ReBin celebrates its 5th anniversary !

ReBin celebrates its 5th anniversary !

We are particularly pleased to celebrate this important milestone with you. Just five years ago, we organized the launch party for the creation of the ReBin Foundation and its very first project in Benin.

It is a moment of joy and pride to celebrate the sustainability of an organization that works for others. A demonstration of our good health and our ability to overcome the many hardships we have had to face.

Our team has been able to carry out innovative projects, in line with ever-growing environmental, societal and economic challenges, in particular with the acceleration of climate crises and rampant global overconsumption.

Our ever-increasing presence in West Africa through trusted partnerships demonstrates our ability to listen and adapt, despite successive crises. Our many supporters and donors have also given us the means to act for a positive ecological transition. Celebrating our fifth anniversary means celebrating our ability to sustainably provide concrete solutions in the field.

This anniversary is also an opportunity to remember some important milestones in our journey:

• In 2015, the ReBin concept was born from a memory work that Mark Giannelli carried out on waste management in Benin.
• In March 2016, Mark Giannelli and Sylvain Massot decided to embark on the adventure of the circular economy and sustainable development.
• In November of the same year, the ReBin Foundation for Sustainable Development is registered in the Commercial Register of the Canton of Geneva.
• In February 2017, the inauguration evening of the Foundation is held.
• In November of that same year, the first organic waste recovery project started in the town of Toffo, in Benin.
• In June 2018, operations began, and an official delegation from the City of Geneva came to witness this magnificent achievement two months later.
• In March 2019, Ambassador Cyrille Oguin was appointed Resident Representative of the Foundation in Benin.
• In July 2019, the Foundation signed a headquarters agreement with the Government of the Republic of Benin, thus demonstrating the trust placed in our organization and its activities.
• In October 2019, Fanny Hostettler joined the Foundation as Secretary General.
• Throughout 2020, activities are developing in the municipality of Toffo: production of compost and biogas, distribution of drinking water, agroecology, fish farming, training.
• In March 2021, we publish our highly successful children’s book “Le Trésor de Houègbo”.
• In June 2021, the ReBin Waste Recovery Site (Toffo) becomes a local NGO run by our teams, including Delphine and Mardochée who have been with us since the beginning of our adventures on site.
• In July 2021, an ambitious project in the commune of Ouidah was abandoned by the newly elected local authorities. Our development strategy has taken a hit, but we are not discouraged.
• In October 2021, UNHCR and German Cooperation (GIZ) commissioned some of our members to study the feasibility of our concept in Mauritania, particularly in the Bassikounou region, which is home to one of the main refugee camps in the Sahel.
• During the same period, an innovative project to distribute drinking water in exchange for waste was initiated. The main objective is to make water accessible to a large part of the population of the municipality of Toffo by 2024, while recycling their waste.
• In January 2022, a strategic partnership was born with the Waste and Sanitation Management Company (SGDS) in Benin. Education projects targeting tens of thousands of schoolchildren, as well as recovery projects for tens of thousands of tonnes of waste are planned for the coming months and years.

How far we’ve come in five years! Thanks to our members, volunteers, families, friends and the many people and institutions that support us, we approach the future with the same energy and motivation as the first days. We salute the investment and commitment of all the people who follow us with the aim of contributing to a more united society and a more sustainable economy that take care of our environment.

We still have a lot to do to promote and develop the circular economy. We will continue to renew ourselves, to diversify and to create even more ambitious partnerships to bring change ever further.

Happy Birthday ReBin !