The Congo Salubrité plastic bag recycling plant

A concrete step towards cleaning up the city of Kinshasa

First step : collecting plastic bags (click on pictures for details)

Congo Salubrité is a recycling plant that transforms Kinshasa’s plastic waste into PVC tubes. Despite its desire to participate in the city’s social, economic and environmental development, the customers are hard to find and the taboos surrounding the garbage pickers put a damper on the company’s success.  

This private initiative was founded in 2007 by three Kinois motivated by tackling the city’s sanitation problem while creating income and employment opportunities; a rare commodity in this urban center that offers so little. Operational since April 2009, it has the capacity to process 10 tons of plastic per day although it does not reach this limit for the moment.

The plant is located on a 1.5 hectare lot and the company hires 200 workers. They operate the 25 machines and do the manual work of separating the plastic from other waste products. 2500 independent pickers are also hired to collect the city’s garbage and bring them to the plant. Moreover, Congo Salubrité has an agreement with the city that brings them a certain percentage of the garbage collected by public agents.

Machines used to process plastic

The recycling process takes place over a series of different steps. First, the waste is brought inside the plant where the plastic is manually separated from the rest of the refuse. The plastic is then shredded, washed and dried mechanically. It is then transferred into an agglomerator which melts the plastic and cuts it up into little pieces. Lastly, the small plastic marbles are put into another machine which transforms them into the final product, a PVC tube.  One and a half kilos of plastic marbles produce 10 tubes of 3 meters each.

One of the issues the company is faced with is the lack of big customers that would assure a steady demand for their product. For the time being, their only clients are small hardware stores that buy sporadically and in small quantities. This does not allow them to have a continuous and substantive production. The company also owns machines to make garbage bags and wrapping bags but they are not operational for the time being due to lack of operating funds. Congo Salubrité does not benefit from any state financial assistance and runs solely on private funds.

Final product : PVC tubes

Furthermore, the amount of garbage collected by individual pickers is limited due to the shame associated with their work. The garbage pickers are often considered as people affected by mental illness and are marginalized. In order to avoid disdainful looks, day time collection is limited to dump sites and at night, hidden in the darkness, the collection expands to the public way. Institutionalizing garbage picking could transform this activity into a recognized trade and help bring down the cultural barriers.

Despite the difficulties encountered, Congo Salubrité’s vision remains optimistic and creative. The company plans to build recycling sites in Kinshasa’s four districts in order to have access to more raw material. For the time being, the distance the pickers need to cover to get to the plant is a limiting factor. Furthermore, the company plans to eventually make biodegradable bags. This would represent an important step for a city of 10 million inhabitants facing waste disposal issues.

Further information and local partners below (or here for the full list):

Américain Kankonda Tshikololo, Promoteur industriel
Congo Salubrité
1ère rue, Limete/Industriel
Kinshasa, RDC
Tel : +243 898683289 ou +243 999939335

George Bakaly
WESD Capital DRC
10 Revolution Av., Quartier Socimat, Gombe
Kinshasa, RDC
Mobile : +243 81571 1699
Bureau: +27 11 884 9309
Fax: +27 86 627 8087
Email: georgebakalyATwesdcapital.com