Zimbabwean entrepreneur Farai Musendo came second in the 2019 Total Startup Challenge after creating a reactor that turns plastic waste into diesel.
The chemical engineering graduate started the project in 2016 while a student at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo.
For coming second Musendo walked away with $10 500, funds that will help scale production at his company Farai Pyro from the current 20 liters of diesel per day to 200 by the end of March.
Farai Pyro supplies diesel to industries at $2 per liter and wax at 60 cents per kg, although the company is failing to meet demand because of capacity constraints.
With a cash injection of $100,000, Musendo says they can build a plant that can produce 4,000 litres of diesel per day and create 40 direct jobs in Zimbabwe.
Farai Musendo the chemical engineer partnered with Allen Matsika an MBA graduate from Arizona State University in the USA together they own Farai Pyro.
Musendo received a ward in 2017 from the Research Council of Zimbabwe for his catalytic pyrolysis technology that he uses to convert plastic into diesel
