Senegalese plastic credit initiative confronts country’s mounting waste management problems

20 Jul 2023 --- The Deekali Plastic Project in Senegal has been announced as Africa’s “first” plastic credit project to meet the registration requirements for Verra’s Plastic Waste Reduction Standard. The accreditation was announced by Africa Carbon & Commodities (ACC), an NGO driving sustainable solutions for environmental challenges on the continent.

“Deekali gets the job done where the government cannot, allowing the private sector to take plastic waste out of the environment and repurpose it to replace virgin plastic products,” Nicole Dewing, ACC’s managing director, tells Packaging Insights. 

The Deekali project offers global corporate entities the chance to offset their plastics footprint by purchasing plastic credits supporting circularity in economically developing countries while helping to mitigate pollution.

Plastic waste collection and recycling is a new sector in Senegal, validated by plastic credits. The credits are needed to strengthen collection and recycling activities and help to make them more lucrative and valued. Additionally, plastic credits provide jobs for citizens without formal education. 

Plastic waste is recycled into chips and granules and sold to plastic manufacturers.Plastics recovery revolution 
The project in Senegal is one of four programs to meet the Verra requirements for plastic credits globally. Thirty-four projects worldwide are listed on the Verra directory, currently going through the approval and registration process. 

Dewing explains that Verra requirements are very stringent criteria that are difficult to apply to an “informal economy” in Africa. 

“They [the criteria] include assessing project impact with waste collection methodologies, demonstrating additionality using specific processes and receiving desk and field audits from third-party auditors. After over two years of project development, the Deekali project was successful in meeting the criteria and assisted in formalizing the nascent sector in Senegal.”

“Gaining the registration status from Verra is a remarkable achievement, and now plastic credits can be purchased by global companies and organizations, allowing corporates to make a difference in Senegal, which is suffering from immense plastic pollution.”

The registration marks a major step in ACC’s fight against plastic waste in Africa. The program is an important tool to start the “plastic recovery revolution.”

“ACC’s vision is to use the plastic credits program to help eliminate plastic waste from dumps, landfills, public areas, beaches and households in Senegal, as well as provide meaningful and well-paid jobs to residents,” says Dewing.

Reinvested funds
The Deekali plastic credit project brings together hundreds of plastic waste collectors and three recycling facilities to combat pollution. Cash generated by plastic credit sales pays for plastic waste collection, targeting either removal from the environment or recycling. 

Plastic waste is recycled into chips and granules and sold to plastic manufacturers to replace virgin plastic. 

“The project creates a circular economy and market-based solutions. Plastic waste is removed from the environment and repurposed into 100% recycled tables, chairs, school desks and stools,” explains Dewing. Senegal suffers from inadequate waste management infrastructure and poorly-enforced regulation, says Dewing.

“Moreover, the plastic credits generated from the Deekali project allow companies that use, manufacture and package with plastic to be a part of the solution in getting plastic waste out of the environment and repurposing it.”

Macoumba Diagne, director of one of the recycling companies in the Deekali project, points out that the plastic credits allow his operations to increase the company’s collection and recycling capacity by modernizing its production lines, recruiting new employees and improving working environments. 

Senegal’s waste issues
The plastic crisis in Senegal results from inadequate waste management infrastructure and poorly-enforced regulations on use. “Single-use plastic bags are forbidden but are still everywhere in Senegal,” says Dewing.

The Senegalese government does not have the means to develop an adequate solid waste management system, which is why plastic credits are needed to assist the innovative private-sector collection and recycling activities, highlights Dewing.

“The government created the solid waste management agency that manages the collection of solid waste in the major urban areas, but cannot keep up with the amount of waste created. It also established PROMAGED, a national program to put in place policies and infrastructure to manage waste in Senegal, but this has not yet been fully implemented.”

Population and cities are growing rapidly in Senegal, and the government is trying to find ways to improve the country’s solid waste management. “The middle class in Senegal is growing and consuming more and more, leading to a threefold increase in plastic waste in the last ten years,” notes ACC’s managing director. 

By Natalie Schwertheim