Masaka gets first boat from recycled plastic

Eco Brixs Uganda, a Masaka-based plastic recycling organization has unveiled a boat made from plastic waste.

According to Rev Fr James Ssendege, one of the co-founders of Eco Brixs Uganda, the new innovation is the first of its kind in Africa and a manifestation that   many reusable products can be made from recycled plastics to conserve biodiversity.

“This has been a pilot project and our team is going to use this boat to collect all plastics floating on the lake,” he revealed.

The boat, which is 17ft long by 8ft wide, was launched at Lambu landing site on the shores of Lake Victoria on Monday.

Fr Ssendega who is also the Masaka Diocese pastoral coordinator says their team has been getting challenges to crisscross the 84 islands of Kalangala to collect plastics.

“I call upon all Ugandans to join this struggle of collecting plastics in order to conserve mother earth from plastic pollution. We need to recycle it so that no new plastic is made,” he says

Mr Joseph Banagoba, a member of the team behind this innovation, says the plastic boat has capacity to carry 300kgs of plastics and if well maintained, it can last for 500 years compared to wooden ones which last for between 10 to 25 years.

Additionally, he says it cost them Shs1.6m to manufacture the plastic boat yet an ordinary boat of the same size goes for about Sh1.8m.

“The use of plastics has proved to be a better alternative to make good and durable boats, I advise all fellow boat makers in the country who are challenged by the extinction of boat making trees commonly known as emukebu to try this new innovation,” explained Mr Banagoba ,who has a 20-year experience in boat making.

Currently, it is by chance to get emukebu trees and boat makers rely on imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Unlike timber which has different densities and weights, plastic materials of the same volume have similar densities and weights that ease boat balancing which has been a major challenge to many boat makers, according to Banagoba.

“I am happy for this innovation and very much optimistic to make more plastic boats as this will help save the environment,” Mr Banagoba added.

Eco Bricks publicist Mr Daniel Kayemba observe that recycling plastics is the only way Ugandan water bodies can be protected from plastic pollution which has partly led to dwindling of fish stocks as plastics clog fish breeding grounds along the shores.

“We have collected 48 tonnes of plastics from the shores of Lake Victoria in the Greater Masaka area in just six months,’’ he noted.

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