Tanzanian Recyclers Adapt to New Normal

A recycling plant in Tanzania’s port city of Dar es Salaam has traded paper for plastic bottles and started making anti-coronavirus face shields that are being snatched up by hospitals and health centres nationwide. Until earlier this year, Zaidi Recyclers had a thriving business in processing waste paper which it exported to customers in China and India, earning it around $37,000 in revenues monthly, according to its founder Allen Kimambo. New orders dried up, however, as country after country imposed lockdowns to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, reducing global trade to a trickle. Yet Kimambo quickly spotted an opportunity which allowed him to save his business and the jobs of all its 38 workers. Zaidi Recyclers switched to the production of face shields, a vital piece of personal protective equipment for health workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

SOURCE: REUTERS AFRICA