(Coca Cola Beverages Uganda (CCBU) and Hima Cement Limited have entered a three-year partnership to use plastic as an alternative energy source during cement production.
According to the memorandum of understanding, CCBU will provide Hima Cement access to plastic waste from its operations for handling and disposal through Hima’s waste management business, Geocycle.
“We started small on Geocycle this is our activity with working with communities around for 20 years and today we are very strong and its pleasure to be able to say that more than 60% of our energy is coming from resources we have around us and our objective is to have zero waste,” Jean-Michel Pons, the Hima Cement Country CEO, says.
Kirunda Magoola, CCBU Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Director, says, “Hima comes to the fore in supporting our ambition for a circular economy. The idea is that when you collect plastic waste you need to inject it in an economy or a universe that allows for its recycling or its ultimate termination as we can all agree that plastic packaging is not going anywhere and the best we can do is to address its impact on the environment.”
Corporations around the world have adopted strategies that involve transitioning to renewable energy sources and enhancing energy efficiency and this partnership is one of such in Uganda.
According to Jean-Michel, “We have been working together for some time and we are two different industries but both want to de-carbonize as part of our strategy.”
“As part of our de-carbonization and circular economy approach, we utilize materials at the end of their lifecycle as alternative fuels, such as industrial wastes like plastics and agricultural wastes like biomass, thus reducing the carbon intensity of our cement while offering a unique solution to waste challenges,” he adds.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, established Plastic Recycling Industries (PRI), an initiative through which the company promotes environmental conservation and protection by supporting collection and recycling of plastics in Uganda.
