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Plastic Waste Collection and Recycling
A Cleaner Environment and Income for the Poor
cutting of plastic crates at the site
We want to expand our already profitable business in plastic waste collection, processing and selling in order to generate more profit, more jobs, a cleaner environment and regular income for more poor people. With the acquirement of a lorry, better machines, more knowledge on logistics, improved processing and production techniques, we will be able to expand our waste collection, increase processing, production and sales, and generate more profit. We will also provide regular income for more than 400 poorest people - mainly women and youth living on the street from garbage - and clean the environment in and around Arusha town from hazardous and disturbing plastic waste.
The Business
We already generate profit but we want to generate more profit by embarking upon more modern collection, processing and production methods and techniques. We also want to make products like bags out of the recycled plastic.
Our customers are 10 companies in Kenya who already buy our processed plastic waste. But if we can make products ourself (like plastic bags, pallets) we do not have to sell our waste to Kenya but can sell our products here in Tanzania and make more profit and create more jobs for more people.
We already have 10 customers in Kenya for our processed plastic waste. If we make plastic bags we sell them to wholesale shops in Arusha and other towns in Northern Tanzania ;
Our potential competitors are companies in Morogoro and Dar es Salaam but they are far away and quality of their products is low. We concentrate on Northern Tanzania and we will have a more modern, efficient and effective way of collecting and processing thanks to our modern machinery and apparatus, and we will make stronger but cheaper bags.
We already have an established profitable business in plastic waste collection and recycling in which my partner invested up to 16,000.- Euro.
Development
We have now 12 people working permanently, this will at least double in three years and it will be 40 - 50 people in ten years. There are now about 100 poorest people (mainly women & youth living on the streets from garbage) having a regular income with collecting the plastic waste for us, this will be about 400 in three years and at least 600 in ten years. Both the parmanent people as well as the waste collectors will gain more knowledge and skills on collecting, handling, processing and production techniques but also on safety, health, hygiene, environmental and social issues. In the future these people can organize themselves in groups or associations. With the collection of plastic waste we clean the environment from hazardous and disturbing plastic waste (plastic waste is even found in the wild life parks). We now concentrate on Arusha town, in three years we will cover the surroundings of Arusha and in ten years the whole Northern Tanzania and hopefully even a wider area.
First interest to support this plan has been shown
BiD Challenge 2006 Follow-up Team