Effective solid waste management through recycling of plastics and other flexi materials. The story of Nicholas Muraguri, a waste picker in Thika, Kiambu County.
Nicholas is a 23-year old waste-picker at the Thika dumpsite in Kenya. When you first meet him, you’d think he’s merely foraging through waste. Except, he’s one of the hundreds of waste-pickers who supply TakaTaka Solutions with assorted plastic waste for recycling.
On a good day, Nicholas, working with his small team of 10 other pickers can supply up to 600kg of plastics, earning at KES12/kg. In the last 2 years, he has saved enough to buy a small piece of land at Magorofani area and intends to construct a house for his family.
At the Recycling Plant in Banana area, Hannah, a 32-year old mother of 1, a former nursery school teacher who lost her job due to the covid-19 pandemic, is among many others who work as waste-sorters whose jobs entirely rely on quantities delivered by the waste-pickers. She earns a daily wage of KES500 determined by availability of waste to be sorted.
At the Kenya Catalytic Jobs Fund we have partnered with TakaTaka Solutions to expand and scale up collection and recycling of assorted plastic waste into pellets that are sold to companies that manufacture non-food plastic containers. Cleaner, safer environment + jobs!