Africa generates 22 million tons of urban plastic waste a year. Most of it ends up in the environment, rivers, and oceans, and are made from virgin materials. Collecting and processing plastic to produce post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic is a circular way out of this problem.

Mr. Green Africa has built a tech-enabled platform that manages and aggregates plastic waste and converts it into high-quality recycled plastic.

The investment will allow Mr. Green Africa to manage plastic through the entire lifecycle; from consumers requesting pick-ups from their doorstep to earn points, to waste collectors becoming part of sustainable value chains, to corporates who can track that entire value chain.

Through data collection, the company will know who’s brought what to where, and where it is today, ultimately creating a level of transparency that is unique at a global scale.

Our engagement

We invested in Mr. Green Africa, alongside a diverse group of investors, in December 2021. It’s the ideal investment for the Foundation as Keiran Smith and his team are pioneering a local, transparent, closed circular economy loop while being unwavering in their efforts to create decent work for the thousands of waste pickers in the value chain.

Learn more about Mr. Green Africa here.

Pilot on textile waste

In 2024, we have joined forces with Mr. Green Africa, sharing our expertise and exploring solutions within collection and sorting of textile waste. 

Learn more about the textile project here.