This collection is being created to regroup all case studies related to the packaging industry (CAT purpose)

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Packaging collection

Business case

Direct and indirect effects that increase revenues or the potential for new revenues, for example from new products, customer segments, partnerships or business models

Revenue Potential

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Processing and producing food and beverages for consumption

Food and Beverage

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Collect organic waste generated by households and related businesses for use in, for example, composting and anaerobic digestion facilities.

Collect organic

Other

Impacts

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Urban Opportunities

                                         


       Front Page      BRANDS      OUR WAY FORWARD      SUSTAINABILITY      INNOVATION      HISTORY        The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to the company’s Coca-Cola brands, our portfolio includes some of the world’s most valuable beverage brands, such as AdeS soy-based beverages, Ayataka green tea, Dasani waters, Del Valle juices and nectars, Fanta, Georgia coffee, Gold Peak teas and coffees, Honest Tea, innocent smoothies and juices, Minute Maid juices, Powerade sports drinks, Simply juices, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and ZICO coconut water. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We’re also working to reduce our environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting recycling. With our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. 
The fairlife® brand is owned by fairlife, LLC, our joint venture with Select Milk Producers, Inc., and fairlife’s products are distributed by our Company and certain of our bottling partners.
 © 2018 THE COCA-COLA COMPANY  


The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages.

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Coca Cola

Coca Cola's PlantBottle™ packaging is made from sugarcane-based ethanol from Brazil. Currently, 30 percent of the material used in PlantBottle™ packaging comes from plants. It is limited to 30 percent due to the chemistry of PET plastic. The ultimate goal is to develop PET plastic that is 100 percent plant based. * Financial impact: 11 percent increase in sales in 2011 for Dasani bottled water Read more at:

Biobased packaging

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This collection is part of Footprints Africa's work to build a comprehensive database of circular economy initiatives in Africa. 

This is a result of the collaboration with the <a href="https://www.acen.africa" target="_blank">African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)</a>, as part of the programme to support the circular economy transition in Africa. Footprints Africa's vision is that businesses can be a force for good at scale. Their mission is to advance sustainable, scalable and inclusive approaches to development of local African economies. Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, such as those inspired by the circular economy, to address the challenges of growth and create jobs. 

This open-source dataset features well over 500 cases and 200 examples of policies and laws and intent to collect inspiring examples of initiatives from across Africa, in order to inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American context. 

To learn more about Africa's initiatives and content to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, visit https://www.footprintsafrica.co/

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Footprints Africa

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Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Give products and parts another life after their end-of-use

Maximise lifetime of products after use

Industry peers to industry peer collaboration to create joint value and identify synergies

Industry collaboration

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

Cycle strategies aim to cycle and reuse materials at their highest value: they maximise the volume of secondary materials re-entering the economy, ultimately minimising the need for virgin material inputs and therefore also narrowing flows. Of course, virgin materials will always be needed to a degree: all materials degrade and can’t be cycled infinitely, use energy, and require blending with virgin materials to maintain strength and functionality.

Cycle

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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 To us a circular economy is a system that moves away from the current make-use-dispose model to one where we have designed out waste and pollution, are able to keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems. A circular economy is not a nice to have but a necessity if we are going to develop sustainably. Since the launch of GRIPE, we have been following national, regional and international discussions on how to move towards a more circular economy. As manufacturers and producers, we are constantly adapting the way that our products are being designed, produced and transported to allow for an increase in packaging re-design, reuse and recycling 

Domeabra M/A Junior High School, a primary school in Ejisu Juaben district of Ashanti region, has provided new latrines for its students. They are not just any latrines, as they are built in part with materials made from plastic waste.
It is a building with six latrines. It was built by Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE), an association formed mainly by large agri-food companies with interests in Ghana. For example, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Guiness (owned by the British company Diageo, Ndlr), Nestlé, Voltic and PZ Cussons. The GRIPE worked on this project with the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
A pilot project
The construction of the toilets at Domeabra M/A Junior High School required the processing of 2 tonnes of plastic waste. This material has been integrated into the materials used in the construction of the building. Thus, in mortar, processed plastic waste represented 3% while 80% was used to make the paving stones. “This project, which uses plastic waste as concrete for construction, offers a huge opportunity for large volumes of plastic waste, used waste. Concrete blocks are an important building material in Ghana, representing more than 80% of the built environment,” explains Ama Tagbor, the project’s senior consultant.
GRIPE and BRRI took four months to build the facility housing the latrines at Domeabra M/A Junior High School. The research that led to the construction of the facility began in 2018. “As a pilot research project, the Ghana Industrial Association (GIA) and the GRIPE expect that the scientific data generated by the project will inform policy formulation, further research and replication in other parts of Ghana,” says Ama Tagbor.
The Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) and the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) initiative could lead to the construction of additional public toilets from plastic waste, thus contributing to the recovery of plastic waste in Ghana and to the government’s policy to eradicate open defecation that causes public health problems in this West African country.
Jean Marie Takouleu


The Dow Chemical Company officially launched a coalition – named the Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE) – in an event held in Accra, Republic of Ghana.
The aim is to improve plastic waste management in the country in collaboration with Coca-Cola, Fan Milk, Guinness, PZ Cussons, Unilever, and Voltic under the auspices of the Association of Ghana Industry (AGI). The coalition is to support government efforts to integrate sustainable waste management solutions, advocate improved waste management practices, contribute to increased collection and recycling rates countrywide, and provide employment opportunities through scalable recycling solutions, the chemical company informed in December last year.
According to Dow, the plastics advocacy project for Ghana began after the government proposed a ban on plastics following a flooding and fire disaster in 2015, which was blamed on poor waste management, particularly of plastic items. The team of the chemical company “led other private sector stakeholders through the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in engaging regulators to provide science-based understanding and alternative resolution options”, which was followed by the creation of this private sector recycling coalition (GRIPE). Earlier in 2017, Dow‘s project to Improve Plastic Waste Value Chain in Ghana was granted 200,000 US-Dollar from the company‘s Impact Fund and now includes a three-year financial commitment to GRIPE, as well as a collaboration with two local NGOs (Environment 360 and Asase Foundation) for additional impact.
Ghana’s Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Kofi Adda, welcomed the initiative. “We recently launched a National Total Sanitation campaign to tackle sanitation in our major cities. We recognize that the government cannot address the issue of sanitation and plastic waste alone, hence the efforts by industry to rise up to the challenge and help make a difference, this time around, is laudable and worthy of every support they may require to succeed,” he was cited.
Forum on Sustainable Plastic Waste Management
In January this year, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI), has advised Ghanaians to minimize their use of plastic products and substitute them with degradable materials. The minister, who was addressing participants at a stakeholders’ forum on sustainable plastic waste management, organized by the GIZ (German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH) in collaboration with MESTI in Accra, said the amount of plastic waste being generated globally on daily basis was reaching alarming proportions.
However, in his view, an immediate ban on the production and use of plastic in the country was not the solution; he advocated a gradual system of effective preparation and sustainable management through useful recycling of waste materials into productive goods. The country could take advantages of the availability of raw materials to generate income, create jobs and turn plastic waste into creative and beneficial products for use, he was quoted by the Ghana News Agency.
As reported, the forum presented a platform for discussions on current trends, emerging issues and best practices from across the world, and gave participants the opportunity to make inputs into the draft of the country’s National Plastic Policy, currently being developed by MESTI, to make it more coherent and implementable. The Ministry’s strategy in managing plastic will hinge on “reducing use, re-use, refuse single-use recycle, and replacement, such as replacement of plastic shopping bags by cotton materials or paper”.
New Waste Treatment Plants
According to media reports, Ghana’s waste management sector is characterized by poor waste collection systems and indiscriminate disposal of refuse. The volume of waste generated by about 29 million Ghanaian inhabitants on a daily basis is estimated at 14,000 tons. In 2015, the country was ranked by the World Health Organization as the 7th dirtiest country in the world, Ghanaweb reported.
Currently, the government is addressing Ghana’s water and sanitation challenges. Each of the country’s regions will get two waste treatment plants, Joseph Kofi Adda, Ghana’s Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, was quoted in July last year. At a stakeholder forum to devise a three-year strategic plan for the execution of the Ministry’s mandate in tackling the country’s water and sanitation difficulties, he also informed, that the government intends to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa. Ghana‘s first-ever Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources wants to ‘double or triple‘ the budget for water and sanitation in his country to launch a total sanitation campaign.
Water: Ambitious Goals
According to Dutch-based international think-and-do-tank IRC, ambitious tasks await Joseph Kofi Adda, who attended last year’s World Water Week, the world’s biggest conference on water and development held annually in Sweden’s capital Stockholm. The organizations IRC and Safe Water Network work together to achieve Ghana‘s ambitious targets over the coming years.
As reported by non-profit-organization IRC, Ghana‘s plan is to improve the sanitation situation drastically by 2020: “Around 25,300 boreholes will be constructed together with 300 small water systems. One million toilets will be built and Accra should be Africa’s cleanest city in four years’ time. The targets contribute to the larger goal of sustainable water and basic sanitation for all in Ghana by 2025 – a goal that surpasses the global Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to provide everyone with water and sanitation by 2030.” The information provided by IRC also says, that about 60 percent of Ghana’s population has access to basic drinking water. Around 14 percent of the inhabitants have basic sanitation and less than 19 percent have access to water and soap. Waterborne diseases or diseases related to poor sanitation, such as cholera, would continue to affect the population. Diarrhea would kill more than ten thousand children under five every year, IRC referred to information provided by UNICEF.
As reported, user tariffs are paying for around 75 percent of Ghana’s water and sanitation facilities and donors contribute 19 percent. But it is estimated that the donations will decline in the wake of Ghana’s promotion to a lower middle-income status. But the Ghanaian government has secured a two-billion-dollar Chinese loan that will help to build the infrastructure needed for sanitation facilities so that Accra will be the cleanest city in Africa one day.
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Investment Opportunities in Ghana
The Ghana Investment Promotion Center (www.gipcghana.com) co-ordinates and monitors all investment activities and assists domestic and foreign investors.
The Public Procurement Authority (www.ppaghana.org) has the task of ensuring that public procurement is carried out in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner.
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Photo: pixabay
GR 12018


A group picture after the donationThe Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprise (GRIPE), an industry-led initiative by eight (8) manufacturing companies under the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), has donated a sum of GH¢10,000 and some items to the University of Ghana Plastic Recycling Project (UGPRP.The cheque was received by Prof. Anthony Andrew Adjei, Chairman of the Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Team.   While expressing his appreciation to GRIPE, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor’s Green Project. Prof. Adjei spoke of the success of the UGPRP and said it was especially gratifying to note that the UGPRP is a student led initiative. He was also grateful to GRIPE for the support to the project since its inception and urged GRIPE to rally for more support from its members. Ms. Joyce Ahiadorme presenting a cheque to Dr. Ted Annang on behalf of GRIPE Prof. Anthony Andrew Adjei, Chairman of the Vice Chancellor’s Strategic TeamIn her remarks, Ms. Joyce Ahiadorme, from Voltic Ghana Ltd, and leader of the GRIPE delegation, said that waste management was a shared responsibility which includes society, waste pickers, recycling industry and the government.  She called for an integrated sustainable waste management solution which will focus on data and research, public advocacy, solutions and implementation as well as multi stakeholder collaboration. Ms. Ahiadorme further indicated that, the duty of the private manufacturer was to improve waste management, facilitate investment, create awareness, contribute to increased recycling rates and provide employment. She assured the University of the continuous support of GRIPE to the UGPRP.Ms. Joyce AhiadormeThe team leader of the UPRP, Mr. Julius Jayson Botchway, used the occasion to highlight the activities of the project and how successful it has been since its inception. According to him, the UGPRP engage in activities such as education and awareness creation, sorting, collection and storing of recyclables and sale of segregated plastics. To aid in improving the project, Mr. Botchway called for additional tricycles, giant bottles for lecture halls and departments, bags for storing collected recyclables, value addition machines, storage unit or a buy-back centre construction and an app to aid in collection and education.Mr. Julius Jayson BotchwayDr. Yirenya-Tawiah, Acting Director, Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, (IESS), in her welcome address called for the need to firm up the relationship with GRIPE since this will go a long way to promote the success of the UGPRP.Dr. Benjamin D. Ofori, Co-Chair of the Vice-Chancellor’s Green Project lauded the volunteers especially the collectors for their dedication, commitment and honesty towards the project. He envisaged a stage where plastics from the University would be exchanged for bricks made from plastic to aid in the pavement activities on campus as the University strives to achieve a green and well paved campus.Mrs. Stella A. Amoa, Director of Public Affairs, on her part expressed gratitude to GRIPE and gave assurance of lending support to the publicity efforts of UGPRP.UGPRP is a student–led initiative with full support from the Vice Chancellor’s Green Project. It is a joint initiative from the camps of two student groups namely Technology without Borders (Recycle Up! Ghana) and Cyzoe-Ghana. The project is expected to be a continuous and permanent project on the main and subsequently other campuses of the University of Ghana. It is also aimed at creating an attitudinal change towards plastic waste by instilling a culture of source segregation and recycling of plastic waste to aid the greening of the University of Ghana Campus.Mr. Nana Nathan Afari, Georgina Quin, Samuel Kotoka, Rita Djabah and Lawrence Tenu were adjudged the best six volunteers for the semester.Other members of GRIPE attended the ceremony and presented some of their products.Some University officials with members of GRIPEGRIPE is an initiative led by industry players under the auspices of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and currently has Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana, Dow Chemical West Africa Limited, Fan Milk Ghana Limited, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Nestlé Ghana, PZ Cussons Ghana Limited, Unilever Ghana and Voltic (GH) Limited, as founding members.

Ghana

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Unilever 

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Guinness

Founded in 2017, GRIPE is a project initiated by a coalition of eight multinational companies operating in Ghana with the common objective of contributing to the reduction of plastic waste. The solutions proposed will be based on the collection of plastic waste by means of containers with capacity development for waste pickers, second-life solutions, processing in new shredding and processing plants, research into solutions for behavioral changes, multi-stakeholder collaborations, education, public campaigning through conferences and digital national campaigns.

Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprises (GRIPE)

Impact on increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Collecting waste from households and businesses by means of refuse bins, wheeled bins, containers, etc., and providing treatment, incineration, materials recovery and reclamation, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste

Waste Management

Producing basic and specialty chemicals, inks, agricultural chemical such as fertilisers and pesticides, plastics including packaging, and rubber

Chemical and Plastic

Designing to enable multiple uses and lifecycles of a product and its materials

Design for cyclability

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Designing products to remove any barriers to recycling and enable easy recyclability

Design for recycling

Designing products to be reused for the same or different purposes in multiple lifecycles

Design for reuse

Engaging in discussions with industry stakeholders to share circular economy best practices and push the industry towards greater circularity

Guidance, dialogue with industry stakeholders

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

Govern the Transition

Institutional design to enable circularity

Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policies

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

At Plastics Recycling World Expo on 3-4 June 2020 in Essen, Germany, a delegation of the Ghanaian plastics and recycling industry will discuss development priorities. In this article, the group’s technical partner in the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia outlines progress being made in Ghana’s plastics recycling sector.  Even though the waste collected in Ghana more than doubled nationwide between 2006 and 2013, the share still remains at a low level. According to the Sustainable Development Goals Baseline Report from 2018, even in cities only around one-third of the growing quantities of waste is taken to dumpsites and the few sanitary landfills whose capacities are becoming increasingly scarce. A considerable portion is simply burnt under an open sky. Due to poor solid waste management, plastic waste like sachet water bags, water bottles, food boxes from Styrofoam and any amount of plastic bags is widespread on roadsides, clogging drains and littering beaches, causing health and flood risks. To turn such challenges into opportunities, the Ghanaian government is determined to leapfrog from waste disposal to a circular economy. In October 2019, as the first African nation, Ghana formally joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum and supported, amongst others, by the Development Programme of the United Nations (UNDP).Since 2007, the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia has maintained a partnership with Ghana, bringing together government institutions, universities, local governments, NGOs and companies from both sides. The German technical cooperation, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has played a prominent role in shaping the collaboration around climate and resource protection through projects supported financially by the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia. Against this background, it was more than logical that GIZ took up the request from the Ghanaian Ministry for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) to develop a project on sustainable management of plastics and to convene an international stakeholder forum in January 2018 in Accra. The main aim: To discuss with competent stakeholders the ministry’s first draft of a national plastics policy and to contribute experience gained in this field in Germany. Looking back, this forum has generated a strong momentum and raised public awareness for the urgency of tackling the challenges related to plastic littering the environment. As part of the project, GIZ piloted in collaboration with the local NGO Environment360 and with informal scrap dealers in Kumasi an incentive and take-back scheme to test a viable business model for recovering PET bottles littering the environment for recycling. PET bottles were chosen because even the informal waste pickers did not show interest in collecting them due to their volume and low weight. Having successfully tested the scheme, it can now be used for upscaling and including other types of plastics as well. To make representatives from private and public sector more familiar with the political framework conditions and technical options for managing the plastic value chain in a circular economy, GIZ organized in June 2018 a technical visit for a delegation from Ghana to North Rhine-Westphalia. On the occasion of WACEE’19, the West African Clean Energy and Environment fair and conference in Accra, MESTI and GIZ convened a second stakeholder forum on 8 November 2019. The aim was to discuss how the different stakeholders are contributing already to recovering and recycling plastics and the challenges they are facing for upscaling: plastic producers, food and beverage industry, recyclers, waste collectors, NGOs, start-ups, and local governments. The challenges plastic recyclers are facing are diverse: they range from plastic material that is not coded or locally recyclable, and extremely high interest rates for financing investments in recycling technology and high import taxes, to poor collection infrastructure and the absence of an extended producer responsibility system. In spite of these obstacles, the Ghanaian industry is recognising the potential of recycling and is becoming increasingly interested in plastic waste as a secondary raw material. To promote recycling and second-life solutions to reduce the impacts of post-consumption waste on the environment, a group of eight international companies from the chemical as well as food and beverage industry has taken the initiative and founded the Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprise (GRIPE), established under the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI). The Plastics Recycling World Exhibition 2020, taking place on 3-4 June 2020 in Essen, Germany, which is Europe’s leading focused event for plastics recycling, provides an excellent opportunity to get to know innovative technological solutions and to establish business contacts. Within the scope of the project, GIZ will therefore invite a delegation of the Ghanaian plastics and recycling industry to the trade-show. For meetings, the delegation will have its own exhibition booth and will be discussing the potential for co-operation in a specific side-event.Although Ghana has still a long way to go, important steps have been initiated to pave the way towards a circular economy. Progress can even be witnessed at Accra’s beaches where more and more PET bottles are collected for recycling. For more information contact [email protected]

Approximately 13 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the oceans annually, equivalent to one garbage truck load every minute. Even worse, the Pew Charitable Foundation estimates the volume of plastics finding its way into the world’s oceans will triple by 2040.
Some experts believe the solution lies in creating circular economies, which eliminate single-use plastic in favor of organic materials or plastics that can be recycled and reused. But that requires significant investment and infrastructure. 
In Africa less than 20 percent of plastics are recycled currently, far below European Union targets of 50 percent by 2025. In lieu of formal recycling operations, waste pickers collect litter and sell it to middlemen, who aggregate plastic waste and sell it to recyclers abroad.
But Ghana - with a 5 percent recycling rate - has emerged as a regional front runner committed to creating a domestic recycling industry that protects both the environment and impoverished, mostly-female, community of waste pickers. Last fall, Ghana became the first African country to join World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP).  At a recent World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit event, Plastics: From Global Vision to Local Action, panelists representing a coalition of government, manufacturers, technology providers, and non-profit organizations discussed how Ghana is driving change.
“We see plastic waste as a threat to our way of life and danger to environment,” said Oliver Boachie, Special Advisor from the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI). “But we also look at this as an opportunity.” 
Since 2018, the government has been working on a plastics waste program that aims to clean up environment, create jobs in plastics value chain, make resources available to manage plastics and ensure no one gets left behind. 
Global software provider, SAP SE, is also a member of GPAP and has collaborated with MESTI, private industry and local non-profits to create a technology solution that will help. 
“The recycling systems in Ghana are very analog so we’re building a digital system to connect everyone and track the volumes and types of plastic, where it goes, and the prices paid across the value chain,” said Maggie Buggie, Chief Business Officer of SAP Services.
With a foundation of reliable data, the government and private companies can determine where to invest resources and build recycling plants, while also monitoring waste pickers’ wages and living conditions. 
“By connecting the informal economy of waste pickers to the formal economy, we can ensure they receive a fair wage – and later on – get services like training or childcare,” said Buggie.
Making the Invisible Visible: Improving Pickers lives
Waste picking is a means of survival for poor, urban communities across Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. In Ghana, they recover at least 218 tonnes daily or nearly 12 percent of the total plastic waste generated.
But they have little visibility into the market price for what they’ve collected, which leaves them vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen. With the SAP solution, they will have mobile access to the average price for different kinds of materials. The government can use this data to monitor wages and take action to support pickers, for example, investing in social services that raise pickers’ living standards.
Jeffery Provencal founded rePATRN, a social enterprise that works with pickers. “We’re on the verge of an absolute game changer. We have a lack of data and the SAP solution is the best thing for it – one platform that provides all that data,” said Provencal. “We can find an efficient way to deal with the material, monetize it, and empower the waste pickers. So everyone wins.”
Private Sector Partners To Achieve Sustainability Goals 
Adwoa Coleman, Africa Sustainability and Advocacy Manager for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, explains how technology will help the Ghanaian government and manufacturers achieve their sustainability goals. 
“We have a goal that one million metric tons of plastics will be collected, recycled or reused by 2030,” said Coleman. “Data is critical to establishing a market where plastic can be bought and sold, depending on where that’s happening. Harnessing that data in one app will help fuel the circular economy and ensure that collected materials are reused.”
But success requires cooperation. “Stakeholder collaboration is important – we (not only) have the government, private sector and NGOs, but also the collector and recycler. To succeed, we need to all be at the table,” she said.
Coca Cola also has big environmental ambitions. For example, it wants all its packaging materials to be recyclable by 2035 — and has a specific perspective on what that means in West Africa. “Exportation of plastic and packaging waste out of Africa is not sustainable,” said Clement Ugorji, vice president for public affairs, communications and sustainability. “We need the domestic capacity for collection and recycling and reuse on the continent. That’s the only way to achieve a truly circular economy for Africa.”
For its part, SAP believes its experience in the region developing its SAP Rural Sourcing Management (an application that supports small-holder farmers and improves visibility across agricultural value chains) gives it an advantage. Since plastic pickers and rural farmers face similar issues, applications like this will help all parties succeed.
The plastics recycling pilot project will run in Accra and several smaller cities in Ghana. Building on what is learned during this first stage, the coalition hopes to expand across Ghana, West Africa and eventually the entire continent and other regions. 

 	 Government will join the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), a new initiative created by a coalition of influential public and private leaders to fast-track plastic pollution action around the world.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed this Wednesday at a press briefing said President Akufo-Addo, and the Environment Minister, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng will formally launch the initiative on October 1 in Accra.
GPAP is hosted at the World Economic Forum.
Ghana, under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation (MESTI) is in the process of adopting a National Plastic Management Policy that will leverage the comprehensive management of plastics to drive sustainable development, green job creation, and environmental protection.
Therefore, Ghana has been selected as a natural first engagement in Africa for the Global Plastics Action Partnership.
As one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and a leading political and economic force in Africa, Ghana has the potential to catalyze a new era of plastic action across the continent.
The Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership will launch in close coordination with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s ‘Waste’ Recovery Platform, which will promote sustainable waste recovery in Ghana through connecting stakeholders across the waste management chain.
The Ghana National Plastic Action Partnership and the UNDP ‘Waste’ Recovery Platform will support the existing work being carried out by the government of Ghana, as well as successful initiatives being led by entrepreneurs and civil society actors at the local level, to accelerate the reduction of plastic waste and pollution in Ghana.
About the Ghana National Plastics Management Policy
– Ghana’s first National Plastics Management Policy aims to use the comprehensive management of plastics across their life-cycle and value-chain as a vehicle for sustainable development, enabling a shift towards a plastics circular economy.
– The Policy lays a foundation to enable the creation of an entirely new industry for redesigning, recovering and recycling plastics, preventing pollution of our environment and communities and creating many new jobs in the green economy.
– The Implementation Plan of the National Plastics Management Policy starts with a national communication strategy to change our behaviour on how we manage plastics. The next focus will be on mobilizing finances and innovation to enable new business models for sustainably managing plastics and supporting communities and companies to coordinate and plan for a circular plastics economy. Lastly, the implementation of the Policy establishes robust frameworks for good governance and shared accountability across society.
– The Ghana National Plastics Action Partnership will be supporting the Government of Ghana to implement its ambitious roadmap for a circular plastics economy, captured in the National Plastics Management Policy.
About the Global Plastic Action Partnership
– The Global Plastic Action Partnership envisions a world free of plastic waste and pollution. It represents one of the most powerful and concerted efforts working internationally to address this issue, bringing together public, private, and civil society leaders to translate commitments into concrete action.
– The goal of the Ghana NPAP is to dramatically reduce the country’s plastic waste and pollution, and to fast-track progress towards zero leakage of waste into the environment, especially the ocean. The Ghana NPAP will support the government and businesses in transitioning to a circular economy for plastics, which will fundamentally change the way plastics are manufactured, used, and re-used.
– The transition to a circular plastics economy will spur job creation in the manufacturing and innovation industries, promote public health and wellbeing, boost tourism and investment, and support Ghana’s progress towards achieving a number of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Source: https://www.myjoyonline.com 

Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014. 

Nestle 

Government of Ghana

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.

World Economic Forum

Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP)

Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprise (GRIPE)

Association of Ghana Industries (AGI)

Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England.

 Unilever

Guiness Ghana

Fan Milk

Voltic

PZ Cussons

In October 2019, Ghana formally joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum. Additionally, to promote recycling and second-life solutions to reduce the impacts of post-consumption waste on the environment, a group of eight international companies from the chemical as well as food and beverage industry has taken the initiative and founded the Ghana Recycling Initiative by Private Enterprise (GRIPE), established under the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).

Circular plastics in Ghana

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This collection features a selection of inspiring examples of the circular economy, compiled in the context of the Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains programme (SWITCH).

Launched in 2020, SWITCH is a five-year initiative that assists EU multinational companies and their suppliers from developing countries to switch to more circular economy approaches and practices in three selected value chains: [Plastic Packaging](https://knowledge-hub.circle-lab.com/switchtocircular/search?collections=832%3D0&framework_elements__5=111), [Textile & Garments](https://knowledge-hub.circle-lab.com/switchtocircular/search?collections=832%3D0&framework_elements__5=99), and ICT and Electronics.

The overall objective of SWITCH is to support the “transformation towards a circular economy”, and to contribute to sustainable growth, low carbon and climate resilient development, decent jobs creation, and a safer, healthier and pollution-free environment.

SWITCH is co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Finland, and implemented by UNIDO, in collaboration with Chatham House, Circle Economy, and the European Investment Bank.
Learn more at www.switchtocircular.eu

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Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains

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Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Engaging in discussions with customers to educate and raise awareness of the circular economy and explore circular opportunities together

Customer dialogue, marketing 

 “The future is clear,” says Stephan Czypionka, Marketing Director of Coca-Cola Africa.  “We’re on a journey to create a World Without Waste and moving to clear Sprite bottles means more of our bottles can be collected, recycled and re-used to make new bottles.”  As part of its World Without Waste strategy, The Coca-Cola Company aims to collect a bottle or can for each one it sells by 2030. The company also aims to include 50% recycled content in its bottles by 2030. According to the PET Recycling Company (PETCO), 62% of PET bottles were collected after use and recycled in South Africa in 2019.
 The Coca-Cola system in South Africa currently uses an average of 8% recycled content in its bottles, but the company needs more clear bottles to be collected and recycled to use in new bottles if it is to meet its recycled content target. “With Sprite shifting to clear bottles it means more bottles available for repurposing into new bottles,” explains Mr. Czypionka. “Now everyone can enjoy their favourite sparkling lemon-lime drink knowing their bottle can be easily recycled and made into new bottles.” In addition to the environmental benefits, clear PET brings added economic benefits.  Covid-19 has severely impacted the recycling industry and has had a devastating effect on the incomes of more than 60 000 informal waste reclaimers who depend on collecting and selling packaging waste for a living. Because clear PET can be made into a wide range of new products, such as pillow and duvet inners, as well as new bottles, it is more valuable than green PET, which has limited uses. “Moving to clear PET will also help in maximizing the use of recycled and renewable materials and minimize the use of virgin materials,” says Mr. Czypionka.   

Sprite is ditching its iconic green plastic bottle in favor of more sustainable clear bottles, its parent company, The Coca-Cola Co., announced Wednesday. It’s a major change for the bubbly lemon-lime drink that debuted in the United States back in 1961 and became a staple in households and grocery stores with its eye-catching green packaging. The new design will start Aug. 1 and is part of an effort to “support a circular economy for plastic packaging," The Coca-Cola Co. said in a statement. Although the green polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging Sprite bottles are currently made of is recyclable, because of its color, it's separated from other clear items to avoid discoloring material used to make new PET bottles. “The recycled material is more often converted into single-use items like clothing and carpeting that cannot be recycled into new PET bottles,” the statement said. The Coca-Cola Company launches its Dasani and Sprite clear bottle design, created for environmental sustainability.The Coca-Cola CompanySwitching from clear to green increases the likelihood that these bottles can be recycled into new ones.R3Cycle, a reprocessing company working with Coca-Cola Consolidated to enable bottle-to-bottle recycling across the U.S., praised the decision. “Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material,” CEO Julian Ochoa said in a statement. “This transition will help increase availability of food-grade rPET. When recycled, clear PET Sprite bottles can be remade into bottles, helping drive a circular economy for plastic.”Sprite will also revamp its logo and will feature a prominent "Recycle Me" message, along with the new packaging design. But its green legacy will live on with the bottle's packaging graphics and in keeping its recognizable green cap.Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

As part of its World Without Waste strategy, The Coca‑Cola Company is moving away from its iconic green packaging to fresh, new clear PET plastic bottles for its sparkling lemon-lime drink, Sprite.

Sprite - Clear bottles to ease recyclability 

Coca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling
consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, classic chair. Each 111 Navy
Chair is made out of 111 recycled PET bottles with 65% recycled plastic and
35% glass fiber.

 * Waste impact: over 23 million bottles saved from landfills to date

Read more at:

<https://www.emeco.net/variants/emeco-111n-red-111-navy-chair-red-coca-cola>