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A tropical forest seen from above, dense and green, under the mist.

VIPRO

It's not waste. It's a resource for the DRC.

VIPRO is a Congolese company. It collects waste, sorts it and turns it into energy and building materials, for clean cities and paid jobs. Kinshasa first, then the whole DRC.

Our goal

Clean cities across the DRC, where all waste is collected, sorted and transformed into energy or materials.

What happens to the waste?

Every sorted material goes somewhere useful.

At the sorting centre, collected waste is weighed and separated by material. Depending on what it is, it is recycled, or turned into energy and materials for the city.

See every stream
A block of shredded, compacted plastic becomes a polished block, then a paving stone.
  1. Step 1 / 3

    Shred and compact

    Collected plastics are sorted, then fed through a shredder: they become small flakes, compacted into blocks. Reduced this way, plastic takes up far less space and is easy to store and transport. It is the raw material of the paving stone.

  2. Step 2 / 3

    Heat and mix with sand

    The flakes are heated until they melt, then mixed with sand. The melted plastic coats every grain and binds the mix, the way cement would. It is poured into a mould and pressed to drive out the air.

  3. Step 3 / 3

    A paving stone for the city

    As it cools, the mix hardens into a solid paving stone, ready to lay in yards, on pavements and squares. The plastic no longer clogs the gutters or goes up in smoke: it helps build the city.

Why VIPRO exists

More than 17 million people. Almost all their waste stays in the city.

Plastic bags block the drains and make floods worse. Smoke from burning heaps drifts into homes. What is missing is a working chain: drop-off points close to home, collectors who get paid, a plant at the end of the line. That chain is what VIPRO is building.

BandalungwaBarumbuBumbuGombeKalamuKasa-VubuKimbansekeKinshasaKintamboKisensoLembaLimeteLingwalaMakalaMalukuMasinaMateteMont-NgafulaNdjiliNgabaNgaliemaNgiri-NgiriNseleSelembao
Hover over the map to see each district's name. District boundaries: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via geoBoundaries.

While you readSince you got here, Kinshasa has produced about 0 kg of waste.

Estimate: about 139 kg per second, based on World Bank figures.

First step, tonight: food scraps on one side, plastic on the other. Everything else starts there.

Take the pledge

A waste's journey

From the street to the grid, in four steps.

VIPRO is building the whole chain, from the bag left at the door to the power leaving the plant. Every step is work for people in the DRC.

Discover the programme

The four steps

  1. Collect. Drop-off points near your home. Collectors on tricycles and motorbikes reach the alleys no truck can enter, and they are paid by the kilo.
  2. Sort. Three coloured bins: organic, plastic, other. At the sorting centre each material is weighed, then sent down its own line.
  3. Transform. Plastic, metal and glass are sold to recyclers. What remains is dried and becomes a solid fuel.
  4. Energy and materials. That fuel feeds a power plant. The residues become paving stones, bricks and street furniture. We call it Opération O2: a second life for waste.

On your phone

Get your sorted waste picked up, and track every kilo.

The app connects residents with the programme's collectors. It is not published yet: the pilot starts in one Kinshasa district first.

Example screen
Full bags

01

Flag your full bags

One tap: say how many sorted bags are waiting outside your home, and the request goes to the local collector.

02

The collector's route

The VIPRO agent sees the neighbourhood's requests on the map and follows the planned route, stop by stop. You can see them coming.

7.2 kgPlastic

03

Weighed in front of you

Each bag is weighed on the spot by a VIPRO agent; the weight shows up in your app straight away.

VIPRO Payment sent to your mobile money account.SMS receipt · TRX-48A2

04

Paid by the kilo, SMS receipt

Payment goes through a licensed mobile money operator. The receipt arrives by SMS and stays in the app, with all your kilos.

  • Coming soon on App Store, Not available yet
  • Coming soon on Google Play, Not available yet

Coming soon on Android and iPhone. To get paid: be 18 or over and have a verified account.

Three ways to get involved

Resident, partner or collector: everyone has a place in the chain. Pick yours.

  • Residents

    Join the movement

    Pledge, sort at home, bring your street along.

  • Companies, institutions, funders

    Become a partner

    On-site collection, buying recycled materials, funding, research. Tell us what you are looking for.

  • Collectors and job seekers

    Work with VIPRO

    Already collecting, or looking for work in the sector? Leave us your number.

Green Attitude

Green Attitude, the movement of Congolese people who sort.

It is VIPRO's campaign to make sorting a habit. It starts with the people who already sort: the young man who sells bottles by the kilo, the family that keeps one bag just for plastic. Join them with three habits, and tell your neighbours.

Be one of the first in your district.

Your pledge

Three simple habits. Tick the ones you already keep or will start.

My three habits

So we can invite you to actions in your district. Nothing else.

Are you a teacher? Sign up my school

Kinshasa first. Then the whole DRC.

VIPRO starts district by district in the capital, with the people already collecting. Once the chain runs in Kinshasa, it moves on to the country's other cities.

Who VIPRO is