Recycling plastic in the DRC

Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has 12 million people. Kinshasa was not a very clean place.

Now, a company is cleaning the city. It's name is Clean Plast. It's trying to stop pollution.

Alexander Bamanisa is the director.

Alexander Bamanisa: "Plastic waste takes the longest time to decompose in nature, between 100 and 1,000 years. So it was important for us to contribute and to look for a sustainable solution to this waste problem."

Clean Plast collects plastic. It uses it again. It makes new products with plastic. Clean Plast does 'recycling'.

All the workers at Clean Plast are locals. Clean Plast trains them to recycle. The company pays people to collect plastic too. They get paid per kilogram of plastic. This money helps the community.

Jeanne Bopena is one of the workers.

Jeanne Bopena: "I collect plastic waste from the dustbins and also from people who chuck litter all along the roads. Today I sold 6 kilos of plastic waste for 1,500 Congolese francs."

Clean Plast gets plastic from shops too. The different kinds of plastic is good for recycling. It is cheap for companies. They don't need new plastic.

Bamanisa wants companies to recycle more.

Alexander Bamanisa: "Depending on the type of plastic waste, the process will be different. We will either compact it, grind it, wash it to make it into a reusable raw material. The raw material that we make is what we call 'next virgin'. It's raw material that is pure and can be reused in any industry that produces plastic goods."

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