Financial Inclusion and Improved Livelihoods Out of Plastics

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FINILOOP stands for: Financial Inclusion of Improved Livelihoods Out Of Plastics. FINILOOP is a city-level solid waste management model targeting plastic waste free cities. The FINILOOP programme aims to combat plastic waste pollution through improved solid waste management while improving the livelihoods of informal waste workers in the plastic waste value chain at the same time.

The FINILOOP project is active in three cities in India (2022-25). Through the FINILOOP project, our mission is to:

Create sustainable waste management systems.
Improve livelihoods of (in)formal waste workers.
Professionalize and scale the plastic recycling sector.
Reduce plastic waste leakage into the environment.

To realise this we capacitate local governments and work with the private sector and empower (in)formal waste workers and support small informal businesses to scale up. These activities all work towards attaining plastic-waste-free cities and a clean environment in which flourishing plastic waste value chains create decent work.

Learn more about our expertise in solid waste management, including plastics.

Our goals

Improved livelihoods for waste workers and plastic waste free cities

We design customised implementation plans based on a thorough assessment of plastic and solid waste issues in a city, as well as a value chain analysis of the plastic waste recycling sector. Social issues are included with a focus on women and children working in the informal sector. WASTE acts as a facilitator and accelerator to build sustainable systems with a focus on the following goals towards circularity:

Development of the service chain as part of the solid waste sector

Improvement of solid waste collection, provision of reliable supply to the recycling sector by segregation at source, and improvement of sorting activities.

Business development and access to finance for plastic recycling businesses

Business development programme for informal waste workers, start-ups and existing businesses in the plastic waste sector, linkages with access to finance to boost growth of the sector.

Development of innovative technologies for difficult plastic recycling

Introduce innovations to recycle low grade plastics (with demonstration pilots).

Our activities in the plastic recycling service chain

To improve and scale plastic waste management systems in Asia and Africa, FINILOOP uses WASTE’s DIAMOND Model. Resulting in (local) governments, households, entrepreneurs, financiers, and other key stakeholders, have organized themselves in such a way that they are able to sustain a local plastic recycling value chain. Thereby, ensuring communities can live in a clean and healthy environment. There are many types of plastics and complex value chains that need addressing through knowledge management and expertise.

We do so by:

Raising awareness about plastic waste, its health effects and source separation at the household level
Empowering waste pickers (women and youth) to create jobs
Professionalising the plastic recycling sector and introducing innovations
Integrating local financial resources and developing new finance products
Setting up collaboration with governments and development partners to make scale happen

As a result, we improve the quality of solid waste services and quality of recycled plastic, whilst boosting plastic recycling rates. FINILOOP focuses on building local capacities in facilitating plastic recycling loans to improve recycling infrastructure, plastic recycling business development, and waste segregation at the source.

"I thank WASTE for their great training, we have learnt a lot about plastic recycling and new business opportunities. WASTE brings the right public to the table to really have an impact.” Modou Fall, director Expertises et Solutions International

Sustainability

Plastic waste pollution in cities is mostly caused by mal-functioning solid waste management system whereby the different actors are not linked, by bringing them together, and working on the improvement of the sector in all for ‘Diamond domains’ the sector can strengthen, resulting in less waste ending up in the environment, more opportunities for private (in)formal sector and a stronger municipality.

The FINILOOP programme is active from 2022-25.