Burundi’s Plastic Bottle Recycling Still Has Some Way To Go

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): More than three weeks have passed since reusing plastic bottles and containers were banned in Burundi, yet Burundian business policies on bottle recovery are practically non-existent. Some containers are reused in non-compliance with hygiene standards, while others are strewn across the ground, thus endangering public health and the environment alike.

Every day, with a bag in hand, bottle collector Thierry Nahimana goes round Nyakabiga's stores in the Mukaza Commune of Burundi’s economic capital, Bujumbura, looking to buy MERU Investments bottles that shopkeepers have kept. MERU Investments is a manufacturer of strong alcoholic beverages.

There is much to be done in bottle collection, Ever since stores discovered they could resell MERU-branded bottles, attitudes have changed. More young people have taken an interest and are competing to collect these bottles. Stores offer their products to those first on the scene or the highest bidders, should their paths cross.

Every day, there is an ever-increasing demand for MERU bottles. In the country’s interior, bottle collection is particularly common in the Rumonge Province (located in southeast Burundi, 72 km from the former capital, Bujumbura). According to another bottle collector, Jean Marie, bottle prices vary between BIF 200 and 250 (USD 0.096 and 0.12).

At the Ngagara bottle market (located in the city of Bujumbura), where MERU Investments beverages are manufactured, Thierry Nahimana also admitted to having met other MERU bottle sellers from provinces like Muramvya.

According to Nahimana, who has worked for MERU Investments, this company recycles its bottles before reusing them.

Aside from trading, MERU has also put an effective bottle management policy in place, where it buys its bottles from customers through collectors. This policy appears to elude many Burundian businesses.

In a country that has the highest unemployment rate in the East African community, young people appear to be the ones benefiting here.

 Courtesy: www.globalvoices.org