Waste management is a major global challenge, attributable to exponential growth and the huge variety of solid waste materials. However, in developing countries the problem becomes even more acute due to a lack of recycling infrastructure and underfunded municipal waste collection companies. In Mozambique in particular, less than 2% of solid waste is recycled or composted.

AMOR, an NGO and Mozambique’s leading recycling advocate, approached EU Africa RISE in late 2022 to request support to pilot the digital waste app Kolekt in Mozambique. A team of experts were subcontracted by Africa RISE to implement the initiative. The app will be piloted with different target groups including businesses, waste pickers and recyclers. The project kicked off in March 2023 in Mozambique, followed by Angola in April. It is expected that both pilots will be completed by early July. The plan after the pilot is to then share the learnings in other countries in the Southern African (SADC) region.

Currently, municipal waste collection in Mozambique focuses on mixed solid waste. Usually picked up by garbage trucks, and then any valuable (recyclable) materials are pressed together with leftover food and organic waste. This garbage-truck approach renders the recyclable materials useless for recycling due to contamination. This municipal solid waste is then sent to the city landfill site, or it is incinerated. The only real effort to collect sorted, valuable and recyclable materials is done by informal waste pickers, known as ‘Catadores’ in Portuguese. They are the circular economy professionals of developing nations. There are roughly 4 waste pickers for every 1,000 citizens. Therefore, there are around 130,000 waste pickers in Mozambique, with most earning less than minimum wage. They scrape by looking for high value recyclable materials such as aluminium cans, PET bottles, HDPE plastics, metals, returnable bottles, etc. They are the only people committed to supporting the recycling industry. They need more income and support, and this is where AMOR steps in.

AMOR, the recycling association of Mozambique, has over the last 10 years tirelessly placed collection points (eco-points) for recyclables across major cities in Mozambique; has trained waste pickers; has set up sorting stations; has organised sale to recyclers or for export; and it now wants a digital app like Kolekt to match up demand and supply for recyclable materials. AMOR’s Founder Stephane Temperman says “I am so convinced by an app like Kolekt for the circular economy, that I have hired a team of 5 staff to roll out the app.” So how can a waste management app like Kolekt help the recovery of recyclable materials?

After discussions that Africa RISE experts had with stakeholders ranging from multinational beverage companies, to recyclers, waste picker associations, municipal and government waste policy makers, three organisations agreed to pilot the app. These include a recycler of HDPE plastics, Topack, that was in need of buying more material and to monitor the flows, an existing “eco-point” (buyer-sorter-seller of recyclables), and a church wanting to create a new eco-point for the congregation to deliver recyclables.

For Topack, the Kolekt App will help identify the sources of HDPE plastic and the collectors. They also want to better monitor the buying and selling of plastics by their truck drivers. Topack was founded in 1995 in Maputo, Mozambique and is the largest recycling company in the country and across Lusophone Africa with operations in Angola and joint ventures in Latin America and Europe. They recycle an average of 10,000 kilos of PP and PE plastic waste per day in Mozambique. Digitising Topack’s existing supply chain will show how critical support to informal waste collectors is in Mozambique’s overall waste management ecosystem.

The pilot started on 3 May with the training of Topack’s staff who receive the deliveries of recyclable material. Other training took place of the week of the 9 May to train the drivers of Topack’s recycling collection trucks and those of partner recycling collection agencies. The vehicles will use Kolekt to register their purchases, and then Topack will use Kolekt for their own purchase of this material.

Thierry Sanders, the Africa RISE Lead expert for this project says, “The App used by Topack is proof of purchase of recyclables. Kolekt app registers the seller, buyer, GPS location and photos will eventually help Topack certify their contribution to recycling. Once independently audited Topack will be able to sell these certificates to the companies producing the waste. These certificates are called ‘plastic credits’. This will make recycling more lucrative, thereby generating more demand for recyclable materials. It will be a boost for the circular economy.”

The next steps of the pilot:

·             Launch a pilot with churches in Beira, Mozambique (by end of May);

·             A workshop session in Luanda, Angola with several waste sector stakeholders to discuss the applicability of a digital waste solution in Luanda (early June);

·             Redesign of the Kolekt monitoring dashboard (early June).

 

Africa RISE will conduct an impact assessment of the pilot in June-July. Learning from the pilot will help AMOR scale-up of the business models so that stakeholders, including waste pickers, can ultimately benefit.

A similar pilot is currently under preparation in Angola, with over 50 waste pickers to be involved from June. Other 20+ market players and potential users will be sensitised and trained on the use of the app and shown the benefits from use.

Watch this space as we will continue to post updates from the pilots.