We are four masters students from California, USA studying Social Entrepreneurship at Pepperdine University. We recently had the privilege of observing and working with Takataka Plastics for two weeks and are happy to share about our experience. Takataka Plastics embodies the idea that change happens when we utilize the gifts, talents and resources of local communities to address local issues.

This year, Takataka Plastics created a full-time position for a Trauma counselor as a fulfillment of the terms clearly stated in their Vision and Mission.

The counseling sessions take different forms ranging from face-to-face individual counseling to group counseling. Most employees prefer individual counseling sessions because of their privacy. Whilst we are not a faith-based social enterprise, we read “Healing the Wounds of Trauma” written by the American Bible Society to raise insightful discussions during our group trauma counseling session. We have seen positive changes in the lives of the youth that we empower and offer trauma counseling services.

You may wonder why it’s necessary to provide counseling for workers…but, you are not alone. Read further and you will find all the reasons to make this move, soonest.

Hello, I am Mads, a 25-year old man from Denmark, who has taken a bachelor degree in Urban-, Environmental- and Energy Planning from Aalborg University in Denmark. In between the Bachelor and Masters I was determined to get some practical experience on working as an engineer and gain some new perspectives on life and development work. On that note, I approached Peter (COO Takataka Plastics) for an internship, and around four months later, at the start of 2022, I stepped, a bit anxious, inside the office of Takataka Plastics for the first time.

The problem of plastic pollution is an increasingly crucial issue to address. It is not only an ocean issue but also a climate issue since plastic emits greenhouse gases right from the beginning of its life cycle as it originates from fossil fuels.

Climate change involves everyone: from South to North. It modifies the society where we live, our economy, and our health. If we do not act now for a full shift towards renewable energy and a circular economy, we are destined for a world of drought, extreme weather phenomena, environmental devastation, and increasingly intense migrations. Therefore, we need to reform the system radically, putting environmental policies at the top of any political and business decision. The survival of mankind is worth it.

In normal times, we would be working on scaling up our machines to transform plastic waste into construction materials and conducting community outreach programs to educate individuals about proper waste management practices in Gulu. However, due to the unforeseen challenges surrounding COVID-19, we are investing most of our time in supporting our community. We are making face shields for healthcare workers and promoting social distancing in public places among other initiatives to help Gulu fight COVID-19.

It is a fact that our drains in Gulu are clogged with plastic waste; this creates breeding grounds for malaria bearing mosquitoes and thus an increase in malaria cases. Also, most public places are messy because of littering and other improper waste management practices. Furthermore, a lot of people are unknowingly inhaling carcinogens due to open burning of plastic waste; leading to increasing cases of cancer.

On 18th January 2020, a team from Takataka Plastics visited the Plastic Recycling Industry (PRI) which is the largest processing plant for waste plastic in Uganda. This company is affiliated to Coca-Cola. At PRI, waste plastic is transformed into flake products which are mostly sold to foreign markets. These are then used to manufacture a range of products like polyester fibres (a base material for the production of clothing, pillows, carpets, etc.), polyester sheets, strapping, or back into PET bottles.