France to fund chemical management projects in Africa

The French government is offering funding to projects focused on the environmentally-friendly management of chemicals and waste in African and other developing countries. The call is open to any stakeholders, including NGOs and the private sector. The government will provide between €500,000 and €2m to each project it accepts, but this amount should comprise no more than 30% of the project’s total budget, according to Diane Menard, project manager at the FFEM, the interministerial financial instrument in France.  The FFEM is specifically looking for projects addressing the use and related pollution of chemicals such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals, as well as projects aimed at preventing and managing hazardous waste and plastics. It is also interested in innovations dealing with: chemicals in products; hazardous substances in electronic products; endocrine disruptors; and transitioning to safer alternatives of perfluorinated substances.