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Mar 20, 2017

Precious Kenya

Mattia went to Kenya and did some field research on plastic and its role within Swahili culture and politics.

man walking through tons of plastic waste
Mattia in Kenya
This article is part of Precious Plastic, a One Army project tackling the plastic waste problem. You can learn more
here
.

Hey Everybody,

Trying to escape European winter grim, I (@mattia-io) went to Kenya and as I was there did some research, meetings and visits for Precious Plastic in the beautiful East African country 🇰🇪. Kenya is a beautiful country with nice people, traditions and foods. Oh yhe, and beaches 😅. However, they also have an awful lot of problem affecting its own people and, it's once pristine, environments. And guess what? Plastic is everywhere. Huuuge opportunities for Precious Plastic there. I wrote a more in-depth article (with less emoji 😃) with all my findings and experiences, check it out here and let me know what you think.

waste in the streets
Plastic piling up in illegal dumpsites, stranded on beaches or burned at every corner.
PET plastic
Mattia with the Director of the recycling center.

As I was in Nairobi visiting friends, slums and open dumpsites I also took a day to go and visit the folks at Gearbox working on a Precious Plastic shredder. The shredder is not finished yet as they were trying to make the blades with CNC milling rather than plasma or laser cutter. Brave indeed, but it slowed them down. Now waiting to resume with the team and finish what they began in December 2016. If you’re up for some detailed documentation, check out their forum post.

Recycling center
At the Gearbox center.

Nairobi’s slum, called Kibera, is home to a super interesting project collecting, separating and selling plastic back to the industry aptly named Kleanbera. The workshop is built pretty much along the lines of one of Precious Plastic possible business models. Great learning from this lovely guys.

plastic collection point
An exciting project collecting, separating and shredding plastic in the heart of Kibera slum.

Enough for now.
If you’re interested in more stories and experiences from Kenya take a look at the full article here, or follow me on Instagram where I share live updates (no selfies I promise 😉).

Much love,
Mattia

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Written by
Mattia
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