After having won the confidence of the officials of the province of Kinshasa, it is the turn of the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to show its confidence towards Ok Plast. The interest for the work of this company specialized in the recycling of plastic waste was concretized recently by the signature of an agreement between Ève Bazaiba, the Deputy Prime Minister, DRC Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development and Medhi Attieh, the general manager of Ok Plast. “The agreement defines the terms of the collaboration regarding the collection, treatment, recycling of waste and other plastic materials,” explains Eve Bazaiba.
Currently, Ok Plast is only active in the city of Kinshasa where it aims to collect 50 tons of plastic bottles per day, against 22 tons in 2021. For one year, the company has equipped each commune of the DR-Congolese capital with at least five containers. For each kilogram of plastic bottles brought in, the collector receives 100 Congolese francs, less than one-euro cent.
The company will recycle the plastic waste in a plant that is expected to be operational in April 2022. The facility is located in the council of Limete. “We manufacture caps for plastic bottles, crates for local brewery companies, plastic chairs, coolers, water pipes and bottles of various sizes,” says Ok Plast. With the DRC government as an ally, the company hopes to strengthen its operational efficiency in Kinshasa and eventually expand its activities to other cities in the country.
Administrative facilities
In the city of Kinshasa, Ok Plast has launched the “Kintoko” initiative. Within the framework of this project, the government of the DRC will grant facilities to the company Ok Plast to obtain all the necessary documents to carry out its work. “We will make the effort so that the company has the electricity which it needs. We will avoid the hassles in terms of taxes. We will also make sure that OK Plast has the exemption for the entrants“, affirms the minister Ève Bazaiba. This facility will extend over a period of five years, renewable.
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By signing the partnership agreement for the protection of the environment in Kinshasa on March 9, 2022, the DR-Congolese government and the OK Plast company have also agreed to the establishment of a formal framework of joint collaboration that will identify the needs related to the service, the mobilization of funds related to it as well as the modalities of the joint execution of the selected activities
Inès Magoum