Creating new uses for glass bottle waste in the Middle East

In the last financial year the programme has collected 430 tonnes of glass – and transformed it using a patented technology to create a composite with a wide range of applications, including in piping, ducting, public furniture and tiles.

Preventing counterfeiting. Driving partnerships.

Our work began in 2018 with the objective of reducing counterfeiting by collecting empty spirits bottles so that they could not be illicitly refilled. This quickly developed into a wider movement to divert glass and plastic waste from landfill. We convened a coalition with businesses and government and worked with Development Inc. International, a business which collects and processes the waste to produce a composite called ROGP (Rejects of glass and plastics).

The alliance now includes Pepsico, Nestle Waters, and Diageo, and in June 2021 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UN Habitat. It is expanding to six more markets across the Middle East and North Africa in the next two years.