About Us
Our Mission | Our Story | Our Team
"We give trash a value. So anyone in the community can recycle."
- Founder and CEO, Andy Bownds
Our Mission
"To create green, environmentally friendly, sustainable solutions to lift people out of abject poverty in Uganda."
Our Story
From one back garden to making a massive environmental and economic impact
With no formal waste management system in Uganda, plastic can be seen everywhere. Discarded on roadsides, littered throughout markets and burning on rubbish heaps, plastic waste is creating a devastating impact on both Uganda’s environment and the human population. It was seeing this detrimental impact of plastic waste that led us to find a solution to Uganda’s plastic problem and what started as a collection site in Andy’s back garden has now grown into what Eco Brixs is today.
Eco Brixs started out in 2017. Frustrated with the lack of waste management systems in Masaka, we started collecting plastic in our back garden, and after collecting 2 tonnes alone, decided to start a simple plastic collection facility called ‘Masaka Recycling Initiative’.
It soon became clear that the size and scale of the problem was far greater than what anyone had envisaged - 90% of plastic in Uganda goes to landfill or is illegally burnt and whatever small percentage of plastic waste is recycled is typically shipped to China and India rather than supporting the local economy. With more plastic than we could manage, we began to look into more effective ways to recycle plastic which would help support the local communities and economy. After 6 months of research and knocking on countless doors, we’ve developed an innovative plastic-sand composite paver which has been proven to be stronger, lighter and more durable than concrete.
Two years on and Masaka Recycling Initiative has now evolved into 'Eco Brixs’, one of the largest recycling facilities outside of Kampala. Having received backing from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and with partnerships with organisations including Coca Cola, Masaka Diocese and Buganda Kingdom, we’re can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Our Team
Eco Brixs is led by a skilled management team with extensive networks at corporate and government levels in Uganda. The management team are overseen by a UK and a Ugandan Board
Management Team
Site Team
Regina
Finance Officer
Our self proclaimed 'Mother of Recycling', she keeps our accounts in order whilst being an amazing mum to 4 children!
Emma
Operations Officer
Emma has been on our team for over two years now, and uses all his experience to keep our main site operations on track!
Frank
Operations Office
This superhero is often seen at the Eco Brixs site both day and night, splitting his time been operations and night security guard.
Board Members
Fr. James
Board Member
Our number 1 supporter, Fr. James has been with us since the beginning. He provides us with invaluable advice from his many years of experience, which includes a Masters in Environmental Conservation. He has even written a book, which you can view here!
Paul
Vice-Chair
With his MA in Business Administration and Diploma in Civil Engineering, Paul has been a massive help in supporting our strategic growth, both as we scale up and develop the Eco Brixs paver
Lizzie
Secretary
Lizzie has lived in Uganda for almost a decade now. In that time, she's worked on various start-up projects including a marathon, charity, guesthouse and restaurant, which means she brings a vast wealth of experience to the board.
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