rePurpose Global with Taka Taka, Kenya have completed a pilot for collection and recycling of otherwise uncollected single-use PP containers into hot-washed PP flakes, a first of its kind project in Kenya.

Baseline: Currently there is no collection of single use PP containers, HDPE, PP and BoPP flexibles, given high cost of collection and no recycling infrastructure across Kenya. In comparison, a recycling market for LDPE flexibles exists as they are cheaper to recycle. This is because LDPE flexibles are mostly used for industrial packaging. This results in minimal contamination, which then doesn’t make it necessary to undertake the expensive steps of washing and drying this plastic stream.

Taka Taka is the first organization in Kenya to install a recycling plant for single use PP, with a commitment to sell 50% of the generated flakes, through development of market linkages locally. The project created financial incentives for informal workers to recover and sell single use PP to Taka Taka, followed by recycling at their plant and sale to manufacturers of end products.

Additionality arguments:
1. Additionality (single-use PP containers): The pilot project created economic subsidies for the informal waste pickers to collect and upsell single use PP containers to Taka Taka, which were then recycled at their own plant, thereby creating additionality over the baseline. Since there is no end market for single use PP (other than the one being developed by Taka Taka), the project would not have happened without the financial subsidies to facilitate collection of this plastic type.
2. Additionality (HDPE, PP and Bopp flexibles): The proposed project for recycling HDPE, PP and Bopp flexible would be 100% additional since there is no recycling or market for end sales of these materials currently.

Barriers to scaling up the single use PP project: 25-30% of single-use trays and cups are made from PET (as opposed to PP for which the plant was originally designed). This poses a challenge because the requirements for PET recycling are significantly higher than for PP recycling, since the former is used for food grade applications, as opposed to recycled PP flakes, that are often used for non-food applications and, therefore, do not need to match the highest level of quality requirements.

Currently Taka Taka’s flakes do not meet this quality standard. Therefore, although they are buying materials from waste pickers, yet 25-30% of the output is not sellable.

Barriers to setting/scaling up HDPE, PP and Bopp flexibles project: high cost of recycling due to transportation, washing, drying and pelletising costs.

Solutions identified: 1.Expand input of single use PP plant by incentivizing informal collection 2. Install a colour sorter to remove PET contamination 3. Expand capacity into the newly installed flexibles plant of capacity 2.5 tonnes per day and set up a larger flexibles plant of capacity 10 tonnes per day over a longer term.