GARISSA: Kenyans, especially in urban areas and along the coastline, are grappling with how to cope with huge volumes of plastic waste along the streets or in their neighbourhoods. Currently, the country generates an estimated 966,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, which, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is expected to rise to 5 million by 2030. In 2021, Kenya imported approximately 575,290 tonnes of raw plastic materials, valued at around Sh98.2 billion. While the government has taken steps to address the problem, such as banning single-use plastic bags in 2017 and extending the ban to protected areas in 2020, plastic pollution remains a major concern.
According to Kenya News Agency, last year, the government introduced regulations specifically targeting plastic packaging materials, including a ban on the importation and use of certain types of plastic bags to address plastic pollution and promote sustainable waste management. The Environmental Management and Coordination (Management and Control of Plastic Packaging Materials) Regulations, 2024, require imported plastic packaging materials to be declared at the port of entry. The regulations further introduced an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system to place responsibility on producers for waste management, where local manufacturers and importers are mandated to establish post-consumer collection schemes, join compliance schemes, and design products that facilitate reuse, recycling, and recovery.
Kenya currently recycles only 8 per cent – 10 per cent of its plastic waste, making plastic pollution a pressing concern, according to a report by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) in 2023. As we prepare for World Environment Day set for June 5, themed ‘Global Call to End Plastic Pollution’, here in Garissa, we meet Fred Olingo, the founder of Taka ni Mali, focusing on recycling plastic waste.
As we walk into his recycling plant in Garissa town, we meet with women – young and old – and some young men carrying empty sacks on their shoulders, evidence that they have just sold their assorted plastic materials. Sixty-five-year-old Kasembi Paul has just sold a batch of her day’s collection. She says that she started collecting and selling plastic water bottles in 2018, and she has been able to afford her daily necessities and pay school fees for her children. Kasembi says that on a good day, she can make up to Sh2000, while on the bad days, she makes close to Sh900.
‘I have a daughter who has just completed form-four and she is now in college. All that fee comes from here,’ she said. ‘The challenge is that sometimes we walk long distances because there are many of us collecting these bottles and we have depleted these plastic wastes in areas closer to town. This job has provided an opportunity for many young people where they can earn something instead of getting into crime,’ she added.
Olingo tells us that he founded his company in 2016 while in Nakuru but it did not pick up there because of the low availability of plastic bottles. ‘I started this job in Nakuru County but there was little we could do because there are not as many plastics as here in Garissa. Nakuru is sometimes cold and not many people use bottled water. A friend of mine then referred me to Garissa because with water challenges, there is high usage of bottled water and that’s where we come in,’ Olingo narrates.
‘When I came here in 2016, plastic water bottles were everywhere, even in the drainage lines. The county council was struggling on how to deal with them because the bottles were the main waste. In just one week, I managed to get over ten tonnes of plastic water bottles and that is how I decided to remain here,’ he adds.
Olingo has been able to employ 20 casual workers on busy days, although the number is slightly reduced on days with little operations. Close to 50 people, who move around the town and hotels and sometimes attend public forums to collect empty water bottles, also get their daily bread here. Once someone brings plastic waste for sale, it is sorted according to the type of plastic and weighed to determine the amount. The plastic materials are then further sorted according to colour, stickers on the materials are removed and then they are crushed into small pieces ready to be transported for sale to other processing companies.
According to Olingo, a kilogramme of water plastic bottles is priced at Sh25, although sometimes he says that the amount is slightly increased to boost the morale of the collectors. The Taka ni Mali founder says that over time, other people have joined the business, and now there is stiff competition in the sector. ‘Apart from competition, we have a challenge in getting county permits. Sometimes a license costs Sh30,000 for operations and then they still charge you cess when transporting the materials. We hope that this issue can be sorted out,’ he said.
Isaac Kimitei, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Director for Garissa County, said that with collaboration with other stakeholders, they have been able to reduce plastic waste in the county. ‘Taka ni Mali is an important stakeholder in ensuring that we keep our environment clean. This start-up, apart from being able to employ many young people in this waste management value chain, has also helped us by eliminating plastics in the streets,’ Kimitei said.
‘So far in Garissa, plastics have been removed from the streets. The only problem we have now is single-use plastic bags, which are coming in through our porous borders from our neighbouring countries,’ he added. Dekow Khalif from the Garissa County Directorate of Environment said that they had developed a by-law to ensure proper disposal of waste across the county. ‘We are mandated to ensure proper environmental conservation. In regard to this, we have developed the Garissa County environmental management and coordination act which helps us in streamlining the sector, including proper waste disposal,’ Khalif said. ‘We are also creating awareness for our people so that they stop the tendency of littering plastics anyhow. We are seeking to change the behaviour of the residents here on how they dispose of their waste,’ he added.