environmental, social, and economic benefits.”
Food for thought
be Waste Wise hosted a online discussion recently with recyclers, profiling SMEP-funded work as shared by Dipesh Pabari, and Gambia-based Alieu Sowe. Zoë Lenkiewicz shared some top take outs:
1️⃣ Start small and learn your valuable lessons before trying to scale.
2️⃣ It takes an entire ecosystem to make it work. That means working closely with your local municipality and even national government to build an enabling environment: policy (and importantly: policy implementation), community engagement, and market alignment are all vital pieces of the puzzle.
3️⃣ Plastic recyclers are delivering a public service and need support! Secure land tenure, reasonable rent, a suitable vehicle, a reliable electricity connection… these are things municipalities can help with.
4️⃣ Finance. The value of recycled plastic is barely (if at all) sufficient to keep operations running sustainably. Banks often see recycling enterprises as too high risk. Why? Because in many countries it’s a “young” industry with little track record. Again, governments and municipalities can help by creating and implementing policies that make recycling a promising investment. Note: it needs to be a “patient” investment. Donors please also recognise this – reaching financial sustainability in 2 years is the stuff of dreams. Please have realistic expectations.
5️⃣ Watch your cashflow. You need to make sure you can sell at a higher price than you pay for collection. Your sale price also needs to cover staff costs, rent, fuel, insurance and any capital costs like upgrading machinery.
Amanda Dinan
SMEP PMA Technical Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement, with inputs from the Flipflopi team
