Nairobi masterplan wants waste isolated and recycled

A Nairobi County sustainable waste management action plan wants Environment CS Keriako Tobiko to gazette mandatory national waste segregation.

The plan says waste should be segregated into organic, recyclable and others with easily identifiable colour code.

It says "the National Treasury should provide and ring-fence solid waste management fund." 

The plan will also bring all community-based organisations in solid waste management under one umbrella body per sub-county.

On Thursday, Nairobi County Environment executive Veska Kangogo said 60 per cent of waste in the city is organic, 30 per cent recyclable while 10 per cent can either be used to generate energy or incinerated.

"The programme is to pilot a circular model of waste management in Nairobi county in collaboration with Ministry of Environment, Kepsa, Nema and the Office of the President," Kangogo said.

The model is structured such that waste is a resource.

Some 34 compactor refuse trucks will be needed with each sub-county allocated two for waste collection and transportation.

There will be a provision for four crawler dozers and two excavators for landfill operations. One central composting facility for organic waste will be established.

The minister for Agriculture will guarantee uptake of compost manure from the composting facility, according to the plan.

The plan also wants Tobiko to gazette a mandatory waste collection schedule for the various wastes with organic waste collected on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Other wastes will be collected on Tuesdays while recyclables will be collected on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Nairobi generates 3,000 tonnes of waste daily.

Uncollected solid waste accounts for 774 tonnes per day while private recycling companies handle  654 tonnes per day.

The plan says that 1,601 tonnes of the waste are moved to the already full Dandora dumpsite.

For the effective handling of waste, the land for establishing 17 material recovery facilities has to be secured.

Abandoned quarries on government land will be used as sanitary engineered landfill sites.

To enforce waste laws, two armed security officers will be stationed per ward and will work with the sub-county environment officers.

Tobiko and Nema director-general will gazette county environment inspectors.

The plan says that a central composting facility will be established as well as onsite composting sites/biogas digesters.

Further, community-based collection points with three-tier bins will be established.

The plan cites inaccessible roads within the dumpsite as a challenge.

A UN-Habitat study this year shows that 1.4 per cent of waste in the county were waste electrical and electronic equipment while the percentage of textiles/shoes is 3.3 per cent.

Other forms of waste are glass, plastics, paper/cardboard, wood and kitchen/canteen.

The plan regrets that open dumping continues exposing residents to toxic landfill gas and at the same time impacting climate by the production of greenhouse gases.

The plan says there are no formal waste transfer stations in the 85 wards. There is also a lack of enforcement.

"There is a lack of minimum standards norms and procedures for waste service providers – they collect waste only for disposal."

A Jica report shows a steady increase in waste with 1,848 tonnes generated daily in 2009 and 1,924 tonnes in 2010 and 2,353 tonnes in 2015.

The study projected that by 2020, some 2,831 tonnes of waste will be generated daily, 3,378 in 2025, and 3,990 daily in 2030.

The study sought to review the current situation of waste management in Nairobi and revise the existing masterplan as well as develop human resources for solid waste management.

The Jica report says Dandora Dumpsite Urgent Improvement Plan needs Sh680 million, including regular operation and maintenance from 2011 to 2016.

The study said Sh23 million was needed in 2014 for the clean-up of illegal dumpsites.