ImpactAlpha, July 25 – As much as 80% of Africa’s municipal solid waste is recyclable; just 4% is recycled.
Nigeria-based Wecyclers offers subscription-based waste recycling in lower-income urban neighborhoods. The woman-led company encourages households to sort and turn in their recyclable waste with a points system that can be used to buy food and other essentials.
Norway’s development finance institution Norfund provided a $2.2 million convertible loan to Wecyclers to build a recycling facility for PET plastics.
Wecyclers also scored funding from the SDG Outcomes Fund as part of a spate of African development impact bonds.
Norfund also extended a $10.5 million loan to Ghana-based Miniplast, a 25-year-old company that makes plastic consumer and industrial products. The company launched a business line in 2020 to make recycled products out of locally-sourced plastic.
Miniplast will ramp up its recycling capacity and hire more local workers.
