Four major international consumer goods companies have formed an alliance to address the problem of plastics waste in Sub-Saharan Africa. Diageo (London / UK; www.diageo.com), Unilever (Rotterdam / The Netherlands; www.unilever.com), Coca-Cola (Atlanta, Georgia / USA; www.coca-colacompany.com) and Nestlé (Vevey / Switzerland; www.nestle.com) launched the “Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance” on 26 March 2019 at the “Africa CEO Forum” (www.theafricaceoforum.com) in Kigali / Rwanda.

The alliance has three key aims:

• facilitate and support the companies’ local subsidiaries to engage proactively in public private partnerships, industry collaboration and alliances
• share knowledge, encourage innovation and collaborate on solutions appropriate for Sub-Saharan Africa as well as take part in local pilot initiatives
• engage with investors, policy makers and others to accelerate the development and financing of the necessary waste management infrastructure and systems

While the alliance noted that plastics will remain an important packaging material for African consumers, it said that a lack of collection and recycling capacity in many African markets coupled with growing populations was creating an increasing problem with plastics litter. “We see an opportunity to tackle that problem in a way that creates jobs and reduces dependency on imported materials while alternatives to plastics are developed,” the alliance said in an official statement.