From Plastic Waste to Resilient Homes: Upcycling Rolls On!
2024 LOCAL ADAPTATION CHAMPIONS AWARD NOMINEE
Climate change is making life in urban centers more difficult. Increased heat, poor drainage caused by bad waste management, and increased stress on livelihoods are just three of the negative impacts. Upcycle Africa, based in Uganda but having impact beyond, is addressing all three of these issues by empowering local communities to upcycle plastic waste into eco-friendly homes and other products of value.
Climate-Smart Solutions for Local Communities
From the very start of the project, Upcycle Africa collaborates closely with community leaders to understand local vulnerabilities and integrate these insights into the initiatives. What has emerged, is a comprehensive system for taking discarded plastic waste such as water bottles, and converting it to items of great use to the community, such as bricks, tiles, and bags.
Plastic bottles collected from beaches, streets and natural areas.
“We empower residents with skills in waste management and sustainable entrepreneurship, enhancing their ability to cope with climate challenges and improve economic resilience,” says Johnmary Kavuma, Founder of Upcycle Africa. “Our focus includes transforming plastic waste into eco-bricks and eco-homes, providing resilient housing solutions while reducing environmental impact.”
An excellent extra dimension to this project is that Upcycle Africa collaborates extensively with local and city governments wherever they work. This allows for upcycled products, especially important in the case of eco-friendly housing, to align with established urban resilience planning.
Construction of an affordable home using plastic bottles filled with soil as bricks
Scaling Up and Moving Forward
In the past few years, Upcycle Africa have trained over 10,000 individuals, created over 500 sustainable jobs, and prevented thousands of tons of plastic from polluting the environment. They have already worked across numerous African countries, including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania, through strategic partnerships and technology transfers.
Now is the ttime to scale, by increasing productivity in the area most in-demand: the construction of eco-homes. Upcycle also plans to invest in technology such as their app ‘Yo-plastic’ which helps users optimize plastic waste collection.
Up-cycled home using plastic bottle bricks and used car tires as roofing material.
