Coke offers slum bottle collectors Sh25m

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa has given Sh25 million grant to a slum-based foundation to create income-generating opportunities through PET bottle collection for recycling.

The grant given in partnership with Shining Hope for Communities (Shofco) is set to support employment training for 2,500 women living in the lower-income settlements of Kibera and Mathare, helping them leverage the income from bottle collection for entrepreneurship.

“Our aim is to create greater shared opportunity for the business and the communities we serve across the value-chain.

“We believe in doing business the right way by following our values and working towards solutions that benefit us all,” said Public Affairs and Communications director Susan Maingi.

This forms part of soft drinks maker’s project “5 by 20” started in 2011 that aims at empowering five million women entrepreneurs across its global value chain by 2020, amid the high plastic waste pollution.

The project has so far provided the skills to more than 700,000 women in Kenya since 2011.