Minting money from recycled waste paper
Dec 28, 2010
ON the evening of December 3, 2010, Godfrey Atuheire Korinako was named the overall Young Achiever of the Year at the second Annual Young Achievers Awards Gala at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
By Carol Kezaabu
ON the evening of December 3, 2010, Godfrey Atuheire Korinako was named the overall Young Achiever of the Year at the second Annual Young Achievers Awards Gala at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
He received the golden statuette from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and a sh2m cash prize for his groundbreaking work and research into fibre processing for paper making.
It is four years since the 28-year-old Atuheire put his idea of recycling banana stems and waste paper in writing.
That time, he was at Makerere University and heard that the university was to start burning examination scripts after every two years due to lack of storage facilities.
Atuheire thought to himself:
“Can’t we do something about the paper? I started research on the Internet into recycling and fibre processing. Later, I took the idea on as a research topic for my dissertation.â€
But, even before joining Makerere University, Atuheire was working in his late father’s carpentry shop and always wondered how best they could utilise the sawdust they used to just burn.
“My father passed away in 2001 when I was in Senior Five. I took over his carpentry business so that I could get the money to complete A’level,†says Atuheire.
Born in Kabale to Francis Korinako and Sellina Kangyenka he is the second of eight children to a carpenter father and farming mother.
“I went to Kamulonko Primary School and then St Paul’s Seminary in Kabale for O and A’ level. Luckily, I was admitted to Makerere on government sponsorship for a bachelor of science in wood science and technology.â€
At university, Atuheire started putting to use the information he got from the Internet.
“I would sock the papers overnight in a basin in Lumumba Hall and it would look like porridge in the morning. Then, I would spread out the ‘mess’ to dry. After, I would smooth it over and hand-make cards and bookmarks,†recalls Atuheire.
To improve his skills, he started attending exhibitions and workshops.
He was first recognised at the Freedom Square in Makerere in 2006, where he was named the best exhibitor and innovator. After University, he started Parco (Paper Recycling Consult) which operated in his rented house in Banda.
Despite the success, Parco suffered a major setback in 2007 and closed in 2008.
At one of the exhibitions at Serena, he met trade state minister Nelson Gagawala Wambuzi who introduced him to the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI), where he has been working to this day.
The institute deployed him in its pilot paper plant to train and equip young entrepreneurs with the technology of fibre processing for making paper and bags.
He was sent for training in India in 2008 on the various natural fibres processing into paper and in Japan in 2009 on banana fibre processing into fabrics.
He later concentrated on research in processing different banana varieties of Uganda.
“Approximately 1,000 tonnes of banana stems are abandoned after utilising the fruits mostly in western and central Uganda. There are tens of thousands of waste paper burnt into ashes every year. This is absolutely unacceptable in our society where the youth are suffering due to unemployment,†says Atuheire.
He says all this abandoned waste can be put to good use to make new paper and other paper products, such as paper bags, cards, envelopes, folders and much more.
“This would definitely empower the local business community, especially in the packaging industry,†says Atuheire. He has worked with several other fibres, such as water hyacinth, wheat and rice straw, elephant dung, grass waste and rags, maize cobs, sisal and papyrus.
All the materials above have great potential for making packaging paper which is a better substitute for kaveera.
He took part in the Commonwealth Business Solutions “Show Me the Money†competition in 2007.
He submitted a proposal on paper recycling and he says his idea was picked as the best and that he was awarded a sh50m cash prize.
Atuheire, however, says he has never received the money and the issue is before court.
“I had already moved my company to a bigger space and I was just waiting for the money to buy the necessary equipment and grow big. In the end, I was forced to give up since the money was not coming,†he says.
In the end, he opened up a case with the courts and is waiting for the final ruling at a hearing soon.
At UIRI, Atuheire says he has been given free reign on the technology and to experiment with as many fibre varieties as he wishes.
“I can work at night or day. I can come in on the weekends or not. It is up to me. This technology is not hard, it needs someone who is creative and full of ideas, but the technology itself is easy to master. It is affordable for anyone. Every chemical we add is made in Uganda. So, anyone can use it. We have experimented with a number of materials so that people have many options. If paper is finished, then you can use bananas or papyrus.â€
He says many people have come to them and have shown interest to learn the technology.
The lady who won in the agriculture category, Rusia Orikiriza is one of his trainees. The technology and training are offerred on a free basis.
Atuheire has trained over 50 people from different areas and institutions, for example, Busitema, Kyambogo, Makerere and Gulu universities, and from as far as Kigali.
Atuheire is also pursuing a masters of science in forestry, specialising in fibre.
He says getting the award has been great and quite unexpected, but it is clear that he is a man who takes things in his stride. Nothing seems to faze him.
He is just frustrated that the case is taking long because he has great plans for the future.
“I cannot share anything in great detail, but first and foremost, I need that money that I won in the competition. I have also written a book on fibre processing, although it is unpublished.
There is no written information in Uganda about this process or topic; you have to use foreign resources.â€
ON the evening of December 3, 2010, Godfrey Atuheire Korinako was named the overall Young Achiever of the Year at the second Annual Young Achievers Awards Gala at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
He received the golden statuette from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and a sh2m cash prize for his groundbreaking work and research into fibre processing for paper making.
It is four years since the 28-year-old Atuheire put his idea of recycling banana stems and waste paper in writing.
That time, he was at Makerere University and heard that the university was to start burning examination scripts after every two years due to lack of storage facilities.
Atuheire thought to himself:
“Can’t we do something about the paper? I started research on the Internet into recycling and fibre processing. Later, I took the idea on as a research topic for my dissertation.â€
But, even before joining Makerere University, Atuheire was working in his late father’s carpentry shop and always wondered how best they could utilise the sawdust they used to just burn.
“My father passed away in 2001 when I was in Senior Five. I took over his carpentry business so that I could get the money to complete A’level,†says Atuheire.
Born in Kabale to Francis Korinako and Sellina Kangyenka he is the second of eight children to a carpenter father and farming mother.
“I went to Kamulonko Primary School and then St Paul’s Seminary in Kabale for O and A’ level. Luckily, I was admitted to Makerere on government sponsorship for a bachelor of science in wood science and technology.â€
At university, Atuheire started putting to use the information he got from the Internet.
“I would sock the papers overnight in a basin in Lumumba Hall and it would look like porridge in the morning. Then, I would spread out the ‘mess’ to dry. After, I would smooth it over and hand-make cards and bookmarks,†recalls Atuheire.
To improve his skills, he started attending exhibitions and workshops.
He was first recognised at the Freedom Square in Makerere in 2006, where he was named the best exhibitor and innovator. After University, he started Parco (Paper Recycling Consult) which operated in his rented house in Banda.
Despite the success, Parco suffered a major setback in 2007 and closed in 2008.
At one of the exhibitions at Serena, he met trade state minister Nelson Gagawala Wambuzi who introduced him to the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI), where he has been working to this day.
The institute deployed him in its pilot paper plant to train and equip young entrepreneurs with the technology of fibre processing for making paper and bags.
He was sent for training in India in 2008 on the various natural fibres processing into paper and in Japan in 2009 on banana fibre processing into fabrics.
He later concentrated on research in processing different banana varieties of Uganda.
“Approximately 1,000 tonnes of banana stems are abandoned after utilising the fruits mostly in western and central Uganda. There are tens of thousands of waste paper burnt into ashes every year. This is absolutely unacceptable in our society where the youth are suffering due to unemployment,†says Atuheire.
He says all this abandoned waste can be put to good use to make new paper and other paper products, such as paper bags, cards, envelopes, folders and much more.
“This would definitely empower the local business community, especially in the packaging industry,†says Atuheire. He has worked with several other fibres, such as water hyacinth, wheat and rice straw, elephant dung, grass waste and rags, maize cobs, sisal and papyrus.
All the materials above have great potential for making packaging paper which is a better substitute for kaveera.
He took part in the Commonwealth Business Solutions “Show Me the Money†competition in 2007.
He submitted a proposal on paper recycling and he says his idea was picked as the best and that he was awarded a sh50m cash prize.
Atuheire, however, says he has never received the money and the issue is before court.
“I had already moved my company to a bigger space and I was just waiting for the money to buy the necessary equipment and grow big. In the end, I was forced to give up since the money was not coming,†he says.
In the end, he opened up a case with the courts and is waiting for the final ruling at a hearing soon.
At UIRI, Atuheire says he has been given free reign on the technology and to experiment with as many fibre varieties as he wishes.
“I can work at night or day. I can come in on the weekends or not. It is up to me. This technology is not hard, it needs someone who is creative and full of ideas, but the technology itself is easy to master. It is affordable for anyone. Every chemical we add is made in Uganda. So, anyone can use it. We have experimented with a number of materials so that people have many options. If paper is finished, then you can use bananas or papyrus.â€
He says many people have come to them and have shown interest to learn the technology.
The lady who won in the agriculture category, Rusia Orikiriza is one of his trainees. The technology and training are offerred on a free basis.
Atuheire has trained over 50 people from different areas and institutions, for example, Busitema, Kyambogo, Makerere and Gulu universities, and from as far as Kigali.
Atuheire is also pursuing a masters of science in forestry, specialising in fibre.
He says getting the award has been great and quite unexpected, but it is clear that he is a man who takes things in his stride. Nothing seems to faze him.
He is just frustrated that the case is taking long because he has great plans for the future.
“I cannot share anything in great detail, but first and foremost, I need that money that I won in the competition. I have also written a book on fibre processing, although it is unpublished.
There is no written information in Uganda about this process or topic; you have to use foreign resources.â€