Youth groups in Mombasa turn plastic waste into gold

Two youth-led companies in Mombasa are working towards creating a green and clean environment by recycling plastic waste and producing goods out of them.

Twende Green Ecocycle and Eco-Redemptors are at the forefront of championing plastic waste mismanagement through innovation.

According to Lawrence Kosgei, the production manager at Twende Green Ecocyclem which was founded in January this year, they are turning plastic waste into beautiful and durable desks that can be used in schools in informal settlements.

Kosgei and his partners including Churchill Muriuki, Faraj Ramadhan and Zeinab Mahmoud, all students, have partnered with waste collectors to acquire plastic waste from the informal settlements and schools, where they provided special bins for learners to dump their plastic waste in.

“We collect the waste and crush it through a different company in Bamburi called Double Cycle Roman, which we have partnered with because they have a plastic grinding machine.

“The shredded plastic is turned into plastic flecks, which are taken to Ecotech Limited in Nairobi for press moulding,” Kosgei said.

The press moulding machine compacts the plastic flecks into a plastic board, which is cut and assembled before being transported back to Mombasa.

In Mombasa, the plastic boards are taken to Canon Youth Group Workshop, another partner in Majengo, where the desks are made.

Kosgei said this way, they make use of a lot of plastic waste, especially from informal settlements like Moroto in Tudor, Mvita sub-county.

“Most of these people don’t know what to do with the plastic waste and so we see it as an opportunity to sensitize them to bring this plastic waste so we can turn it into meaningful products,” said Kosgei.

The desks are then sold to the schools in the same neighbourhood.

“At least that is the plan. For now, a desk goes for Sh4,800 but once we start mass production, the price will go down to Sh3,500,” Kosgei said.

To make one desk, it takes 13kg of plastic waste, which would otherwise end up in the ocean and pollute the marine ecosystem.

The wooden desks range from Sh5,500 to Sh7,500.

According to Kosgei, the press moulding process minimizes carbon emissions as opposed to the injection moulding process.

Annually, about 100,000 tonnes of plastic waste finds its way into the ocean in Kenya.

Muriuki, the quality control manager at Twende Green Ecocycle, said for now, they are dealing with waste collecting companies or groups and not individual waste collectors.

“We still have two prototypes. We are talking to individual parents who are interested in buying the desks for their children who are in CBC,” said Muriuki.

He said they are also in talks with some people who have already made pre-orders for when mass production starts.

The group is also in talks with the Mombasa County government who have pledged their support for the project.

At Eco-Redemptors, Francis Aute acts as the operations manager, together with executive director Philomena Muthoni, finance manager Kevin Ochieng and general secretary Riziki Athman.

Aute said their aim is to reduce excess plastic waste in the environment due to the disparity between the dumping rate and recycling rate.

“In order to solve this problem, we are using the plastic waste to make plastic weaving yarns, that we use to make various products,” Aute said.

The products include furniture, baskets and beautiful ornaments, which are durable.

“We did user testing and took them to some clients who have liked them,” said Aute.

Aute also said they partner with waste collectors and communities in informal settlements to acquire the waste plastics before the process of washing, sorting, shredding and extrusion to produce the yarns.

“As for now, the amount of money we have cannot allow us to take control of the whole supply chain from collection to production of final products and marketing,” said Aute.

“So we will see where to start, whether to start by shredding. Generally, we want to start by having that magic machine, the extruder machine which produces these yarns,” said Aute.

The extruder machine costs between Sh1 million and Sh1.5 million.

For now, they plan to buy flecks or pellets, semi-raw materials that can be introduced into the extruder machine to produce the yarn.

The two companies emerged first and second in the Mombasa Plastics Prize, a challenge that involved 14 youth groups who were trained and empowered to come up with innovative ideas on plastic waste management.

The two youth-run companies said they want to involve the community more in their activities.

“We want to change the mentalities of the youth to see waste, especially plastic waste, as raw materials and a source of wealth,” Aute said.