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
Finding a sustainable solution to rapid diagnostic tests for neglected diseases
A Consulting, the global innovation and transformation consultancy, partnered with Global Access Diagnostics Ltd (GAD) to displace single-use plastic in lateral flow tests (diagnostic cassettes) by replacing them with a cellulose fibre-based product, and ultimately producing these from local agricultural waste.
The Ghana Clean-up Project
RiverRecycle Oy, in collaboration with Beach Clean-up Ghana Ltd and Ambitious Africa, is implementing river cleaning technology to collect plastic waste in the Kpeshi Lagoon, engaging the local community in a land-based collection system and creating value for the plastic waste collected by utilising the waste as feedstock for mechanical
The Flipflopi Project: Mitigating Plastic Pollution through Heritage Boat Building
The Flipflopi project has teamed up with key partners to tackle marine ecosystem health and sustainability challenges by combining indigenous knowledge with modern innovation by constructing traditional sailing and motorised vessels, as well as traditional furniture from plastic waste. The project is called Mitigating Plastic Pollution through Heritage Boat Building.
