Startup in Uganda Recycles Plastic Bottles into Face Shields For Hospitals

Two Ugandan entrepreneurs working to up-cycle plastic waste into building materials have changed the course of their production to tackle the shortage of personal protective medical equipment (PPE) in hospitals dealing with the country’s COVID-19 patients.

After the government ordered all non-essential businesses to be closed for the time being, Peter Okwoko and his colleague Paige Balcom, co-founders of Takataka Plastics, continued the work in their plastics processing facility. Usually the turn recovered plastic into building materials. But this time, instead of things like roof tiles, they began recycling plastic waste into face shields for medical workers.

After posting an image of their prototype on their social media, the pair got a call from a regional hospital asking for 10 face shields because they didn’t have enough. Using locally-sourced moulds for molten plastic, the two finished the order in record time and delivered them, before getting a call later in the afternoon from the very same hospital asking for more. And this was no one time thing.

Image source: www.takatakaplastics.com

PPE shortages are occurring world-wide, and Ugandan hospitals are no exception. Takataka Plastics has rose to this occasion, and so far, made 1,200 face shields. Even more inspiring that making the life-saving equipment, the company’s staff of 14 includes six employees who were homeless, jobless youth, getting them off the streets and back into the society.

Approximately 500 of the shields have been sold to NGOs and private health facilities at a low cost and the other 700 were donated to public hospitals. Takataka hopes and plans to build upon the success of the face shields and expand its operations into a more appropriate plastic processing and recycling facility, one that will meet their current needs for production. Their current location can reduce around 132 pounds (60 kgs) of plastic per-day, but they aim to establish a monthly capacity of 9 metric tons, as soon as possible.

Uganda sees hundreds of tons of plastic thrown away annually, as do many other countries, but this innovative solution, that simultaneously tackles the environmental and the PPE crisis has pushed these entrepreneurs to dream bigger.