Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 65
IIMPROVED LIVELIHOODS
CREATING ECOLOGICAL
ROOFS & FURNITURE
WITH RECYCLED PLASTIC
IN BURKINA FASO
Burkina Faso company TECO2 was awarded a 14 million Central
African CFA franc cash prize (about USD 25,000) in December
2020, in a startup competition organized by the West African
Economic and Monetary Union.
BUILDING ECOLOGICAL
& SMART ROOFS WHILE
UPCYCLING PLASTIC
TECO2 builds ecological roofs from plastic waste and other
local resources. 10 kg of waste are used to produce each square
meter of roof surface.
The roof increases the comfort of the inhabitants’ houses as its
thermal insulation is estimated to be 400 times more efficient
than that of aluminum roofs. It has other positive effects, like
cutting electricity costs (by reducing the use of air conditioning),
and is far less expensive than ordinary roofs.
The innovation is flexible and has also been applied to school
benches. These are resistant, more durable, and less expensive
than traditional wooden benches.
COMBATTING
DEFORESTATION
AND PLASTIC WASTE
WHILE IMPROVING
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN
BUILDINGS
“Our mission is to
transform plastic waste
into utilitarian tools
with an important socioeconomic impact.”
Calvin Tiam,
TECO2 CEO
Founder Calvin Tiam is an engineer. Having worked on
environmental issues for several years, he created a solution that
would tackle several issues at once. His work has led to:
- 12,000 school benches, sparing 2,500 trees and capturing
118,000 kg of CO2 emissions
- 6,000 tons of plastic waste being recycled, 70 direct jobs
and 500 indirect green jobs
- 180 associations trained in waste collection, separation and
valorization in Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Niger
Photo credit: Calvin Tiam
SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
65
