A not-for-profit executive says Rwanda has been been setting up plastic recycling systems that yield results.

The production, use and disposal of plastics pose the biggest challenge in waste management. While individual governments have instituted legislative measures and even signed international conventions aimed at stemming the tide of the plastic waste menace, the world has yet to see an end to plastic pollution.

Across Africa, plastic pollution remains a serious problem, devastating communities’ health, the environment, and the ecosystem that millions depend on for their livelihood. But amidst this challenge, Rwanda remains at the forefront of waste management, earning its capital city, Kigali, the moniker “Africa’s cleanest city.”

Rwanda’s efforts began with a 2008 ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags, which was subsequently followed by the outlawing of single-use plastic items, as one of the long-term strategies for becoming a green and climate-resilient nation.

The ban was aimed at minimizing the dangers of plastic pollution to humans, farm animals, aquatic life and the environment. According to a World Bank report, Rwanda’s current strong institutional and political will, legal frameworks and citizens active in eliminating plastic pollution foster socio-economic development and environmental protection. The national motto for sustainable environmental management is: “whatever cannot be recycled or reused must not be produced”.

The country also has a host of national policies and laws concerning general pollution management: Vision 2020 (2000); Rwanda Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (2011); Regulations of Solid Waste Recycling (2015); and the Law on Environment (2018), among others. In addition, there are specific laws or policies that focus directly on plastic waste control in Rwanda. These include Law No. 57/2008 of 10/09/2008 relating to the prohibition of the manufacturing, importation, use and sale of polythene bags in Rwanda (2008).

Furthermore, as a signatory to international conventions, Rwanda has adhered to its commitments to achieve ambitious changes in the use, management and disposal of plastics in the country. For instance, as a signatory of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the country seeks to contribute to the ambitious goals of the Paris Agreement. The management of plastic pollution in Rwanda falls within a wider strategic, regulatory and policy framework, which sets the foundation for the management of waste.

In order for these commitments to really take root however, the backing of the local community is needed. In Rwanda, this has come in the form of “Umuganda,“ a Kinyarwanda word that means “coming together in common purpose.” It’s a monthly community work (including community cleanup) reintroduced to Rwandan life in 1998 as part of efforts to rebuild the country after the 1994 genocide. Today, it takes place on the last Saturday of every month starting at 8:00 a.m. and lasts for at least three hours, with every able-bodied Rwandan aged 18 to 65 taking part.

Rwanda also has created a dedicated community of innovators in the field of plastic waste management. These include CareMeBioplastics and Toto Safi, who are both finalists in the Afri-Plastics Challenge. Small and medium enterprises like these illustrate the growing role for the private sector within the plastic value chain, particularly in the African context where government infrastructure and services are limited, even non-existent in some places. CareMeBioplastics is involved in the collection and recycling of plastic, using a mobile app to collect plastic from end users and processing the collected plastic and turning it into valuable items such as school desks and indoor and outdoor furniture.

Toto Safi’s solution is a reusable cloth diaper service so that parents do not have to choose between convenience and pollution. Through this app, parents will be able to receive a fresh bundle of sterilised and affordable cloth diapers. These two innovators represent the wider activity and commitment that the Rwandan landscape is facilitating. They also demonstrate the importance of public-private partnership in plastic waste management.

Despite impressive success, the delivery of waste management services in Rwanda still faces significant challenges if governments, industries and businesses do not invest and develop effective and efficient waste management systems.

Another challenge is a lack of data and data management systems for waste management, which makes it difficult to understand and design policies for waste management and assess the impact of plastics policies on plastic waste recycling reduction in Rwanda.

The government could address these challenges by developing a robust data management system to gather, record and report on plastics data. Such a system is essential to facilitating policy performance measurement and improvement. It will allow the nation to better track waste accumulation, waste movements and end destinations (e.g., tonnages recycled, recovered, or disposed of) including public behavioral changes toward plastic waste management practices, and enable the government to identify and assess opportunities for future interventions.

The government also needs to step up its support to separate waste at the source and to handle separated waste during its collection and transportation with the right financial incentives. Gradually increasing landfill tipping fees, fines for illegal dumping, deposit refund schemes, and other financial incentives according to society’s increasing affluence will help encourage both households and entities to separate recyclable plastics from other wastes, reduce landfill disposal and curb illegal dumping in Rwanda. The private and public sector need to stop working in silos, as the problem affects both sectors. Where the public sector falls short, the private sector may be able to provide support through innovation and research as demonstrated by the above listed tech startups.

Education and awareness also play a key role in making sure these initiatives succeed. It would be prudent to incorporate within the education system, the importance of proper waste management, recycling and the overall circular economy. This encourages a holistic, systems approach to the problem which in turn ensures sustainability of the overall solutions.

Finally, the government needs to develop effective mechanisms and provide financial incentives to support local industries – such as the construction and manufacturing sectors – to incorporate recycled materials into their manufacturing processes and products.

These are challenges that governments face across Africa and globally. There is no doubt that Rwanda is a global leader in plastic waste management and its efforts should be emulated by all governments to spur the growth of their economies, sustain a clean environment and improve the health and well-being of their citizens.

The author is network coordinator of the African Circular Economy Network and co-founder of Ulubuto.

Ford breaks ground in Tennessee, while GM announces Ohio investment.

Scrap recyclers are among those keeping an eye on investments being made in the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing space, as carmakers new and established decide where to locate their assembly and component supply lines as EV production gains momentum.

In September, Ford Motor Co. held a groundbreaking ceremony at BlueOval City for an EV production plant in Stanton, Tennessee, it calls its “largest, most advanced auto production complex” in its 119-year history, while General Motors (GM) announced a $760 million retrofit to a long-time drivetrain components and systems plant in Toledo, Ohio.

Structural steel is being erected less than one year after Ford and South Korea-based SK On announced their $5.6 billion investment to build the electric truck and battery plant in west Tennessee. “The nearly 6-square-mile mega campus will create approximately 6,000 new jobs when production begins in 2025,” Ford says.

“This facility is the blueprint for Ford’s future manufacturing facilities and will enable Ford to help lead America’s shift to electric vehicles,” says Eric Grubb, Ford’s director of new footprint construction. Ford says it currently is America’s No. 2 EV brand, and the facility brings it closer to its target of a 2 million EV production rate globally by late 2026.

The company’s longtime rival, GM—which is building a sizable EV battery plant of its own in Michigan—has announced it will invest $760 million at its Toledo propulsion manufacturing operations to prepare that facility to produce drive units that will be used in future Ultium-based battery EV trucks.

“Toledo Propulsion Systems will be GM’s first U.S. powertrain or propulsion-related manufacturing facility transformed for EV-related production,” the company says. Renovation work at Toledo Propulsion Systems will begin this month.

Once the plant is converted, it will produce GM’s family of EV drive units, which convert electric power from the battery pack to mechanical motion at the wheels. GM’s EV drive units will cover front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive propulsion combinations, including high-performance and off-road capabilities, according to the company.

“Our Toledo team has a long, proud history of building great products and they have worked hard to earn this investment,” says Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability. “This investment helps build job security for our Toledo team for years to come and is the next step on our journey to an all-electric future.”

New Jersey-based company will work with Stanley Black & Decker on power tool and battery recycling.

Stanley Black & Decker, based in New Britain, Connecticut, and TerraCycle, New Jersey, will take part in an effort designed to encourage customers to recycle home appliances and tools, focusing on those containing lithium-ion batteries.

The free program, starting this month, will accept a variety of products within the Stanley Black & Decker brand portfolio, including Black & Decker, DeWalt, Craftsman, Stanley, Porter-Cable, Iriwn, Lenox, Mac Tools and Bostitch.

“Stanley Black & Decker strives to further our ESG [environmental, social and governance] mission and is committed to creating a more sustainable world, with a focus on reducing waste,” says Debi Geyer, corporate responsibility officer at Stanley Black & Decker. “One way we are doing this is by providing our customers with product recycling options that are easy and cost effective to perform.”

Via the Stanley Black & Decker Tool Free Recycling Program, household consumers are invited to send in Stanley Black & Decker power tools, hand tools and accessories by signing up on a TerraCycle program page. After signing up, customers can mail in eligible items using a prepaid shipping label.

In the Stanley Black & Decker Home Free Recycling Program, consumers interested in recycling their Stanley Black & Decker small home appliances, including food processors, coffee makers, blenders and toasters, are invited to sign up on the TerraCycle program page.

Finally, the Stanley Black & Decker Lithium Battery Free Recycling Program invites consumers to recycle appliances and tools with embedded lithium batteries.

Once collected the materials will be cleaned, sorted and reduced into material that can be remolded to make new recycled products, according to TerraCycle and Stanley.

“Stanley Black & Decker is offering consumers a planet-positive way to responsibly dispose of their well-used small home appliances and power tools that have reached the end of their usable life,” TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky says.

Waste and recycling firm honored as business of the year by a central Texas organization.

Texas Disposal Systems (TDS), a waste and recycling services provider based in Austin, Texas, has received the 2022 Large Business of the Year award from the Kyle (Texas) Area Chamber of Commerce.

The company was recognized for providing residential and commercial solid waste collection for the city of Kyle and for committing some $1.5 million to that city’s Heroes Memorial Park initiative.

TDS leadership calls its recognition an indication that its “collaborative model for community relationships building is mutually beneficial for company and for the communities it serves.”

The waste services firm refers to Kyle as one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas. It calls the Heroes Memorial Park it has helped fund “an educational, reflective and celebratory public space that will serve as a gateway to the community.”

TDS says it has committed a total of $1.5 million (half cash and half in goods and services) to the initiative. “TDS values our strong partnership with the city of Kyle and the customers we serve,” says Leticia Mendoza, director of marketing and communications at TDS. “We continue to be inspired by the spirit of the community. We are committed to providing best-in-class services to the Kyle community and to watching this fast-growing city continue to sustainably thrive.”

“Heroes Memorial Park will be the cornerstone of our Brick and Mortar District, a 138-acre pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development within the Plum Creek master-planned community," Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell says. "We hope that it will show the world how much the residents of Kyle appreciate the sacrifice of those who protect and serve us. This memorial would not be possible without the generous support of our partner, Texas Disposal Systems, and the tireless work and commitment of our city council and staff.”

The Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce says its Excellence in Commerce Awards are designed to recognize individuals, companies and non-profit organizations that show their commitment to Kyle’s economic growth and development through their business practices and commitment to the community.

Texas Disposal Systems describes itself as one of the largest independently-owned solid waste collection, processing and disposal companies in the nation. According to its website, the firm operates a landfill and is involved in solid waste disposal, compost production concrete recycling, and material recovery facility (MRF) single-stream recycling operations.

EAF steel producer is pursuing green building status for its mill being built in Brandenburg, Kentucky.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. says it has registered to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Version 4 (LEED v4) certification for its steel plate mill being built in Brandenburg, Kentucky.

The scrap-fed electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker says Nucor Steel Brandenburg “is the first steel mill in the world to pursue certification under LEED v4, which is more stringent than previous LEED rating systems and ambitiously aligns each credit category with sustainable performance, climate change, and revolutionizes the manufacturing landscape through third-party transparency and reporting requirements.”

Leon Topalian, board chair, president and CEO of Nucor, says, “Sustainability has been at the core of Nucor’s business model since we first started making steel in the 1960s. Our recycling production method makes us one of the cleanest steelmakers in the world. LEED certification extends our sustainability efforts to the materials and operating system choices we make in constructing this new steel mill.”

The company says more than 75 percent of discarded construction materials generated while building the steel mill have been diverted from landfills. Sustainable building materials, many directly produced by Nucor divisions, have also been used in the construction of the mill.

In terms of other LEED features of the mill in Brandenburg, Nucor points to the “preservation of a large portion of forested area on the property, lighting reduction strategies, reduced parking footprint, support for green vehicles, and water and energy efficiency measures.”

“Our Nucor Steel Brandenburg team is proud to be the first Nucor mill to undertake LEED v4 certification,” says Johnny Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Brandenburg. “We make our products in a sustainable way and these products, such as steel for offshore wind towers, are going to help build the green economy. It is only natural that we would construct this mill using sustainable materials and practices.”

The new $1.7 billion Nucor Steel Brandenburg facility has been designed to produce 1.2 million tons of steel plate annually and is expected to begin production at the end of this year. It will be able to produce 97 percent of plate products consumed domestically and will be one of only a few mills in the world capable of supplying “the critical steel components required to build offshore wind farms,” Nucor says.

The Washington-based United States Green Building Council created the LEED rating system in 1998 as a technique to move the construction industry toward “higher levels of sustainable design and construction,” Nucor says.

Operationally, Nucor says its use of recycled scrap-based EAF steelmaking means “Nucor’s steelmaking greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity is less than one-fourth of the global average and one-fifth of the average integrated steel producer.”