The Kenya PET Recycling Company Ltd (PETCO Kenya) has partnered with Mr. Green Africa to increase collection of PET bottles.
In the partnership, Mr. Green Africa will provide funding to support infrastructure for waste collectors and pickers that service Mr. Green Africa’s trading centres by providing waste collection tricycles.
The funding will help the waste collectors earn more money and also collect more waste. They are currently collecting an average of 40 kilograms a day but with the funding it will now increase to between 300kgs to 500kgs.
“PETCO is committed to increasing the amount of plastic collected from the current levels to 70% by 2030. This partnership with Green Africa is one of the many partnerships we will be rolling out in the coming months to help us achieve this goal,” said John Waithaka, the Chairman of PETCO Kenya.
The local plastics industry currently imports 20,000 tonnes of PET annually and is estimated to grow at a rate of 10% each year. The industry is currently achieving a recovery and recycling target of just around 5% of what is consumed. PETCO Kenya aims to achieve recovery and recycling rate of 25% in 2018 and 70% by 2030.
PETCO Kenya is a voluntary and independent non-for-profit organization, established with the objective of promoting and improving the waste management and recycling of post-consumer PET products on behalf of all stakeholders in the PET industry in Kenya.