Machakos, Kenya

Upcycled Materials Model for Cooperative Waste Recovery, Machakos, Kenya

Machakos is the capital of Machakos county, Kenya with a rapidly growing population. In the past decade the population increased by a factor of 10. It is an urban area surrounded by farmland. The current waste stream management practices include disparate burn and waste piles.  Click on the yellow camera icon in the map above to view recent photos of the waste piles. There is a transport system where lorries carry the waste to a central dump point. There is a need for a cost/benefit analysis of how much can be paid for raw materials collected, cleaned and sorted as compared with making products from that waste near where it is collected. There is a need to evaluate the impacts of the current waste stream practices and provide a data-driven solid waste management plan for the improvement of human health, the environment, and the economy of Machakos, Kenya.  We are pleased to partner with The Mamawatoto Eco School to create a sustainable circular economy by repurposing resources in the waste stream into eco-products:  sandals made from tires and upcycled leather, toys, bags, belts, and beads .  

In the following video we can see examples of waste piles on the roadside, the last one appears to be smoking from a recent burn:

Waste/Burn Pile Photo Gallery:

For additional information please see SCD Hub's Forum for the GarbageMap Project, Machakos, Kenya.