Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

    March 21, 2023

    Obi mounts legal challenge to Nigeria’s presidential election result

    March 21, 2023

    One student killed, 200 people arrested in Kenya protests -police

    March 21, 2023
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Home
    • About Us
      • Profile
      • The Team
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
    • Contact Us
    • Regions
      • Ghana
      • Nigeria
      • Kenya
      • South Africa
      • Europe
      • United Kingdom
      • USA (North America)
    Trending
    • Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’
    • Obi mounts legal challenge to Nigeria’s presidential election result
    • One student killed, 200 people arrested in Kenya protests -police
    • African Development Fund provides grant to modernise payments infrastructure and systems in Liberia
    • African Union takes steps to stamp out witchcraft attacks
    • Son of Namibian gay couple in citizenship limbo after court ruling
    • Young poets lend their talents to promote peace, marking the 75th anniversary of UN peacekeeping
    • South African clean energy start-ups woo investors in London
    0 Shopping Cart
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Africa BriefingAfrica Briefing
    Resources
    Support Us
    • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Energy
    • Technology
    • CryptoTech
      • Crypto News
      • Startups & Companies
      • Crypto Currencies
      • DeFi
      • Metaverse
      • NFTs
    • More
      • Videos
      • Opinion
    • Magazine
    Home » Trailblazing African innovators awarded £4 million to curb plastic pollution and protect the ocean
    Partner Content (AMA)

    Trailblazing African innovators awarded £4 million to curb plastic pollution and protect the ocean

    Nine projects from across sub-Saharan Africa named winners of the Afri-Plastics Challenge by the Government of Canada and Challenge Works. Winners include scale-ups providing new income streams to local families collecting recyclables and innovators converting plastic waste into affordable cooking gas. Biodegradable bioplastics made from invasive weeds growing in Lake Victoria, homeware products made from coconut fibre, and a diapers-on-demand service – making cloth nappies an easy option for new parents – also share in the prize. Projects that encourage fashion designers to make sustainable choices, virtual reality storytelling to influence behavior change and a mobile app that awards cash incentives for recycling have also been successful.
    Editorial StaffBy Editorial StaffMarch 16, 2023Updated:March 16, 2023No Comments15 Views
    Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Telegram WhatsApp
    CHALLENGE Works and the government of Canada announced Thursday the winners of the Afri-Plastics Challenge. £4.1 million has been awarded to innovators with scalable innovations that tackle plastic waste in Africa and reduce the volume of pollution making its way to the ocean.

    £1 million has been awarded to Togo’s Green Industry Plast (GIP-TOGO) – a recycling business that helps households earn a living through waste plastic collection. GIP-TOGO then sorts, shreds, cleans and bags the shredded plastic to be used again, including in ecological paving slabs.

    Kenya’s Chemolex has won £750,000 to scale production of Biopactic, a biodegradable alternative to plastic made from invasive water hyacinths that grow aggressively in Lake Victoria. The next generation material can completely replace single use plastic in food and product packaging – not only reducing plastic pollution, but dealing with an invasive plant impacting Kenya’s marine ecosystem too.

    £500,000 has been won by Mega Gas in Kenya which converts waste plastic into an affordable cooking gas for people living on less than $1 a day. It uses a thermal cracking process that creates no emissions, residue or pollution to turn plastic pollution, such as polythene, into a fuel for rural families.

    Tris Dyson, Managing Director, Challenge Works said: ’11 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the ocean each year. It is a disaster for the environment and for communities reliant on healthy seas. The winners of the Afri-Plastics Challenge are putting African innovation at the heart of solving this global problem.

    ‘We are awarding more than £4 million to businesses that are already doubling recycling rates thanks to the Afri-Plastics Challenge while providing new sources of income for families, pioneering companies converting invasive plants in Lake Victoria into biodegradable materials and businesses creating affordable cooking gas from trash.’

    Christopher Thornley, Canada’s High Commissioner in Nairobi added: ‘Plastic pollution is an issue that affects everyone. Plastics that make their way into the marine ecosystem are just as damaging whether they originated in Mombasa or Montreal, Lagos or London. The winners of the Afri-Plastics Challenge show there is a way forward for establishing a successful circular economy for plastic waste, with innovations capable of changing how we all use and dispose of plastic – not only in Africa but around the world.’

    Launched in July 2021, the Afri-Plastics Challenge received 1,141 entries from innovators across sub-Saharan Africa. The 40 most promising teams were backed with an additional £4.8 million of seed funding, grants and support to develop solutions to increase plastic recycling rates, reduce volumes of plastic waste, and influence behaviour change ahead of today’s announcement.

    The successful innovations developed through the Afri-Plastics Challenge have paved the way to revolutionise Africa’s approach to reducing the reliance on plastic. They are also supporting the empowerment of women and girls by creating economic opportunities for women. 60% of entries that made it to the final 40 were women-led.

    Other winners of the Afri-Plastic Challenge are:

    • Chanja Datti (Nigeria) – awarded £750,000 – based in Abuja, it converts collected recyclable waste into commercially viable products. It collects, sorts and bails plastic before selling it on to manufacturers.
    • EcoCoCo Homecare (Kenya) – awarded £250,000 – it has developed alternatives to plastic homeware products that use fibres from coconut husks left over from coconut oil production, including scouring pads, scrubbing brushes and brooms.
    • Toto Safi (Rwanda) – awarded £100,000 – a diapers-on-demand service which makes sustainable cloth diapers a realistic alternative to single-use plastic-based nappies. Through its app, parents can order clean and sterilised nappies at an affordable cost, while used nappies are taken away to be cleaned.
    • Catharina Natang (Cameroon) – awarded £250,000 – training fashion designers in Africa to make sustainable choices in the textiles they use and understand plant-based alternatives to polymer-based materials.
    • Ukwenza VR (Kenya) – awarded £250,000 – uses virtual reality to explain the journey of a piece of plastic after it is dumped, including the damage it does to local environments, to persuade people to make different choices around plastic consumption and disposal.
    • Baus Taka Enterprise (Kenya) – awarded £250,000 – developed a mobile app to encourage people to segregate their plastic waste – through competitions it offers cash rewards and points that can be redeemed for medical services in partnership with health clinics.

    The Afri-Plastics Challenge is designed and delivered by UK innovation prize experts Challenge Works and funded by the Government of Canada. It is an element of the $100-million Marine Litter Mitigation Fund announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Charlevoix in June 2018.

    Innovators focussed on recycling solutions reported a 113% increase in monthly collecting and processing during the prize. In the long-term, the development and scaling of the innovators’ solutions will lead to the creation of new, sustainable local enterprises, creating alternatives to single-use plastics and improving collection and processing of waste.

    For more about the winners, visit afri-plastics.challenges.org

    Share. Facebook Twitter Telegram WhatsApp

    Related Posts

    Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

    March 21, 2023

    Obi mounts legal challenge to Nigeria’s presidential election result

    March 21, 2023

    One student killed, 200 people arrested in Kenya protests -police

    March 21, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Top Posts

    Sex tourism: The Gambia is fed up with UK grandmothers hunting for toy boys

    September 19, 20223,227

    Op-Ed: Qatar World Cup 2022 – prejudice, coordinated attacks and Western grandstanding

    November 4, 20222,436

    Ghanaian architect of UK’s Black History Month honoured by prestigious British university

    December 12, 20221,351

    Nigerian appointed director of UN disarmament

    October 25, 20221,099
    Don't Miss
    Politics

    Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

    By Editorial StaffMarch 21, 202340

    ETHIOPIA’S government has accused the United States of unfairly apportioning blame for crimes committed during…

    Obi mounts legal challenge to Nigeria’s presidential election result

    March 21, 2023

    One student killed, 200 people arrested in Kenya protests -police

    March 21, 2023

    African Development Fund provides grant to modernise payments infrastructure and systems in Liberia

    March 21, 2023
    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • LinkedIn
    About Us
    About Us

    AfricaBriefing is a monthly magazine designed to provide news and information on Africa to Africans at home and abroad, and the wider global audience that has a committed interest in the continent’s political, economic and social developments.

    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Our Picks

    Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

    March 21, 2023

    Obi mounts legal challenge to Nigeria’s presidential election result

    March 21, 2023

    One student killed, 200 people arrested in Kenya protests -police

    March 21, 2023
    Most Popular

    Sex tourism: The Gambia is fed up with UK grandmothers hunting for toy boys

    September 19, 20223,227

    Op-Ed: Qatar World Cup 2022 – prejudice, coordinated attacks and Western grandstanding

    November 4, 20222,436

    Ghanaian architect of UK’s Black History Month honoured by prestigious British university

    December 12, 20221,351
    © 2023 AfricaBriefing. Designed by KMG.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
    viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    SAVE & ACCEPT