Dow expands Project Reflex to boost African flexible packaging recycling

10 Jun 2022 --- Dow has announced the expansion of its Project Reflex initiative in Egypt and Guinea, following a successful pilot phase in Nigeria. The initiative aims to increase flexible packaging recycling in Africa to establish a market for recycled content. The project aims to improve waste management while providing job opportunities for local communities. 

Sami Mainich, regional director Dow North and West Africa, says: “At Dow, we know that a critical part of solving the plastics waste crisis is enabling a closed-loop system. Using our expertise in materials science and technological capabilities, we believe we are best placed to help accelerate the pace of change in Africa by supporting innovative local enterprises to scale solutions that benefit the environment and local communities.”

The project, which launched in 2020, targets explicitly flexible packaging such as plastic water sachets that ensure local communities have access to clean water, showing that it can be collected and recycled into new quality packaging applications.

Dow says the expansion strategy for Project Reflex will increase the collection and valorization of flexible plastic. Image credit: Wecyclers. Closed-loop system
Dow says the post-consumer recyclate (PCR) created in the pilot phase is currently being trialed by a large brand owner for use in some of their non-food packaging applications. If successful, this will be a live example of a closed-loop system for plastics in Africa, and further prove the commercial viability of PCR materials from flexible packaging waste. 

Through Project Reflex, Dow aims to divert 10,000 metric tons of flexible packaging waste by 2025, which would otherwise end up in landfill or the environment, while also creating direct employment opportunities for over 50,000 waste collectors in Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea through innovative waste management company, Wecyclers. 

So far, the project has diverted 520 metric tons of flexible packaging waste into mechanical recycling streams and new applications.

The funding for Project Reflex comes from Dow’s Business Impact Fund, a competitive grant program that allocates corporate contributions toward shared value projects to help address social problems through the company’s technology and expertise.

Cross-level partnerships
The expansion into Egypt began in December 2021 with the company entering an 18-month partnership with the international non-governmental organization, WasteAid, which shares waste management and recycling skills in lower- and middle-income countries to advance plastic waste recovery and recycling in Aswan. 

Dow says the expansion strategy for Project Reflex will see similar partnerships with public, private and community-level actors in Egypt and Guinea to increase the collection and valorization of flexible plastic. 

Olawale Adebiyi, CEO of Wecyclers says: “Through working alongside Dow to scale [environmentally] sustainable solutions in tackling flexible packaging waste in Africa, we can help ensure this material retains its value.”

“It has been both rewarding and inspiring to see the positive impact of these combined efforts on Nigeria's local business communities through the pilot phase of Project Reflex. We look forward to extending our role in Egypt and Guinea, helping to raise awareness of the socio-economic benefits of [environmentally] sustainable waste management.” 

Dow and Wecyclers want to ensure that local communities are aware of the value plastic materials have and the income opportunities they can provide through collection, sorting and recycling.Socio-economic focus
The project is said to have a strong socio-economic focus, so in addition to providing expertise, funding and technology to bolster efforts to divert plastics waste from the environment, Dow and Wecyclers want to ensure that local communities in Africa are aware of the value these materials have and the income opportunities they can provide through collection, sorting and recycling. 

For example, the organizations ran an event in March in partnership with a social impact organization bringing together members of the community and local organizations to learn more about plastics recycling and actively take part in a clean-up exercise in Lagos Island, Lagos, Nigeria, kicking off a grassroots campaign to ensure more people collect and bring back their plastic water sachets. 

Adwoa Coleman, Dow’s Africa sustainability and advocacy manager for packaging and specialty plastics says: “The reason we are proud of Project Reflex in Africa is that it addresses the full lifecycle of flexible plastic packaging – from production right through to use.”

“Our hope is that the education, materials and support to the local communities and businesses in Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea, and potentially other African markets, received through the program will result in long-term environmentally sustainable collection for flexible packaging.”

“At Dow, we see a circular economy thriving in the region if it is inclusive of the people who are already doing this hard work on the ground to enable it and that is exactly what we are trying to do through Project Reflex in Africa.” 

By collaborating with individuals and organizations that are already supporting waste management infrastructure and recycling, Project Reflex is driving and scaling local, sustainable solutions for Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea. This project is aligned to Dow’s global Stop The Waste environmental sustainability target which will enable the collection, reuse or recycling of one million metric tons of plastic globally by 2030. 

By Natalie Schwertheim