SMEP Projects
A full list of all SMEP Projects can be found below.
The SMEP programme contracts research and funds pilot projects that are implementing solutions to mitigate manufacturing pollution and plastics wastes in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These projects are diverse in their approaches and are led by a range of organisation types. The central objective of the work is to implement and test solutions, be they business models or technologies or a combination, and to prove effective pollution mitigation and viability for wider uptake.
Through SMEP’s targeted procurement calls, a total of 27 projects have been selected for funding across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to pilot solutions within one of SMEP’s five intervention areas: Plastics Waste, Organic Waste and Water, Textiles, Tanneries and Used Lead Acid Batteries.
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia
The Agrimulch Project
Biodegradable Fishing Nets
Biodegradable Fishing Nets
The Flipflopi Project
The Ghana Clean-up Project
The Fresh Produce Impact Hub (FreshPPact)
The Plastic-to-Ghar Project
The GIVO-Warwick Project
Eco-friendly Roofing Materials
The B-Prism Project
Scaling RECP in Nairobi Rivers
Assessing biogas feasibility at RioFish
A Multi-technology Organic Waste Solution
Complete Pineapple Waste Solutions
Biochar Production from Food & Beverage Waste
Wastewater Treatment in Plastics Recycling
Recycling Used Lead-Acid Batteries
Enhancing Wastewater Management
Zero Liquid Discharge Technology
Uganda Circular Textiles
Reverse Resources
SAFECONOMY
BANATEX-EA
The Green Tannery Initiative
LeatherTrace Bangladesh
Improving Environmental/Social Conditions in Savar
Traceability, Cleaner Production and Circularity
Notes maps are not to scale. Countries in green are those where SMEP-funded projects are being implemented. While a high-level overview of project themes can be found on this map, the information is not exhaustive. For more detailed information on individual projects, please visit the relevant project page below.
SMEP's individual project pages
The Plastic-to-Ghar Project
The University of Cambridge and Impact Hub Kathmandu have teamed up to establish an innovation and business support ecosystem to incubate new and emerging businesses working to provide solutions that address plastics wastes, transforming these into durable, long-lasting housing products in Nepal.
The Agrimulchfilm Project
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR), South Africa, has collaborated with Elizade University, Nigeria, in AgriBioMulchFilm Project to develop biodegradable mulch films (BDM) by using locally available natural polymers such as starch and other additives to customise biodegradation rates of mulches, to replace the current non biodegradable Polyethylene
The GIVO-Warwick Project
The University of Warwick and GIVO Africa have teamed up to tackle the problem of plastic waste in Nigeria by deploying a simple, modular, readily scalable, sustainable, digital-enabled waste management solution. The GIVO project will develop digital tools to enable smart and efficient operations of GIVO centres.
Eco-friendly Roofing: Production of eco-friendly roofing materials from plastic waste
The Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe, and Kudiwa Waste and Energy Solutions teamed up to prototype and then produce solar roofing tiles from plastic waste composite material. By creating a demand for plastic waste as feedstock for the roof tiles, the project plays a vital role in supporting the increased
Biodegradable Fishing Gear: Biodolomer®Ocean for fishing nets
Catchgreen, in collaboration with Swedish-based GAIA Biomaterials, has developed a global first biopolymer to replace harmful plastics in the fishing industry. Our inaugural product is an African-manufactured biodegradable fishing net. Our nets biodegrade with zero microplastics or toxins and provide a solution to marine plastic waste.
The B-Prism Project: Bangladesh-Plastic Pollution Reduction through Industrial Symbiosis Matching
Bangladesh-Plastic Pollution Reduction through Industrial Symbiosis Matching (B-PRISM) aims to foster industrial symbiosis in Bangladesh to divert plastic waste from disposal, mitigating the harmful environmental and social impacts of pollution from manufacturing sectors.