A PhD student in the US has created a way to turn Uganda’s abundant plastic waste into functional face shields in order to help tackle Covid-19 in the country.
In January 2020, UC Berkeley PhD student Paige Balcom launched Takataka Plastics with Peter Okwoko to address Uganda’s plastic waste issue after seeing the detrimental effect it was having on her friends in the country – over 600 metric tonnes of plastic waste is produced every day in Uganda. The social enterprise recycles plastic waste into affordable construction material, such as wall tiles, using modern polymer processing equipment. It also employs local young people suffering from trauma, exploitation and human trafficking, providing them with a healing workplace.
Given the unforeseen challenges associated with the spread of Covid-19, Takataka Plastics’ focus was switched from construction material towards helping the country fight the pandemic. Balcom highlighted the fact that its hospitals were extremely under-equipped, with most staff having virtually no personal protective equipment. After investigations into different methodologies and costs, Takataka Plastics is now producing inexpensive face shields made from recycled plastics for frontline medics and workers.
The organisation can manufacture 400 face shields a day at a cost of only 25 cents each. A GoFundMe campaign to cover these costs was set up after Balcom highlighted that “the government health facilities have no budget for face shields”.
In the coming year, the plan for Takataka Plastics is to become a financially self-sustaining, full-scale plastic processing operation. Balcom and Okwoko hope to create more jobs and a cleaner environment in the city of Gulu. For now, however, the top priority is producing face shields. A truly inspirational story!
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A PhD student in the US has created a way to turn Uganda’s abundant plastic waste into functional face shields in order to help tackle Covid-19 in the country.
In January 2020, UC Berkeley PhD student Paige Balcom launched Takataka Plastics with Peter Okwoko to address Uganda’s plastic waste issue after seeing the detrimental effect it was having on her friends in the country – over 600 metric tonnes of plastic waste is produced every day in Uganda. The social enterprise recycles plastic waste into affordable construction material, such as wall tiles, using modern polymer processing equipment. It also employs local young people suffering from trauma, exploitation and human trafficking, providing them with a healing workplace.
Given the unforeseen challenges associated with the spread of Covid-19, Takataka Plastics’ focus was switched from construction material towards helping the country fight the pandemic. Balcom highlighted the fact that its hospitals were extremely under-equipped, with most staff having virtually no personal protective equipment. After investigations into different methodologies and costs, Takataka Plastics is now producing inexpensive face shields made from recycled plastics for frontline medics and workers.
The organisation can manufacture 400 face shields a day at a cost of only 25 cents each. A GoFundMe campaign to cover these costs was set up after Balcom highlighted that “the government health facilities have no budget for face shields”.
In the coming year, the plan for Takataka Plastics is to become a financially self-sustaining, full-scale plastic processing operation. Balcom and Okwoko hope to create more jobs and a cleaner environment in the city of Gulu. For now, however, the top priority is producing face shields. A truly inspirational story!