Most people in Sulayman Darboe’s position would be considering a comfortable office job with all the security that goes along with it. However, the 26-year-old Gambian has never been one to follow the crowd. The first one of his family to go to university, he has his sights set on far loftier ambitions – playing a role in improving the air quality, health and opportunities in rural communities by providing a greener alternative to burning firewood for cooking.

As a young boy, he saw first-hand the impact of using wood for fuel on the women and children in the village where he grew up. Health conditions related to breathing in smoke, such as heart conditions, were common while children missed out on time to do homework because they were busy collecting firewood – not to mention the environmental impact of cutting down trees.

Today, that experience is fuelling the growth of his green business, providing a sustainable, healthier alternative to burning wood by turning coconut husks and peanut shells, which would usually be shipped to other countries as waste, into briquettes that can be burned for cooking.

“People often ask me why, with my degree in business management why I don’t work in a bank! They say, ‘Why are you struggling and taking such a difficult path?’ but you have to make an impact, even just a small one and that’s what I’m trying to do,” says Sulayman.

It was while he was at the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of The Gambia located in Kanifing that he had the idea for his business, Green Waste Initiative. Together with his friends Modou S. Jeng, who was studying climate change and alternative energy sources, and Mansata Jabai who was studying marketing they took part in – and won – Hult Prize on Campus Competition, to pitch their environment idea to judges. Fresh from that success, the second-year students decided business life was for them and they officially launched their business.

Not long afterwards, Sulayman saw an advert for WasteAid’s Waste to Use Challenge on Startup Incubator Gambia’s website and decided to apply. It was a decision that would be a major turning point for the business as he was accepted onto one of three places in the programme, which enabled him to develop his business and finance skills.

“I had seen the great work that WasteAid had been doing in other West African countries and it had been a dream of mine to get involved with the charity,” says Sulayman.

“I went for an interview and to my surprise, I was told I was one of three finalists to be chosen. We received training across a broad range of subjects such as waste management, accounts, marketing our products, and how to deal with customer services. Although I had a background in accounts, the trainer really understood my business and really made sure that I had the right spreadsheet, and my sales book up to date. We use what we learned there every day. The training was amazing”.

“We also were given a mentor. I’ve had mentors in the past but Maurice, our mentor really understood my business – he had the technical experience of alternative energy sources and helped us to focus on the method of production. They provided me with the right mentor to make a difference to my business,” he adds.

The team has worked hard to generate demand for the fuel briquettes, working directly with communities to educate them on the health risks of burning firewood and the alternatives available. They have also used radio appearances to help spread the word about this initiative. Building partnerships with the charcoal producers themselves to encourage them to consider transitioning to greener sources has been critical to their approach and they are also working with the Ministry of Forestry to help spread the word to local communities.

The next step is to secure investment so that they can update and automate the production of the briquettes which are currently made manually.

“Getting people to change is our biggest challenge. As well as radio shows and working with partners and the communities we also use social media and WhatsApp a lot to encourage sales and take orders but it’s still very challenging.

“The good news is that demand is currently more than the supply because we’re using old, manual tools – it takes a lot of physical effort to make the bricks. We need to get the right machinery to increase production. We want to provide cleaner energy across The Gambia.

“We cannot do it alone. We live in a community that really needs help. We cannot do it without support. I was just a university student coming up with an idea. To make an impact we need partners and investment so we can help our women and children,” says Sulayman.

As the business grows Sulayman hopes that not only will the business help improve the quality of lives for communities who rely on burning wood for fuel but that he will be able to create further job opportunities for people in rural areas.

While the Waste to Use Challenge may have come to a close, WasteAid will continue to support the semi-finalists over the next 6-months through further one-to-one business sessions and mentoring. The university friends, who have now all graduated, are continuing to be active members of WasteAid’s Circular Economy Network in The Gambia and are working with other partners to promote an inclusive circular economy.

Please help us to support more people like Sulayman create change by donating to WasteAid today.

One of the first people to take part in WasteAid’s initiative in Cameroon was Djoukou Tapang Julienne who’s known to most as Mama Pasto. Her story truly shows how lives can be transformed when people have access to the right opportunity, support and tools.

When WasteAid first met the 49-year-old mother of five she was working as a “Buy and Sellam” selling bread loaded with boiled and seasoned beans, after losing her job as fund collector at a savings and credit union following an accident.

As age began to catch up with her, Mama Pasto decided that she needed another way to support her family. Now, after receiving support from WasteAid, she runs her own informal cooperative of pickers, and provides training to others in the community to ensure she leaves a lasting legacy.

Mama Pasto initially took part in a training course delivered by WasteAid, to learn how to manufacture paving tiles but after realising that she didn’t have the space or time to make the tiles she joined the charity’s programme to become a waste collector.

The WasteAid training scheme taught her collection techniques and how to manufacture paving tiles. From there Mama Pasto was given a paid internship with a local waste collection company where she collected waste from rivers and businesses. These two experiences gave her the skills and confidence she needed to become an independent collector with an income that has allowed her to support her family.

“Thanks to the training I received, this is the first year that none of my children have had to be taken out of school – I’ve been able to pay all the school fees for the whole year,” she said.

Collaboration and empowering communities are at the heart of WasteAid’s ethos and is a commitment that Mama Pasto is passionate about.

“Now, I’m also training others as we need to involve our peers so that the work can continue what has been started.  Even if I am no longer here (I’m getting old at 49 you know!) I can say that I left a legacy and young people are working because of me.”

Her commitment to sharing the benefits of WasteAid’s programme has seen her launch her own paid summer internship for young people to help them earn money for notebooks. She is also committed to training members of her community.

“I paid them around £91 per month and my concern was just to make sure that we were all making money together. More than 23 tonnes of plastic waste have been collected and sold this year through my endeavours and my wonderful team. While we have some work to do to improve the quality of plastic being collected, it’s a good start to see people recognising the work I am doing and getting involved.”

Not only has the support Mama Pasto received allowed her to support her children’s education and others in the community but it has also given her the opportunity to earn an income that has seen her buy land and gain an additional rental income.

“I was so happy to be part of this training programme and what I’m doing now is possible because of that training. I would like to thank WasteAid for the knowledge I gained as it’s unusual to receive such training for free.” she added.

Mama Pasto’s story is inspiring people throughout her community and beyond.

As WasteAid prepares to open the waste collection and sorting facility in Bilongué 2, Mama Pasto’s story shows just what is possible.

“What makes me proud is to see that people I worked with understand the work and the necessity to work – not only for money but to help the community to cope with their waste. I love how people’s understanding and behaviour evolves when they see how the things that I have done have changed people’s lives,” she said.

Please help us to support more people like Mama Pasto to create change by donating to WasteAid today.

This thought piece is written by WasteAid’s Circular Economy and Waste Management Lead, Rebecca Colley-Jones, following a recent visit to one of WasteAid’s project locations in Douala, Cameroon.

Having joined WasteAid at the beginning of November 2022, I had the privilege of embarking on my first field visit to Douala, Cameroon two weeks later with our CEO Ceris Turner-Bailes. WasteAid has had links to Cameroon for a number of years and started formally delivering programmes in January 2020, funded initially through the UK AID Match programme.

The main focus of my visit, aside from familiarising myself with WasteAid’s work in Douala, was to follow up on our initiative to build and support a Plastics Recovery Facility (PRF) in Douala 3. Land for the PRF had been allocated by the municipality to build the facility, as the Mayor and his team were keen to see such a facility located within their district, and were excited by the potential of the PRF to assist in providing a solution to the area’s plastics pollution challenge. The aim of the PRF is to adopt a circular economy approach recapturing plastic materials, adding value to them and ultimately closing the loop on plastics.

WasteAid’s partnership with leading global private markets firm, Partners Group, began at an integral time for this programme. Funding from the Partners Group employee foundation, PG Impact, meant that we could scale the impact and increase livelihood opportunities for more young people, with positive outcomes for the wider community and environment. Cameroon has a population of 27 million with over 55% living in poverty[1], so it was significant that we are able to reach more people through this partnership.

When arriving at the site, it was great to see that the construction work was well underway, with the office block, toilets and shower facilities as well as the main sorting area pretty much completed. The borehole had been drilled and installed and the tower for the water holding tank had been constructed.

In order to ensure that the infrastructure we provide is right and to make the site as self-contained as possible, we decided to look at the possibilities for rainwater harvesting to maximise water use and efficiency. Electricity can be sporadic so to tackle this challenge we decided to look at the possibility of installing solar panels, and also look at two types of bailers to be manufactured locally – one electric and one manual – and I am working with our Cameroon project team to source the right equipment.

In terms of activities on the site, we went out to interview potential users to see what they would need in order to add value. We will be catching up with some of these people and sharing their stories in the coming weeks, currently most collectors are working either out of their homes or at the side of the street. The PRF will enable collectors to increase efficiency and add value to the collected plastics. With more collectors on board thanks to Partners Group, we will be seeing a higher volume of plastic collected and diverted from drains, rivers and the ocean.

To ensure sustainability, WasteAid works within the existing value chain, finding ways of further supporting those working within it. To understand how best the PRF could integrate into the current local value chain, it was decided to assess the market. Visits were made to a number of off takers of plastics, NAME, SC2R and RedPlast. Following our visits, it was concluded that the best use of the site was for it to operate as a bulking and cleaning facility, users will be able to sort, clean and store quality plastic. By washing and baling plastic bottles, the collectors can access better markets, obtain a better price (almost double) when selling to off takers. This has the potential to make a huge difference to their livelihoods, improve the quality of the collected materials and prevent pollution by closing the loop on plastics. The PRF will support a further 45 people in the community of Bilongué 2 in Douala.

We have now appointed a PRF supervisor, and are sourcing the various pieces of equipment needed to complete the infrastructure at the facility. Recruiting of the collectors who will use this facility is currently underway. Many of the potential users of the PRF are actually graduates of WasteAid’s UK AID Match programme who now have small waste collection businesses and networks of collectors.

It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm for WasteAid’s activities in Cameroon, and get feedback on how WasteAid’s initiatives are making a real difference to waste collectors’ lives and helping build a circular solution for Doula’s plastics.

[1] https://www.wfp.org/countries/cameroon

Written by Ceris Turner-Bailes, Chief Executive WasteAid.

In November, I had the privilege of travelling to Douala, Cameroon to follow up on WasteAid’s projects there. I was delighted to travel with our new Circular Economy and Waste Management Lead, Rebecca Colley Jones – this was Rebecca’s first visit in support of our projects. As many will know, WasteAid has had links to Cameroon for a number of years and started formally delivering programmes in January 2020 funded initially through the UKAID Match programme. Biffa staff were instrumental in WasteAid achieving the level of funding required so that this amount could be ‘matched’ by the UK government. They contributed a total of £36,000. This was a fantastic effort and Biffa’s fundraising skills resulted in a huge step forward for community collection and recycling activities in Douala. Despite the pandemic resulting in this project being suspended for almost a year, the initiative was finalised in August 2022 with some fabulous results. Over the almost 24 months of active programming, 47.8 metric tonnes of mixed plastics were collected for recycling and transformed into 2537 square metres of paving tiles. At the same time 165 programme participants were trained on life skills and recycling techniques, with over half of those now in employment. This is something of which all of us at WasteAid and Biffa can be proud.

The city of Douala still faces significant challenges in managing its waste, with plastics and organics waste streams dominating. The situation depicted in images of drains and rivers filled with plastic that many of you know well has not entirely changed and the waters of the Douala Estuary still remain highly polluted. However, it was heartening to meet with many of the stakeholders within Douala’s circular economy and to understand that real efforts are being made there to tackle the waste problem. WasteAid’s presence in Cameroon and its initiatives have been welcomed. To ensure sustainability, we want to work within the existing value chain, finding ways of further supporting those working within it. To that end part of the visit was also to follow up on our initiative to build and support a Plastics Recovery Facility (PRF) in Douala III. Crucially, we have been allocated land by the local authority on which to build and both the Mayor and his staff have been extremely keen to support our work.

Following the hugely successful gala event held by Biffa in May 2022, a proportion of the funds raised went towards supporting this PRF project, particularly contributing £15,000 to the construction of the centre itself. I was delighted to be able see great progress during my visit. The centre is now about 70% completed with walls and a roof and our focus is now the purchase of equipment and recruiting the collectors who will use this facility. We need to ensure that both the infrastructure and the system we use are fit for purpose. I am delighted that some of those likely to work in the PRF are actually graduates of WasteAid’s UKAID Match programme who now have small waste collection businesses and networks of collectors. We will be catching up with some of these people and sharing their stories in the coming weeks.

There is still a lot of work to do to ensure that the infrastructure we provide is right and Rebecca is now working with our Cameroon project team to source the right equipment. By washing and baling plastic bottles, the collectors can almost double the price when selling to off takers and this has the potential to make a huge difference to their livelihoods. The PRF will also allow the collectors to process more plastic, at the moment most collectors are simply working by hand at the side of the street. WasteAid will support the Douala plastics value chain and 45 collectors through this sustainable PRF that has simple washing and baling facilities. Whilst this may seem very simple, the increase in income will help the waste collectors significantly improve their livelihoods and will further prevent plastic pollution in the communities of Douala.

In June 2020, WasteAid embarked upon an innovative and expansive programme to support circular economy solutions to the waste crisis in three locations; Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Guwahati in India and Johannesburg, South Africa. Supported by Huhtamaki, this programme finally drew to a close in autumn 2022.

In just over 2 years there were some fantastic results achieved – WasteAid’s Circular Economy Networks had been developed in 3 locations. The networks attracted over 1,000 members with more than that number attending the online webinars and trainings that were developed (even the pandemic didn’t stop the progress). The partnership supported 36 entrepreneurs through tailored business training and mentoring and 6 entrepreneurs were awarded with 10,000 Euros each of seed funding. Those supported included a plastics recycling enterprise in India, an organics and composting enterprise in South Africa and an app developer in Vietnam aiming to make waste collection more accessible and efficient.

The partnership between Huhtamaki and WasteAid has clearly moved the needle in terms of both local perceptions of waste and direct action to reduce waste pollution. By orienting the programme towards supporting and strengthening existing systems and local innovators, the partnership has ensured a sustainable legacy. A relatively young international non-profit focused on tackling the global waste crisis through support to and promotion of solid waste management systems and circular economy innovations, the financial investment from Huhtamaki was a game changer for WasteAid. The organisation cut its teeth delivering community-based interventions in Sub Saharan Africa rooted in the premise that livelihoods and environments can be improved through training and skills in waste related activities. However, with Huhtamaki’s ambition and vision for the partnership, WasteAid was able to expand its horizons in terms of scale and depth of intervention.

Image: BoombaDotMobi – A winner of the Zero Cities Waste Challenge in South Africa.

The purpose of the partnership was to bring together diverse stakeholders in 3 localities to build and share knowledge in waste and recycling activities, to facilitate discussions and collaboration between those at different points in the waste value chain and to practically support and finance local entrepreneurs and innovators, ‘wastepreneurs’. The partnership recognized that where there is a lack of municipal waste systems, the private sector and even more the informal sector fill that gap. The networks were rooted in community responses. The innovators and entrepreneurs that were supported also had a social value element, for example offering employment potential to those in a lower socio-economic bracket or providing finance to young innovators from deprived areas who would not be able to access traditional finance.

Above all the networks attracted significant diversity, of course there were those directly linked to the waste value chain in some way from local government, enterprise or trade organisations, but equally there were leading academics, multinational corporations, local businesses, Chambers of Commerce and international governments who became stakeholders in the networks, not to mention nearly 200 Huhtamaki employees who engaged in activities to support the partnership in the different locations.

A key element to the programme was flexibility, ideas conceived in London or Helsinki had the space to be tried locally to ensure they were relevant, needed and impactful. Some elements of the programme plan were deliberately light on detail at the outset to ensure that the local membership could themselves identify their greatest needs and the network could grow organically. This meant that the partnership could focus on tackling important local issues identified by those closest to them, for example how to maximise benefit from End Producer Responsibility legislation in South Africa or strategies to grow domestic recyclables in Vietnam given the high quantity that are imported.

And yet perhaps the biggest impact of all has been what has happened outside of the confines of that initial programme. The approach taken by Huhtamaki and WasteAid has captured the imagination of other funders keen to implement a meaningful sustainability strategy and the initial circular economy network model has been adapted and exported by WasteAid to two further countries, Gambia and Egypt and extended further in South Africa. The success of this approach and the common thread running through these networks is that they are rooted in the local context, that whilst funded by Huhtamaki and facilitated by WasteAid, they are owned by their members. The second critical element is that there are seriously bright ideas borne out of local challenges and that home grown solutions to the waste crisis are often the most sustainable and should be supported. As access to finance remains a significant challenge to many working with waste in lower and middle income countries, the approach developed by the partnership fills a critical role in supporting youth entrepreneurship, skills and training.

Image: Circular Economy Network meeting in The Gambia.

The original programme focused very much on the community level and how the grassroots could drive the circular economy, but this is not entirely the case in all countries. In Gambia, for example, it was recognized that it was at local authority, government agency and Ministerial level where the most traction would be had and so the approach to networking was adapted. Additionally, with other funders signing up to this approach, WasteAid has added a further mentoring element to the programme joining experts from a chartered institution in the UK to work with Gambian counterparts to find solutions to waste related issues.

Although the initial partnership funded some tremendously exciting initiatives, another question arose as to how those who were not yet at that relatively advanced level could be helped. The WasteAid team were keen to focus on the lower rungs of the waste value chain where holistic life skills training, business skills training and smaller injections of finance would have a massive impact. Huhtamaki has accompanied WasteAid on this journey and is now financing an entrepreneur’s fund focused on those on the first rung of the waste value chain. This approach is proving incredibly successful in Johannesburg. In Egypt a more geographically targeted approach was taken and the network was launched in Aswan, working again with local structures and the existing value chain. The Egyptian model mirrors the initial programme, however, has a focus on flexible plastics only as opposed to multiple waste streams.

Overall, the core elements of the Circular Economy Network approach have proven a particularly impactful mix and WasteAid continues to evolve its programme design as we learn more. However, the multiplier effect is clear to see, that initial ambitious vision developed by Huhtamaki and WasteAid continues to be developed and delivered throughout Africa, impacting thousands of individuals, hundreds of communities and dozens of circular economy enterprises.

Written by Ceris Turner-Bailes, CEO of WasteAid.

As we come to the end of COP27, this thought piece will examine how WasteAid’s work is helping to address the climate crisis through green entrepreneurship and reinventing waste solutions, two topics that are being covered on Solutions Day at COP27.

It is encouraging to see a focus on these topics at COP27. At WasteAid we believe that support to green entrepreneurship is critical when transitioning to a circular economy and helps to recapture valuable materials to use in new products providing environmental, economic and social benefits.

WasteAid invests in green entrepreneurs in the waste space for two main reasons, firstly we believe that some of the best ideas to solve the waste crisis are emerging locally. In countries like South Africa, India and Vietnam formal employment options are limited and we are seeing many ‘green entrepreneurs’ emerging out of necessity. Companies like VECA in Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam are an example of a typical green entrepreneur working in this space. They have developed a mobile app linking waste collectors to households, effectively an Uber for waste. Through funding from their partner Huhtamaki, a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions, WasteAid has supplied business and capex funding to these local innovators, who have been able to extend their coverage into new districts, increase the number of households they collect from and waste collectors that can access the system. More opportunities for green entrepreneurs to expand their businesses has meant increased employment for local communities, and with more employment comes greater levels of independence. Finally we believe that green entrepreneurship will also help to keep materials closer to its source. In Vietnam for example, while 1.4 million tonnes of recycled plastic waste was imported in 2018, only 15-20% of current plastics in Vietnam are recovered and recycled. If green entrepreneurs can be supported to thrive in their locality, then we see the potential for reliable local supply chains to emerge and contribute to their local economies for manufacturing and use of recyclables.

We are not alone in recognising that green entrepreneurs have ideas and solutions to solving the waste crisis. Over the last few years, we have seen initiatives funded by Hitachi, Circular Initiative, IKEA, and the UK Department of Trade and Industry to find and fund innovators and entrepreneurs who can develop solutions to help ‘close the loop’ on waste as a means of tackling the waste crisis, and in turn, the climate crisis. WasteAid celebrates these initiatives and also saw an opportunity to make initiatives even more inclusive, more local and more targeted.

WasteAid believes that there are two key ways to support green entrepreneurs. Firstly, through tailored support to the entrepreneur. So many courses, curricula and business incubation approaches could be better tailored to the waste industry. Through funding from Bunzl PLC, we have been working in South Africa with the Wot-If? Trust to develop a bespoke course to ‘waste-preneurs’ who are working in townships in Johannesburg. These young women and men are individuals who are already working in the world of waste but living very much day to day. Through a holistic and practical curriculum delivered by trainers with lived experience of making a living out of waste, and culminating in a pitch to access funds for a business idea, we are giving these waste-preneurs an opportunity to grow their income earning potential. See a clip below of some of our waste-preneurs in action.

Similarly in The Gambia, WasteAid has a ‘challenge fund’ element to a project supported by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM). It is inspirational to see young entrepreneurs fired up about resource recovery and creating jobs at the same time. Currently three semi-finalists are going through a tailored business support programme and will compete in December for access to capex funding. African Swag is a female-led Gambian-based company making clothing out of bubble wrap, from aprons to shower caps. Green Youth Collective are a group of entrepreneurs making briquets from organic waste, and Plastics Recycling Gambia is led by a Gambian entrepreneur who is working to help set up the first network of aggregators and recyclers across The Gambia. Here the focus is helping those on the first rung of the ladder move up the value chain through tailored business support. See a link to our finalists below.

Finally, as well as bespoke training, access to capex and ongoing venture capital is key. Many green entrepreneurs have the solutions but given the low-risk appetite of investors it is difficult for them to go to scale. In Egypt, as part of Dow’s project REFLEX, WasteAid is working with Alfanar, an Egyptian-based company that specialises in venture philanthropy methodology, to design a challenge competition focused on green entrepreneurship. Three semi-finalists will access £10k of seed capital and business training with a final winner having access to long-term investment capital. The challenge is focused on social enterprises that have market-based solutions to the recovery and reuse of flexible plastics in Aswan and beyond. The challenge is still open for applications until 30^th November 2022, to apply click here.

WasteAid believes that by fast-tracking local solutions to the circular economy we will get to net zero faster, but perhaps more importantly we will also ensure that the benefits of the circular economy are shared with the poorest communities we serve.

Written by Michelle Wilson and Rebecca Colley-Jones.