Edgar Edmund, founder of Green Ventures Tanzania and innovator of recycled plastic building materials

In May of 2015, fifteen year old Edgar watched as flood waters carried off the mud homes of families unable to afford more sustainable building materials. He also noticed an excess of plastic waste being washed away and began to envision a way to both reduce that waste and provide people affordable, sustainable building materials. When he got to school, he began sketching out a design for a machine that would melt down plastic, mix it with sand, and extrude plastic bricks, lumber and blocks people could use for construction.

When a classmate recommended he connect with Twende, Edgar decided to attend a Creative Capacity Building (CCB) workshop, where he was able to get help turning his innovative idea into reality. At Twende, he was given help thinking through his design and the space and tools he needed to build his first – and second, and third – prototypes. With an initial investment of $20, he started Green Ventures and built his first prototype. Alfred began winning prizes for his innovation – starting with his school’s science fair – and put the money back into his business and improving his prototypes. In 2017, he found himself in Sweden accepting the Grand Prize in the Global Children’s Climate Prize. There, he was able to make connections who helped him acquire an industrial manufacturing machine.

Today, Green Ventures has both business and individual customers; businesses bring their plastic waste to Edgar and he sells back materials they can use to make various products. Consumers purchase plastic lumber, bricks and roofing tiles from plastic Edgar purchases from collectors. His business model is built on the idea of environmental sustainability and creating local jobs within his community. He is currently working on starting a second company with the goal of providing every child in Africa a desk at school so no children need to learn while sitting on the floor – and no trees need to be harvested for lumber.

A recent high school graduate, Edgar will be studying environmental science at Whitman College in Seattle, Washington, USA starting in the fall of 2021. His vision is to expand his business into other countries and enter into partnerships with other organizations. Edgar believes that success ultimately requires the power of a collective, and that working together we can achieve our biggest goals.