Beverage companies including Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda (CCBU), Mukwano Industries, Harris International, Uganda Breweries Limited and PepsiCo/Crown Beverages (CBL) have joined joints efforts to create a non-profit industry driven and financed environment solution for post-consumer plastic bottles.
The Producer Responsibility Organisation(PRO) will see member companies pay a monthly levy and the money will be used to execute plastic waste collection and recycling obligations of its members and also any other additional plastic waste collection and recycling initiatives in the country.
This will create a monetary value for post-consumer PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic, which incentivises collection and recycling and ensures post-consumer PET is diverted from landfill and does not impact negatively on the environment.
The move is expected to curb plastic waste from used plastic bottles made from PET.
At a meeting at the Uganda Manufacturers Association offices, the founding beverage bottlers signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to establish the PRO in Uganda in a joint effort to self-regulate post-consumer PET collection and recycling. This demonstrates the commitment of these companies that manufacture, import, or sell PET packaged products to take responsibility and create a circular economy for PET packaging.
“As significant players in the beverage industry, we all acknowledge that the convenience and benefits of plastic, a solution for post-consumer plastic packaging is critical in order to minimize its impact on the environment,” said Melkamu Abebe, the general manager for Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda.
Suleiman Ngondi, the sustainability and communication manager at Uganda Breweries Limited could not agree more.
“Everyone has to be involved to achieve this, from the raw material producers to the converters, brand owners, retailers, consumers and recyclers, all must play their part in the solution, with the PRO advancing the industry’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).”
According to Tony Gadhoke, the Mukwano Industries general manager, Extended Producer Responsibility encourages the incorporation of environmental costs associated with PET products into product market costs and establishes partnerships to take responsibility for used packaging.
“At PepsiCo, sustainability topics are integrated into, and not separate from, our business. We therefore believe that this combination of forces to curb plastics in our environment is a good cause,” said Joram Bamwine, the Head of Quality and Food Safety, Crown Beverages Limited.
The move to create the new PRO is a key achievement of the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area PET plastic recycling partnership, a multi-stakeholder partnership coordinated by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and facilitated by the Ministry of Water and Environment and the GIZ NatuReS programme, to improve the management of plastic bottle waste.
The partnership has focused on improving the recycling value chain, behavior, and attitudes towards recycling, as well as Uganda’s recycling policies through developing a mandated and regulated EPR levy.
The EPR regulations were signed into legislation under the principal National Environment Act, 2019.
“As an industry, we want to form a nationwide sustainable supply chain for plastic production and use, right from the factory to the consumer and back into different recycled materials. This takes collective effort because it doesn’t matter to the environment where plastic waste comes from, the effects of poor waste management are the same. This is why we are working with other plastic producers, recyclers all over the country, regulators and the relevant associations,” said Patrick Mugenyi, deputy managing director, Harris International.
The PRO will be responsible for recruiting recyclers and subsidising recycling through contracts for all PET collected and recycled in the country, developing new high-value end-uses for recycled plastics, training and empowering collectors, and promoting PET collection and recycling through consumer awareness.
Supporting the establishment of a circular economy for plastic waste has many environmental and economic benefits since recycling also has the potential to create many jobs.
“As partners in this initiative we are a proud industry leader in developing increasingly sustainable ways to manufacture, distribute and sell our products. We use our industry leadership to be part of the solution to achieve positive change in the world and to build a more sustainable future for our planet. Regardless of where it comes from, we want every package to have more than one life,” said CCBU’s Melkamu Abebe