The Recycler — The Recycler

Recycling Tanzania, one ton at a time.

Work with us

Our impact to date

Numbers that matter — measured every day across Tanzania.

45tons/day

Recoverable materials diverted

100tons/day

Organic waste composted

122,000tons

CO₂ emissions avoided

2,000tons

Non-recyclable plastic removed from the environment

100

Full-time jobs created

13M

Plastic bottles recycled

23M

Wine bottles recycled

4M

Cans recycled

55,000

Trees saved

What we do

Building Tanzania's circular economy — closing the loop.

The Recycler Limited is Tanzania's leading waste management and recycling company. We collect source-sorted recyclables from schools, hotels, offices and industrial sites across Tanzania, then process and channel them back into productive use. Almost all of our materials are recycled into new products locally in Tanzania — closing the loop.

Today we divert about 95% of what we collect away from landfill. Our team of more than 120 people works toward a goal of zero waste — recovering materials, building local recycling capacity, and creating dignified jobs in the process.

What we offer

End-to-end waste services for businesses, institutions and communities.

Waste Management

Reliable scheduled collection for hotels, offices, factories and residential estates. Embedded staff on-site for high-volume customers.

Recycling Collections

Source-sorted pickups of plastic, paper, glass, metal and e-waste — weighed, baled and returned to local processors.

Organic Compost

Food and garden waste converted into rich compost at our Mabwepande and Biobuu facilities — closing the loop for farms and landscapers.

Material Recovery

Non-recyclable plastic kept out of the environment through partnerships with cement kilns and engineered fuel users.

Why it matters

Where waste ends up matters.

Every ton we collect is a ton kept out of the Indian Ocean, off the streets of Dar, and out of unsanitary dumpsites. Our catchment systems stop plastic at canals before it ever reaches the sea.

Where we work

Industrial-scale, community-rooted.

Through embedded teams at customer sites and our processing facilities across Dar es Salaam, we handle 45 tons of recoverable materials and a further 100 tons of source-sorted organic waste every day.

Source-sorted at the point of collection
~95% diverted from landfill
Embedded staff at major client sites
Monthly impact reports per client

Aerial view of The Recycler composting facility outside Dar es Salaam

WHAT WE RECYCLE

Most of it gets recycled right here in Tanzania.

What you put in our bins doesn't disappear. It comes back as something useful — usually made by someone in this country.

White paper

Becomes toilet paper.

Cardboard

Becomes brown paper — for bags and envelopes.

Glass

Becomes new bottles for Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Kilimanjaro, and Serengeti.

Cans & tins

Becomes scrap metal, processed into metal bars.

Hard plastics

Becomes chairs, pipes, and buckets.

Plastic bottles (PET)

Becomes new plastic bottles — made right here in Tanzania.

LDPE film

Becomes large trash bags.

Organic waste

Becomes compost — 100 tons a day, Gold Standard certified.

We also handle e-waste, non-recyclable plastic via waste-to-fuel co-processing, and run a "Sponsor a River" program to keep plastic out of the ocean. See all initiatives →

Taka Pesa — women-operated waste-to-cash

We buy back what others throw away.

Taka Pesa is our women-operated buy-back programme. Residents and small businesses across Dar es Salaam bring sorted recyclables to our centres and walk away with cash. It is one of the most effective ways we know to keep materials moving and put money in the hands of the women doing the sorting.

What we buyPaper, cardboard, glass, cans and tins, plastic bottles — and even non-recyclable plastic
Run by womenLocal women weigh, sort, and pay every customer
Fair, transparent pricingSame per-kilo rates for everyone, every day

Taka Pesa Waste-to-Cash container with mural in Dar es Salaam

Taka Pesa team member sorting recyclables

Taka Pesa team member weighing materials

Our people

Dignified work, every day.

Our team of more than 120 people — drivers, sorters, collectors, supervisors, embedded site staff — are the reason recycling actually happens here. Recycling is a people business before it is anything else.

100+

Full-time jobs created across Dar es Salaam