In Africa

Ghana The registered non-profit Trashy Bags was launched in 2007 in order to increase public awareness of Ghana's solid plastic waste problem and clean up sachets from the streets of Accra. This company buys waste from collectors. After washing and drying the sachets, it sews them into fashionable bags and other products which are then sold in Accra and exported to eight other countries around the world. The Trashy Bags Company has collected 20 million plastic sachets since its founding, and employs 60 machinists. [edit]Kenya In Kenya many NGOs, use business models to improve lives of people mainly in rural Kenya. An example of this is KOMAZA a social enterprise that plants trees with small holder farmers and uses economies of scale to enable them to access high value markets for processed trees. Another example of this is RISE Kenya [8] that runs projects to mitigate climate change in the semi arid Eastern Province of Kenya. They also run weaving projects whereby women who would traditionally engage in weaving make products that are marketed in the capital city Nairobi and in overseas markets of Europe and America. Other development oriented social enterprises in Kenya include the One Acre Fund [9], Nuru International [10] and Alive & Kicking, which has produced over 200,000 sports balls from its stitching centre in Nairobi.[45] Kenya's social enterprises include M-Pesa, which facilitated economic transactions via mobile phone. Social enterprise in Kenya has grown to include spaces with IT infrastructure such as internet connectivity and computer hardware. Two of these, the iHub and NaiLab, are centers for technological enterprise, with ventures such as Tandaa in coopperation with the ICT Board of Kenya and Akirachix. [11] [edit

Zambia As in much of Africa, social enterprises in Zambia are often focused on the creation of sustainable employment. Alive & Kicking established a stitching centre in Lusaka in 2007, which employs 50 stitchers and produces 2,000 sports balls a month.[46] Zambikes produces a range of bicycles from their Lusaka factory, including ones made from bamboo and 'Zambulances', and provide three levels of mechanic training. Trashy Bags is a Ghanaian non-governmental organization which recycles plastic waste into reusable shopping bags, fashion accessories, school supplies, and other products.[1] It was founded in 2007 and has facilities in Accra. The company employs over sixty Ghanaian workers[2][3] to collect, clean and stitch plastic trash in the form of sachets that contained water and other beverages. The packages often become litter because local recycling initiatives and waste management infrastructure are insufficient and most Ghanaian people throw their waste on the streets. In Ghana, drinking water, yoghurt and juices are sold in small plastic bags called sachets. This form of packaging was introduced in Ghana in 2004 to provide safe and affordable drinking water. The sachets can be opened easily in the corners to drink from, but after use the package is discarded and will usually end up as litter or in informal trash heaps. plastic sachet The company has recycled approximately 20 million sachets since its founding. Every month nearly 200,000 plastic sachets are collected and brought to Trashy Bags by a network of collectors[4] employed by Trashy Bags. Its products are sold at a showroom in the Dzorwulu district of Accra near the airport, sold online, and exported[5][6] to the United States and seven countries[7] in Europe.

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