For many Mozambicans, the Hulene dump, in Maputo, is a rescue resource to which they desperately resort in order to survive and support their families. It is the largest dump in the country and has become the basis for a plastic collection business dominated mainly by young people and women. The collectors survive by selling their findings to recycling companies which operate right next to the dump, such as Valor Plástico, a Maputo-based company that works with 800 registered collectors. From Valor Plástico, where the plastic is smashed, the raw material goes to Topack, one of the few companies in Mozambique dedicated to transform the environment’s number 1 enemy into new products. The plastic collectors are critical to the value chain based in the circular economy.
SOURCE: AFRICA NEWS