SMEP Projects
A full list of all SMEP Projects can be found below.
The SMEP programme contracts research and funds pilot projects that are implementing solutions to mitigate manufacturing pollution and plastics wastes in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These projects are diverse in their approaches and are led by a range of organisation types. The central objective of the work is to implement and test solutions, be they business models or technologies or a combination, and to prove effective pollution mitigation and viability for wider uptake.
Through SMEP’s targeted procurement calls, a total of 27 projects have been selected for funding across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to pilot solutions within one of SMEP’s five intervention areas: Plastics Waste, Organic Waste and Water, Textiles, Tanneries and Used Lead Acid Batteries.
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia
The Agrimulch Project
Biodegradable Fishing Nets
Biodegradable Fishing Nets
The Flipflopi Project
The Ghana Clean-up Project
The Fresh Produce Impact Hub (FreshPPact)
The Plastic-to-Ghar Project
The GIVO-Warwick Project
Eco-friendly Roofing Materials
The B-Prism Project
Scaling RECP in Nairobi Rivers
Assessing biogas feasibility at RioFish
A Multi-technology Organic Waste Solution
Complete Pineapple Waste Solutions
Biochar Production from Food & Beverage Waste
Wastewater Treatment in Plastics Recycling
Recycling Used Lead-Acid Batteries
Enhancing Wastewater Management
Zero Liquid Discharge Technology
Uganda Circular Textiles
Reverse Resources
SAFECONOMY
BANATEX-EA
The Green Tannery Initiative
LeatherTrace Bangladesh
Improving Environmental/Social Conditions in Savar
Traceability, Cleaner Production and Circularity
Notes maps are not to scale. Countries in green are those where SMEP-funded projects are being implemented. While a high-level overview of project themes can be found on this map, the information is not exhaustive. For more detailed information on individual projects, please visit the relevant project page below.
SMEP's individual project pages
The Green Tannery Initiative: Enzymatic unhairing and sustainable waste utilisation in the Ethiopian Leather Sector
The global leather industry is at a critical point in adopting sustainable practices to reduce its environmental impact. Recognising this, the CSIR-CLRI and consortium partners aim to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of the Ethiopian leather sector throught eh Green Tannery Initiative.
Banatex-EA: Sustainable Textiles through Upscaling and Commercialisation of Banana Fibre Value addition in East Africa
The BANATEX-EA project aims to bridge the gap between global fibre demand and supply through aiming to produce a good quality spinnable fibre from banana residues.
LeatherTrace Bangladesh: Traceable and circular leather production in Bangladesh
This project seeks to address key environmental impacts from the tanneries and leather sector by developing and piloting a digitised traceability and environmental footprint system that will assist tanneries in Bangladesh to transition to more sustainable methods of production in their manufacturing processes.
Savar Tanneries Project: Improving environmental and social conditions in the Tannery Industrial Estate in Savar, Bangladesh
The tanneries sector is critical to Bangladesh’s economy, but the industry has many environmentally destructive practices, such as the dumping of toxic waste into water sources, that lead to detrimental environmental and health impacts. The Ethical Trading Initiative, and consortium partners, are aiming to address these challenges by working with
Pakistan Leather Sustainability: Traceability, Cleaner Production and Circularity
The project aims at addressing pollution and human impacts associated with Pakistan leather sector by enhancing the manufacturing process and building capacity of public sector and value chain players through a three-pronged approach. It includes the development of a digital traceability toolkit, creating circular products from waste and decreasing pollution
SAFECONOMY: Reinventing the Textile Circular Economy
The University of Northumbria, along with its consortium partners, proposes to address the release of hazardous chemicals into the environment from textiles manufacturing wastewater through piloting an innovative Molecular Distortion Technology for treating textile wastewater in Pakistan, a textiles manufacturing hotspot.