Digital innovations for transitioning to circular plastic value chains in Africa

Abstract

The paper analyzes the current state of plastic value chains in Africa and the potential of digital innovations adopted by African entrepreneurs to contributing to a circular plastic economy. We provide an overview of plastic waste trade to African countries and an assessment of existing digital solutions that can support the transition to a circular plastic economy. The findings show that various digital innovations are being applied by entrepreneurs including web-based solutions, mobile apps and 3D printing. The case studies also show that multinational companies, especially consumer facing brands, are major players in the national plastic value chains in African countries, acting as seed funders for start-ups as well as buyers of recycled plastics. Current initiatives that are underway are positive signs that changes are in progress to address the environmental and social impacts of plastics value chains in Africa. However, to achieve a transition to sustainable circular value chains, changes at policy level will be required to enable scaling-up of local start-up businesses, address regulatory barriers to digital solutions, create markets for recycled plastic materials and implement extended producer responsibility regulations.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23322373.2021.1999750
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Engineering and Technology > Mechanical, Biomedical & Design
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
Funding Information: Yo-Waste received initial funding from the University of Makerere. Further financing has been in the form of grants from international organizations as well as personal funds. The UKRI GCRF supported this work under Grant EP/T029846/1.
Additional Information: Copyright © 2021 Africa Academy of Management. This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Africa Journal of Management. Muyiwa Oyinlola, Patrick Schröder, Timothy Whitehead, Oluwaseun Kolade, Kutoma Wakunuma, Soroosh Sharifi, Barry Rawn, Victor Odumuyiwa, Selma Lendelvo, Geoff Brighty, Bosun Tijani, Tomi Jaiyeola, Lukonga Lindunda, Radhia Mtonga & Soroush Abolfathi (2021) Digital innovations for transitioning to circular plastic value chains in Africa, Africa Journal of Management. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Africa,circular economy,digital innovations,plastic,value chains,Business and International Management,Strategy and Management,Management of Technology and Innovation
Publication ISSN: 2332-2381
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2024 07:34
Date Deposited: 05 Jan 2022 10:38
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.tan ... 73.2021.1999750 (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2022
Published Online Date: 2021-12-26
Accepted Date: 2021-10-26
Authors: Oyinlola, Muyiwa
Schröder, Patrick
Whitehead, Timothy (ORCID Profile 0000-0001-8751-1484)
Kolade, Oluwaseun
Wakunuma, Kutoma
Sharifi, Soroosh
Rawn, Barry
Odumuyiwa, Victor
Lendelvo, Selma
Brighty, Geoff
Tijani, Bosun
Jaiyeola, Tomi
Lindunda, Lukonga
Mtonga, Radhia
Abolfathi, Soroush

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