Ecomak Recyclers

Ronald is the Founder and CEO of Ecomak Recyclers, a social enterprise tackling plastic pollution in Uganda and mitigating the impact of climate change. It is also generating green job opportunities for the unemployed, young people, and women across the country. Originating as a COVID-19 project, Ronald began Ecomak Recyclers to help people in his refugee settlement generate income. The enterprise converts the plastic waste it collects into recycled construction bricks that can be used widely in infrastructure projects.

Ronald attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He has remained in touch with his fellow Ambassadors, sharing advice and discussing best practices to grow and scale his work. As a Z Zurich Foundation Scholar, Ronald was able to secure additional funding for Ecomak Recyclers after the Summit.

Ecomak Recyclers has created 750 jobs, mostly in plastic waste collection; its community support insurance programme has assisted 150 households across two refugee settlements with accessing healthcare and schooling. Ecomak Recyclers has produced and sold 15 million bricks recycled from plastic waste. These eco-bricks and blocks are two times stronger and larger than conventional bricks, have zero breakages once used, require low maintenance, and are cheaper than conventional concrete and clay bricks. The organisation has also planted 8,000 trees, and distributed 200 energy-saving cooking stoves that are built using recycled eco-bricks.

“Attending the One Young World Summit was a really good experience. I personally got in touch with so many founders and entrepreneurs who are socially impacting their communities, learned from their studies. I'm still in touch with so many other people that I met in the Summit and always get advice from them. After the Summit, we got the funding from my sponsor, the Z Zurich Foundation, which was really important for us to see the business grow as well.”