Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has stepped up efforts to put in place waste material recovery facilities in the capital city, as it seeks to reduce garbage disposal at the already filled Dandora dumpsite.
As part of the plan, a first material recovery facility has been set up on Kangundo Road in Embakasi West sub-County.
NMS chief environment officer Lazarus Kivai said the facility is the first of 17 such facilities in Nairobi to help tame the garbage menace that has seen several parts of the capital city left in heaps of solid waste.
Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has stepped up efforts to put in place waste material recovery facilities in the capital city, as it seeks to reduce garbage disposal at the already filled Dandora dumpsite.
The material recovery facilities are part of the NMS’ long-term waste management strategy that will see the amount of non-reusable waste that ends up at the Dandora dumpsite reduced.
As part of the plan, a first material recovery facility has been set up on Kangundo Road in Embakasi West sub-County.
NMS chief environment officer Lazarus Kivai said the facility is the first of 17 such facilities in Nairobi to help tame the garbage menace that has seen several parts of the capital city left in heaps of solid waste.
“These are plants that are being done across the city, and we hope that we will not have wastes dumped along roads or other places as they will all be brought to this point for processing and recovery,” said Mr Kivai.
Nairobi residents produce 3,000 tonnes of solid waste daily but NMS is only able to collect slightly more than 2,000 tonnes.
Dandora dumpsite— Nairobi’s largest disposal facility — is overstretched as it holds more than 1.8 million tonnes of solid waste against a capacity of 500,000 tonnes.
Garbage collection remains one of the major problems affecting Nairobi residents.
Consequently, he said, the project would employ the 3Rs — reduce, reuse and recycle — the principle of waste management by reducing waste at the source.
The chief officer said waste recycling groups would be based at each of the recovery facilities and will be tasked with recovering, retrieving and recycling waste to reduce the amount of waste that goes to the Dandora dumpsite.
“The groups will handle waste within each sub-county and this will be a place for them to work in recovering solid waste materials. This will also create employment for the youth who will be working here,” he said.
