Become A Partner

Poverty, pollution and climate change are major global challenges. Put your business at the heart of the solution by partnering with WasteAid, the charity that supports safe and sustainable waste management and circular economy innovation in lower- and middle-income countries.

We are passionate about building impactful, purpose-centred partnerships that prevent climate emissions and plastic pollution, and combat poverty through sustainable livelihoods.

Ways we can work together

Whether through strategic partnership, product sales, or staff and customer engagement, your support will contribute to a cleaner and fairer world.

We are on the lookout for long-term, like-minded partners who want to put the health of people and planet at the heart of their work. Please contact us to find out more about how your company can become part of the solution.

Strategic partnerships

We will work with you to create a partnership that meets your strategic objectives, and that delivers across multiple impact areas.

This could mean supporting a WasteAid project aligned with your CSR and/or ESG objectives, creating a project that positively impacts your value chain, or using our areas of expertise to achieve a common goal.

Commercial partnerships

Demonstrate your brand purpose through a commercial partnership that drives sales and loyalty to your brand. WasteAid is a natural partner for those brands wishing to align with a charity working at the nexus of social and environmental action, globally.

If you’re an SME putting purpose at the centre of what you do, please check out our page on Work For Good.

Employee engagement

More than ever employees want to feel part of something meaningful, especially in the increasingly hybrid and virtual working environment.

A partnership with WasteAid can help you bring purpose to your colleagues’ day-to-day roles, helping them feel engaged and connected with each other, and to your business.

WasteAid’s interventions have measurable impact and can support delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Our partners

Biffa

WasteAid has been fortunate enough to benefit from a long-term ‘Proud Partnership’ with Biffa. Our partnership puts Biffa’s corporate purpose ‘to change the way people think about waste’ front and centre, positioning them as a leading enabler of green infrastructure and the circular economy.

This strategic alignment has been a true game-changer for WasteAid, as Biffa’s support has enabled the charity to grow and develop its infrastructure to support further projects globally. Moreover, Biffa’s generous core funding has been expanded further by its own employees. 10,000 staff from across Biffa have thrown themselves behind the partnership and delivered some extraordinary fundraising feats.

Michael Topham, Chief Executive Officer at Biffa, said: “Pollution from poorly managed waste affects us all, whether that’s the impact on our health, marine plastic pollution or climate change.

“We’re really proud to continue our partnership with WasteAid in parts of the world that urgently need to tackle the complex issue of how to manage waste in a sustainable manner.”

Bunzl

WasteAid has been working with Bunzl plc since 2020, providing infrastructure, training and employment to support livelihoods in recycling in Indonesia and Cameroon. Our successful partnership has since expanded, with two new initiatives in Cameroon and South Africa, continuing to drive our people-centric approach.

In Cameroon, our project will reduce plastic pollution and enable waste workers to access a sustainable livelihood by providing training on the collection, segregation and recycling of plastics, as well as accessing a community MRF (Materials Recycling Facility) that WasteAid is establishing with support of the local municipality.

In South Africa, Bunzl’s support will work to economically empower 50 waste-collectors from low-income communities, providing access to professional business support and an innovative entrepreneurial challenge fund.

James Pitcher, Head of Sustainability, on behalf of Bunzl plc, comments: “One of the reasons why we wanted to link up with WasteAid was to find a mutually beneficial relationship where both organisations could grow and achieve something that would have been impossible if we had tried on our own. Plastics pollution and climate change are becoming the defining challenges of our time. But few people understand the human side of the story, the issues that we face are often caused by large populations with poor infrastructure. WasteAid’s projects help communities in lower-income countries set up waste collection and recycling services that protect the environment and provide livelihood opportunities. We are delighted to be supporting WasteAid as it continues its work in Cameroon, while giving grassroots initiatives in South Africa the support they need to grow.”

CIWM

The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management have been long-term partners of WasteAid, as there is such a natural fit between the CIWM’s purpose to move to a world beyond waste and WasteAid’s vision of a world in which waste causes no harm, and where people in poverty are empowered to recover its value.

Previous work with CIWM has funded the development of WasteAid’s free community toolkit, which to date has been downloaded over 250,000 times. This year, funding from CIWM has allowed us to develop a circular economy network in the Greater Banjul Area, which has 94 members to date. As part of the project, we are facilitating an innovative Waste to Use challenge, which will allow ambitious waste entrepreneurs to have the opportunity to access sustainable business support. Additionally, WasteAid is launching an engagement scheme which will support the professional development of the network, as well as provide three councils and the environment agency (MECCNAR) with tailored support from experienced waste professionals in the CIWM community.

The involvement of CIWM during this 18-month partnership means knowledge sharing and mentoring opportunities can be leveraged to drive best practices and promote professional standards in waste management.

Sarah Poulter, CIWM CEO said: “Sustainable waste management is a global social responsibility and a core element of the CIWM’s ambition to move to a world beyond waste. The decision to support WasteAid’s work in The Gambia is underpinned by the country’s genuine desire to better manage the waste it produces and develop a more circular economy. We’re excited about the positive impact this partnership will have on people’s lives and are committed to helping educate and inspire the local professional community. In doing so there is the opportunity to dramatically improve resource efficiency and create an environment where circular strategies can flourish.”

Dow

WasteAid has launched a partnership with global materials science company Dow, with the aim of advancing the collection and recycling of plastic waste in Egypt. Pilot projects will prevent plastic pollution and support local innovation and livelihood opportunities.

The partnership extends Dow’s global commitment to help advance a circular economy for plastics and reduce plastic waste and pollution in Africa. The project will see WasteAid work with public, private and community-level actors in Egypt to support scalable and sustainable solutions for the collection and valorisation of post-consumer polyethylene (PE), which is used in a wide range of everyday packaging applications.

Huhtamaki

Global sustainable packaging company, Huhtamaki, chose to support WasteAid as part of its centenary celebrations. With Huhtamaki’s generous support, WasteAid has been able to drive circular economy innovation in Vietnam, India and South Africa, key countries within Huhtamaki’s value chain.

The WasteAid Zero Waste Cities Challenge, funded by Huhtamaki, supported innovators and entrepreneurs to build circular models in their cities. Just some of the impact created through the winners of this challenge included:

Over 300 tonnes of plastic per year diverted from landfill and kept in the loop
8M metric tonnes of CO2 emissions reduced by keeping materials in the value chain
In excess of 87 tonnes of food waste per year diverted from landfills
25 new jobs and livelihoods created, with 75 workers connected to formal markets and 36 start-ups business-ready.

musicMagpie

In celebration of the G7 taking place in Cornwall in summer 2021, WasteAid was delighted to partner with musicMagpie on its ‘Mount Recyclemore’ campaign. Not only did this mean WasteAid was mentioned in the attention-grabbing campaign highlighting the global problem of e-waste, but we also benefitted from a very generous donation, part of which helped us to develop an online e-waste hub to managing e-waste, a growing issue in the countries in which we work.

Steve Oliver, founder and CEO at musicMagpie says: “E-waste is a growing problem worldwide and its impact on the environment is significant. If sent to landfills, e-waste can leak harmful chemicals into the soil and water or if incinerated, fumes release chemicals into the air, contributing to global warming. Not only this, but everything from our phones to our laptops rely heavily on precious materials to operate, which are not only limited resources, but also directly impact climate change when being extracted from the earth”.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) & UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

WasteAid is one of six organisations that have been awarded funding through The International Circular Plastic Flagship Projects Competition an initiative that has been developed and delivered in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). WasteAid’s project is designed to tackle specific plastic related issues in South Africa.

Through the funding WasteAid will run a year long feasibility study in Mpumlanga district in South Africa. Partnering with the University of Portsmouth and The Department of Agriculture Rural Development Land and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA), WasteAid will be testing participatory approaches to drive better source segregation of waste at household level while at the same time supporting associations/buy back centres to process increased volumes of secondary resources. The project will also test out approaches develop local end markets for hard to recycle materials so that materials can be kept in the loop closer to their source.

Zumo

Zumo, the Edinburgh-based cryptocurrency exchange and platform has joined forces with WasteAid in a purpose-led partnership with a common vision to empower communities and create long-term sustainable livelihoods for people globally.

As part of the partnership, Zumo users will be able to automatically donate funds to WasteAid every time they send, exchange, buy and pay with cryptocurrencies via the Zumo app. All funds raised through this and by the epic fundraising exploits of the dedicated staff team will support community-level action against plastics pollution across several developing markets.

Nick Jones, Founder of Zumo, commented: “Although blockchain technology and waste management appear to speak to different purposes, in reality they share a common vision to empower communities and create long-term sustainable livelihoods for people globally.

“There is so much that developed markets can learn from the communities that WasteAid supports – from the seamless use of digital payments in everyday life that make access to modern financial services inclusive to taking better care for our planet.”

Become a Partner

Bring your business purpose to life through a meaningful partnership with WasteAid. Contact us to find out more about how your company can be part of the solution.