RiverRecycle opens recycling plants in Ghana and the Philippines – Recovering plastic waste from rivers and landfills

River plastic waste collection company RiverRecycle has established mechanical plastic recycling plants in the Philippines and Ghana. At the same time, the company has begun collecting plastic waste from local landfills.

The company has also launched product development to develop construction products from collected waste.

RiverRecycle previously focused only on cleaning rivers, but is now taking over the entire value chain.

The company's advanced strategy combines the removal of floating plastic from river networks, the collection of plastic waste from land areas, and the recycling of plastic.

Cleaning rivers stops plastic from entering the sea and provides raw material for recycling. Land-based collection aims to prevent plastic waste from ending up in rivers.

Low-value plastic waste for reuse

RiverRecycle's new projects in the Philippines and Ghana are significant steps for the company in initiating the recovery of low-value plastic.

The production facilities that are starting up now have a capacity of 1 tons per year, but the company is already preparing larger units that will allow plastic collection to expand regionally.

The company has also started manufacturing plastic sheets, the purpose of which is to prove the usability of low-value recycled plastic as a building material.

“We are now able to offer people and businesses a tangible way to contribute to a cleaner environment simply by choosing the right products,” says RiverRecycle’s founder and CEO. Anssi Mikola.

Mikola told in 2019 for Uusiouutis that he started the company because he was frustrated with plastic rafts floating in rivers.

“By favoring products made from recycled river plastic, companies and consumers are taking a step towards a cleaner future.”

RiverRecycle has collected numerous responsibility awards.

The company has also launched new partnerships in the waste management value chain, especially in those parts of the world where large amounts of plastic waste enter waterways and the environment due to inadequate waste management infrastructure.

In the Philippines, RiverRecycle has opened operations in Cebu, targeting the most polluted areas of Manila.

In Bangladesh, RiverRecycle has installed new river booms that increase collection capacity to 200 kilograms per month, while processing capacity can be increased to half a ton per month.

The business is also expanding in India, where RiverRecycle’s pilot project in Kerala has already been able to remove 300 kilograms of plastic waste from a single canal. The plan is to repeat this process in five other canals.

Text: Päivi Ikonen/ Kemiamedia.fi and Elina Saarinen/ Uusiouutiset-magazine

Photo: RiverRecycle. The purpose of RiverRecycle's new opening, plastic sheet manufacturing, is to prove the usability of recycled low-value plastic as a building material.

Article updated on 6.5.24 at 15:00: Added information about projects in India, Bangladesh and Cebu.