We are excited to announce that our innovative plastic waste management programme, FINILOOP is expanding from India to Malawi with the support of The Coca-Cola Foundation. This next chapter of the programme will be implemented in partnership with WASTE Advisors (Malawi) and aims to tackle the growing plastic waste challenge in the capital city of Lilongwe, while creating and consolidating green jobs for local communities.
Transforming plastic waste management in Malawi
Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe, faces significant waste management challenges. With a population of 1,393,0001 the city generates between 500–600 metric tonnes of waste daily, yet only 10–30% is collected. Roughly 80% of waste is burnt and/or ends up in illegal dumpsites or waterways2.
Informal waste workers (IWWs)—mostly women and youth—face the full force of this issue in Malawi. They play a critical role in plastic waste management and often face unsafe working conditions, extreme poverty, and exclusion from social protection.
FINILOOP aims to change this reality by working in partnership to:
- Prevent 800 tonnes of plastic waste from being burned or dumped
- Establish and support 7 innovative plastic waste enterprises
- Improve livelihoods for at least 200 informal waste workers by aiming to create safer, more dignified work opportunities
- Raise awareness in local neighbourhoods
This first phase of FINILOOP Africa will serve as a foundation for future expansion across Malawi and the wider African continent, aiming to increase plastic collection and recycling.
Building on proven success
FINILOOP connects and strengthens actors along the entire waste value and service chain to ensure more effective waste management systems, cleaner environments for all and more inclusive and transparent recycling value chains.
Since 2022, with support from the IKEA Foundation, FINILOOP has been successfully implemented across three Indian cities—Udaipur, Amritsar, and Jaipur—where it has reached thousands of informal waste workers and prevented more than 5,000 tonnes of plastic waste from polluting the environment. This provides a firm foundation to expand the programme.
We thank The Coca-Cola Foundation for their support and invite you to join us in creating cleaner, more inclusive recycling value chains. To learn more about FINILOOP, visit: waste.nl/finiloop or to explore partnership opportunities contact: [email protected]
[1] Census population of 2018 with an annual increase of 4.5%
[2] Assessment on the Solid Waste Management Value Chain in Lilongwe City, WASTE Advisors (Malawi) and WASTE, July 2021
