Clean Ethiopia, Clean Earth: U.S. Embassy Launches New Recycling Program

On Earth Day 2009, the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa launched a program to recycle the plastic bottles used in our offices and employees’ homes.  The program will facilitate the reuse of the crushed plastic and help keep Addis Ababa clean by reducing waste. 

Ambassador Donald Yamamoto and Embassy employees officially kicked off the program on April 22 at the Embassy compound.  Ambassador Yamamoto said, “As residents of Addis Ababa and members of the community, it is our duty to help keep the city clean.  The Embassy recycling program is an important ‘green’ step to that end.”  He encouraged embassy employees and their family members to protect the environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling materials whenever possible.

The U.S. Embassy is partnering with a local company, Aquapure General Trading, to implement the plastic recycling program.  Aquapure, which employs nearly 150 Ethiopians, recycles plastic for a range of businesses in Ethiopia and exports it for industrial use.   At the recycling program launch, Aquapure owner Mohammed Seid noted that the U.S. Embassy is his first client from the diplomatic community.  Seid has been involved with the recycling industry for more than ten years.

The new plastic recycling program will complement the U.S. Embassy’s existing paper recycling program, a partnership with the local NGO, “Treesavers.”