Environmentalist who’s turning plastics into cash

Ms Mary Ngechu has turned her passion for waste management into a cash-minting venture for herself and created employment opportunity for Kenyans across the country.

For a long time the entrepreneur was irked by the eyesore that was plastic bottles discarded in the environment. She was also concerned about the health impact.

“Such solid waste generates green house gas emissions that contribute to climate change and have a negative impact on the health of Kenyan citizens,” said Ms Ngechu during and interview with the Enterprise.

With statistics showing that one million plastic bottles are bought every minute across the globe with most of them ending up in landfills or water bodies especially in developing countries such as Kenya, she said that she felt the need to do something to address the situatuion.t

And that's when she launched the Taka ni Mali Initiative and set up her firm Plast Packing Industries where she is the managing director.

Her initiative works with self-help groups across Kenyan towns which collect discarded plastic bottles for pay.

To smoothen the process, they've established collection centres where the waste is sorted before taken for recycling.

“Many people do not believe that they can make a living of dump sites and trash centres. However, through this initiative, we are paying for collected plastic bottles through Waste Management Entrepreneurship Hubs (WMEH) which are then separated, crushed and sold to different recycling companies,” she said

The initiative has partnered with the offices of County first lady to create awareness through programmes that target the use most of the plastic packaging at the household level- women.

“I am on a passionate journey to create awareness on the untapped potential for entrepreneurship skills development in the area of waste management. Once the collectors bring in the collected products, it is weighed and are paid per kilogramme collected,” she said, adding that the income has helped the women in the self-help groups to supplement their income.

Some of the partnering counties in the first phase of this project include Kajiado, Narok, Kiambu, Nakuru and Taita Taveta.

“Take for instance a town like Thika. About 140 tonnes of solid waste is generated daily. To this end, 60 percent of that waste has been collected. Kajiado and Taita Taveta have made commendable progress such that collection centres and hubs for recyclable waste material have been identified and demarcated. Also, communities around the garbage dump sites have been initiated through interaction, education and provision of personal protective equipment,” she added.

"Besides creating employment opportunities for individuals, we are also training them on waste segregation. This will give skills to those who have responsibility of managing waste in accordance with health and legal requirements."

Going forward she said: “We seek to establish relationships with local community groups, government bodies, academic institutions, corporates through CSR and other NGOs for partnerships.”