Malindi to cash in on garbage with segregation yard

They are planning to set up a yard to segregate waste collected during  monthly cleanup drives for sale to generate income for youth who have been taking part in the exercise since 2019.

The aim is to turn trash into cash instead of throwing it in dumpsites.

The monthly clean-up is an initiative of the Progress Welfare Association in conjunction with the county government and other stakeholders.

They are also sensitising communities on the importance of maintaining a clean environment.

Kilifi environment officer in charge of Malindi, Lennox Mwangolo, said Governor Gideon Mung’aro has challenged them to make the cleanup drive competitive by rewarding those who do well.

“We are planning to cluster this exercise and recognise those performing well in the monthly drives,” he said.

Mwangolo spoke during a monthly cleanup at fisheries beach, Buntuani waterfront park beach and Vasco Dagama Sea front.

The waste will be sorted according to type-plastics, organic etc.

He said waste cartons are bought at Sh14 per kilo and other waste including plastics and metals can also be turned into cash.

“We want to see if we can work with MCAs on this. I have already reached out to a few of them and our plan is to identify a site to build a segregation yard,” Mwangolo said.

Progress Welfare Association of Malindi chairperson Kate Mwikali said their effort has been recognised by a group of conservationists from Los Angeles who contributed funds for buying gloves.

She said there is a group that cleans highways in Los Angeles called Taka Taka Club whose members first came as tourists in Malindi and were impressed by their work of cleaning the town.

“The world is watching and emulating what we are doing so when you see a gift being sent, it's because we were at times seen cleaning without gloves,” she said.

Malindi Kenya Wildlife Services Senior Sgt Abu Bocha urged residents to cooperate to ensure the environment is clean not only on the beaches but at household level.

He said they managed to collect 22.5 kilos of solid wastes, 110 kilos of rags, 8.5 kilos of glass bottles, while plastic papers were 69.5 kilos. In total they collected 210 kilos.

“This shows our efforts to clean the environment have borne fruit because the other time we collected more than 500 kilos and now it has gone down to 210 kilos. The more we clean the more we make our environment better,” Bocha said.

Effue Opiyo from PWAM urged stakeholders, particularly the youth, to take advantage of the initiative to get income out of the trash collected.

“The environment department is trying to come up with segregation for waste which is really good. It is trying to build our youth to make cash from the waste,” she said.

Bunthuani Waterfront Park managing director Ahmed Hassan said when Governor Mung’aro was Malindi mayor, the town was ranked the cleanest in Kenya adding that their vision is to reclaim that status.

He said there is need for sensitisation to ensure people take care of the environment.

“At Buntuani waterfront park we have more than 50 waste bins but people are not making use of them. When they drink water, they throw bottles anywhere. This is despite the fact that it does not take even five seconds to dispose it of in a bin,” he said.