(Business in Cameroon) - Plastic waste recycler Namé Recycling announces it has recycled around 9,000 tons of waste, including 250 million plastic bottles since its creation in 2016. The company disclosed the figures on June 17, 2023, in Douala, during a facility visit by Philippe Van Damme, Head of the European Union’s delegation in Cameroon. 

"Raw plastic is transformed into PET (polyethylene terephthalate, editor's note) flakes and straps, after being sorted, washed, extruded, and granulated. The plastic flakes and PET straps are then sold on the local and international markets, to be used as recycled raw materials, closing the materials loop," it explained. 

To demonstrate the positive impact of its activities on the environment, Namé Recycling revealed that the waste it collected and recycled to date has prevented the release of 30.6 million kilograms of carbon dioxide. This, we learn, is equivalent to taking 3,594 vehicles off the road, or reforesting 2,174 hectares of forest.

Namé Recycling, the forerunner of Cameroon’s nascent plastic recycling industry, is partnered with agri-food giants such as Boissons du Cameroun and Nestlé, as well as oil company Perenco. To date, the company recycles just 2% of the country's plastic waste. According to data from the Ministry of the Environment and Nature Protection, 600,000 tonnes of plastic packaging are produced in Cameroon every year.

To reduce the impacts of plastic waste on the environment, in 2012, the Cameroonian government banned the production and sale of plastic packaging. More than 10 years after that ban, those products are still sold in markets despite regular seizures by public officials.  

BRM