By David Rupiny & Babra Nambuya
Fully Ugandan-owned, Luuka Plastics started out in 1996, initially as a trading company in downtown Kampala.
Ten years later, in 2006, it pivoted to the manufacture of packaging materials for agricultural products, confectionaries, cement, pharmaceuticals, etc. The packaging products include both branded and unbranded ones, as well as packaging for tough products like nails.
Its first plant was in Kawempe, where it still has the plant and its headquarters. Today, Luuka Plastics has three plants, the biggest being in Namanve Industrial Park where the government, through Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), gave it land.
According to the General Manager, Ismail Muwanga, Luuka Plastics, at its infancy, used to import raw materials used in making the packaging materials. That has now changed as it now sources most of the raw materials locally. This has reduced manufacturing and supply times. The Namanve plant has 187 weavers, making it one of the largest in Uganda and the region.
Luuka Plastics not only supplies packaging materials to the Ugandan market but also exports to Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Namanve industrial park, Luuka Plastics supplies many industries with packaging materials, creating much needed industrial symbiosis.
The Namanve plant employs 6,000 Ugandans directly. Combined, Luuka Plastics’ three plants employ 1,300 Ugandans directly, most of them young people.
Muwanga says as part of their green intentions, they now recycle their waste, and this has helped to protect the environment. The company recycles 300 metric tonnes of waste like plastics per month and has embarked on an expansion of the recycling plant.
From a simple shop in Kikuubo, a Kampala city shopping area, Luuka Plastics is now a household name, not only in Uganda but the East African Community.
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