Where Waste Becomes a Livelihood
Garbage collection centre
By Caroline Katana.
Under the morning sun in Mikindani , Mombasa county , Elvina Ziro bends over piles of discarded plastic, picking through the waste and separating what can still earn her a few shillings.
Around her, wheelbarrows arrive carrying more rubbish from nearby households.
Plastic bottles are pulled from the piles and placed in one section, other recyclable materials in another.
What looks to an outsider like a mountain of unwanted waste is, for Ziro and others working at the site, a source of livelihood.
For the mother of five, every bottle and piece of plastic has a value.
She has been doing the work for three years, using the money she earns to put food on the table and keep her children in school.
“This project helps me with food and educating my children. What I get from selling the waste helps me in both areas,” Ziro said.
The work, however, does not always guarantee a steady income.
“Sometimes I find a lot, sometimes there is little. So it has its challenges,” she said .
But on this day, the activity around the site tells a bigger story.
Plastic that would ordinarily be thrown into drainage channels, burned or carried by rainwater towards the ocean is being separated and prepared for another journey , one that takes it from waste to a useful product.
A short distance away, workers feed sorted plastic into a shredder.
The machine tears the bottles into small pieces before the material is mixed with sand and the mixture is then moulded, pressed and cured to produce paving blocks .
Recycling plant
This is the work of Plast Safi, an initiative of Pwani Youth Network that is attempting to tackle two problems at once - plastic pollution and unemployment among young people.
The Plast Safi project is being implemented in Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale funded by Childfund Kenya , DOT and MasterCard in partnership with Hand in Hand Eastern Africa.
Alfred Sigo, Director General of Pwani Youth Network and leader of the Plast Safi project, said the idea came from looking at the amount of waste accumulating in Mombasa and the number of young people struggling to find work.
The organisation has built its model around a circular economy, where waste is collected, processed and turned into another product instead of being discarded.
“Instead of allowing the waste to remain in the environment, we collect it from households, sort it and bring it here to make paving blocks,” Sigo said.
The process is simple to watch but represents a significant change in how the community views waste.
At the sorting point, workers separate different types of plastic , pet bottles are kept aside for processing before being fed into the shredder.
Once reduced to small pieces, the plastic is mixed with sand and taken through a moulding and pressing process.
The finished paving blocks are then placed aside to cure before being taken to the market.
Sigo said the facility receives more than four tonnes of waste a day and is able to recycle between two and 2.5 tonnes.
The project works directly with waste managers and sorters while supporting a wider network of people who collect waste from households.
More than 5,000 households are reached through the collection system.
For young people working at the site, the transformation is personal.
James Kazungu remembers a time when he had little to do apart from playing football in his neighbourhood.
He eventually began collecting waste from households.
Through training provided by the project, he acquired new skills and moved from being a waste picker to operating machinery at the facility.
The journey, he says, has changed the way he looks at work.
“I have gained skills that I can use to engage with the community, and I have moved from being a waste picker to an operator,” Kazungu says.
His message to other unemployed young people is blunt.
“Waste is wealth. A young person should not just sit at home and say there are no jobs. Go out, collect some plastic and I am sure you will get something to put in your pocket,” he said.
Nearby, Loice Khayanje moves through the waste management operations, a reminder that the emerging green economy is also creating space for women.
Khayanje has worked as a waste manager at the facility for two years.
She said she was drawn into the sector after witnessing the effects of careless waste disposal in Mombasa.
For her, waste management is not simply about picking rubbish , it is about changing how people relate to their surroundings.
“When you are passing on the road and you step on waste that someone has thrown carelessly, it makes the environment unattractive,” she said.
She wants other women to see that they too can work in environmental conservation.
“I want to be a role model for women who feel that women being in the waste management sector is unhealthy or unsexy,” Khayanje said.
For Raphael Kong"ani, the site has provided another kind of opportunity.
A visual artist, Kong'ani initially joined as a volunteer and waste picker.
He began experimenting with discarded materials, using his creativity to turn waste into useful items.
Three years later, he is employed at the facility and has progressed to becoming an operator.
“I started as a volunteer and now I am one of the staff. I have been employed. That is the biggest benefit I have gained through commitment and pushing myself,” he said.
He encourages other young people to look at waste with a different eye.
“When you see waste, try to be creative with it,” he said.
The changes are also visible beyond the people working at the site.
Sigo recalls a time when the area was poorly managed, with waste mixed together, frequent fires and conditions that he said contributed to health problems and insecurity.
Plastic was among the materials fuelling the fires.
Now, he says, the situation has changed.
“Young people are getting jobs, so insecurity has reduced. Diseases have also reduced because we now have a well-managed garbage centre. And there have been no fires here for the past two years,” he said .
The benefits extend into the surrounding community, where residents have been trained to separate waste at household level.
Waste pickers have also received protective equipment such as gloves and other PPE, as well as vaccinations to make their work safer.
The project has therefore turned the waste site into more than a place where rubbish is collected.
It has become a workplace, a training ground and, for some families, an economic lifeline.
But the significance of the initiative becomes even clearer when viewed against the Coast's environmental challenges.
Plastic that escapes collection can easily find its way into drainage systems and eventually into the ocean.
During heavy rains, blocked drainage can worsen flooding and create conditions favourable for the spread of disease.
For a coastal community whose livelihoods are closely connected to the ocean, the consequences can extend far beyond the neighbourhood where the waste is discarded.
Sigo says reducing the amount of plastic reaching the sea is therefore an important part of addressing environmental and climate challenges.
He also points to the danger posed by burning waste, which releases smoke and gases into the atmosphere.
His argument is that collecting and recycling the plastic tackles several problems simultaneously reducing waste, limiting open burning, protecting the marine environment and creating jobs.
But sustaining the model is not easy.
The organisation faces rising electricity costs because the machinery used in processing the plastic consumes large amounts of power.
Khayanje said solar energy would help reduce the burden.
The price of recyclable plastic is another challenge, prices fluctuate, making it difficult for the organisation to maintain predictable operating costs.
There are also regulatory and taxation challenges.
Khayanje said waste management laws and requirements can change, while operators have to navigate several procedures and charges before their products reach the market.
She wants government to simplify some of the requirements for waste management operators and provide stronger support for waste collection and transportation.
A dedicated truck, she said , would help move waste from the site and keep the area cleaner.
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is among the organisations supporting the initiative through its Waste to Profit programme.
Collins Mudhomi said the programme is built on a simple idea - something that one person considers useless can become raw material for another person's business.
“What some people see as waste can be a raw material for another company, and from it they can generate income,” Mudhomi said .
The approach is aimed at young people and women who are often left out of formal employment opportunities.
Back at the waste site, ziro continues sorting through the day's collection.
The work is repetitive. The waste is dirty. The income is uncertain.
Yet each bottle she pulls from the pile represents something different food for her family, school fees for her five children, or another small step towards making ends meet.
Around her, the machines continue to run.
Plastic is shredded. Sand is mixed with the fragments anf the mixture is pressed into shape.
What arrived at the site as discarded rubbish gradually begins to resemble a paving block.
It is a physical demonstration of the idea behind Plast Safi - that waste does not necessarily have to end its journey in a dumpsite, a drainage channel or the ocean.
Sometimes, it can become a job.
Sometimes, it can become a business.
And sometimes, for a mother standing beside a pile of rubbish with five children depending on her, it can become a livelihood.
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