East African Packaging Solutions Ltd is a pulp and paper processing company whose core business is in the processing of and selling of corrugated boxes. It is in Njeru Buikwe District in Jinja Uganda. The company was established in 2008 and employs 236 people among them 210 men and 26 women.
Through capacity building and provision of technical support in identification of opportunities and potential matches among enterprises where resources can be exchanged to recover value, enterprises can enhance this approach with spectacular results. It is at this backdrop that the implementation of a pilot project on Enhancing Resource Productivity and Environmental performance of MSMEs in Uganda provides a platform for supporting these activities. The regional project was implemented by Africa Round Table on Sustainable Consumption and Production in partnership with Uganda Cleaner Production Centre (UCPC) with support from European Union.
“Many times, in Africa, our problem is unemployment and poverty and SWITCH Africa Green has come purposefully to solve these two, “says Silver Osinde of East Africa Packaging Solutions Ltd. “We have energy (resources), but we did not know that whatever (else) we have around us can generate us income, can generate us money. The way we look at our environment, nothing goes to waste.”
The company has implemented industrial symbiosis in the area of wastepaper management through a shift from selling all wastepaper generated to Uganda Pulp and Paper Company Ltd, to recycling half of it into production of egg trays. This has resulted into increased revenue of USD 30, 000 per annum and the creation of 20 green jobs from the installed egg production facility. The company Invested USD300, 000 to construct the egg tray plant. Egg production brought more opportunities in industrial symbiosis in the area of wastewater generated from this plant. This was through recycling of wastewater which saved 2,000 Litres per day of the fresh water used in this plant, translating to monthly savings of about USD 100.
The company has invested USD 50,000 to install an effluent treatment plant for the wastewater from the ink section. This wastewater is reused in irrigation and washing of vehicles and production floors. The company has also created industrial symbiosis synergies with All green-Agro Ltd with about 28 metric tonnes being collected each week. As a result of these measures, industrial effluent is no longer discharged to the environment in untreated form. The effluent also gets to be reused. The company has realized significant cost savings in the management of wastepaper with added revenue hitting USD 30,000 per annum. Some 20 jobs for the youth have been created, while the company staff now have appropriate personal protection equipment which assures their safety at work.
East African Packaging has faced some challenges in its work just like any enterprise. For instance, some people in the market still prefer plastic egg trays compared to paper egg trays. The company plans to start processing of toilet paper from wastepaper, and use recycled treated effluent as feed water in boilers. The enterprise has also realized that proper waste management results in added revenue once technical support is provided especially in establishing synergies.
