In brief
In Zanzibar’s Stone Town, a social enterprise has turned discarded glass bottles into a new source of income and education for local women. Since its 2021 launch, the venture has diverted more than five million bottles from landfills and trained over 400 artisans. The initiative not only cleans the island’s streets but also empowers women like Mwanamkuu Mussa to support their families and pursue independence.
When the sun rises over Stone Town’s winding streets, the clink of glass bottles in the air signals more than discarded waste—it marks a new chapter of empowerment for Zanzibar’s women. In 2021, the social enterprise Chako Zanzibar began collecting discarded glass and plastic from hotels and resorts and transforming that refuse into drinking glasses, vases, lamps and decorative items sold to tourists and locals alike. The company’s model has already directed more than five million bottles away from landfill and connected over four hundred islanders to craft training and steady income.
For 52‑year‑old Mwanamkuu Mussa, the transformation of glass bottles into valuable household goods has been a lifeline. Before joining Chako Zanzibar in 2021, Mussa had worked as a nursery school teacher. Since then she has built a new livelihood around upcycling waste, and the proceeds have allowed her to open a DVD library and cover her children’s school fees and medical expenses. Mussa shared her gratitude, saying, “Working at Chako has helped me become an independent woman.”
From Waste to Wealth: The Enterprise’s Birth
The idea came when Dutch entrepreneur Anneloes Roelandschap and her partner opened a hotel in Stone Town in 2008. They observed how tourism generated abundant jobs for visitors but also produced relentless waste that the island struggled to manage. By 2012, they founded Chako Zanzibar to collect hotel and resort waste, process it into new products, and sell them back to the tourism sector—all while creating jobs for the local community. The enterprise’s approach is simple yet effective: gather discarded bottles and plastic, thoroughly clean and sort the materials, and hand‑craft them into items that tourists can take home as souvenirs, supporting local livelihoods as they go.
Beyond revenue, the environmental impact of the venture is significant. The company’s own data indicates that, since its inception, more than five million bottles have been removed from Zanzibar’s landfill sites, restoring beaches and streets that once lined with broken glass. This reduction in waste not only improves the island’s aesthetic appeal and tourist experience but also diminishes the potential for micro‑plastic contamination in local waterways.
Central to the enterprise’s mission is the empowerment of women. Chako Zanzibar trains women in the skills needed to turn scrap into marketable goods, from basic cleaning techniques to intricate glassblowing. Over its five years operating, the organization has trained more than four hundred locals, with many women reporting greater financial independence, improved decision‑making power within their families, and a stronger sense of community. Training sessions are community‑based, often held in the same spaces where the workshops take place, fostering a supportive environment that extends beyond business skills to include confidence building and financial literacy.
Mussa’s story reflects the company’s broader successes. Her new DVD library has become a community hub, offering free access to educational videos and entertainment for children and adults. With the income from upcycled products, she has covered her children’s medical bills and helped pay for their schooling. She now looks ahead to building a proper house for her family, a milestone she has been able to pursue thanks to the stable cash flow generated by her work on recycled glass. The enterprise’s model has also struck a chord with visitors, many of whom purchase the handcrafted souvenirs as reminders of their Zanzibari experience while simultaneously supporting sustainable practices on the island.
“Working at Chako has helped me become an independent woman,” Mussa said.
Roelandschap highlighted the scale of the venture’s impact, noting that the operation has prevented “more than five million bottles from ending up in Zanzibar’s landfills and has trained more than 400 local people.” The combination of environmental stewardship and social entrepreneurship is turning a pervasive waste problem into a driver of economic resilience for women in Zanzibar. As tourism continues to generate resources for the island, initiatives like Chako Zanzibar ensure that a greater share of those benefits circulates locally, creating a sustainable cycle of prosperity and planetary care.
