Diageo has co-founded the Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance to collaborate and support plastics recycling in Sub Saharan Africa generating investment and jobs.

Though plastics make up a very small part of Diageo’s total packaging materials (less than 5% with the majority in glass) we recognise the increasing problem plastics present the world over. As a business we have been taking firm steps to commit to minimising the impact of our plastics footprint. We have boosted efforts to recycle and reuse the material In keeping with our new plastics targets for 2025 which were published in June 2018.

In Africa plastics are a vital affordable and accessible material for use in multiple categories such as food and drink, health and hygiene items. We know that it will be a while before an alternative is found, so we have committed to working with our peers to tackle the threat of plastics waste.

The Africa Plastics Recycling Alliance aims to drive collective action between some of the biggest consumer goods businesses operating in Africa to address plastics waste whilst seizing the economic opportunity recycling and reprocessing infrastructure represents.

The Alliance came together at the CEO Africa Forum in Kigali this week has agreed to:

• Facilitating and supporting our local subsidiaries to engage proactively in market level public private partnerships, industry collaboration and alliances
• Sharing knowledge, encouraging innovation and collaborating on technical and other solutions appropriate for Sub-Saharan Africa as well as participating in local pilot initiatives
• Engaging with the investment community, policy makers and others to accelerate the development and financing of the necessary waste management infrastructure and systems.

“Plastics are important to the future of Africa and in Diageo Africa we have plastic packaging alongside our glass and can formats to meet consumer needs in different markets. We have adopted a proactive approach to establish new, and leverage existing, multi-stakeholder partnerships which support the collection, processing, reuse and recycling of plastics and stimulate the market for recycled plastics. This new Alliance represents the next, important stage of this to accelerate and scale-up our localised in country recycling efforts.” — John O’Keefe, President of Diageo Africa