Waste recyclers demand regulatory reforms

Waste recyclers want the Government to relax some of the requirements on the use of plastics as the regulations threatened their business.

Under the aegis of the Kenya Association of Waste Recyclers (KAWR), they cited bureaucratic bottlenecks in acquiring licences as well as burdensome levies as some of the challenges facing the sub-sector.

Speaking on the sidelines of the signing of an agreement with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) yesterday in Nairobi, KAWR Secretary General Richard Kainika said the prevailing state of affairs had hampered recyclers' work.

According to Mr Kainika, the operators are only able to recycle 23 per cent of the waste Kenya produces, most of which comes from heavy industries.

There are over 150 registered waste recyclers.

“The regulations surrounding acquiring recycling licences are so tough that many would-be recyclers have kept off and moved into other businesses,” said Kainika.

“The levy problem lies with the counties; when a recycler is transporting waste from one county to the other, or a final product, he has to pay a tax to every county he passes through.”

In the agreement signed yesterday with KAM, the recyclers want the manufacturers to help them lobby the Government to tone down on strict regulatory requirements.

Michuki rules

At the same time, the recyclers want KAM to convince its members to buy raw materials from their factories instead of sourcing them from foreign markets.

They also want the Transport Ministry to compel the National Transport and Safety Authority to strictly enforce rules regarding collection of waste in public service vehicles.

The rules were part of radical public transport regulations introduced by the Government in 2007 and were the 'Michuku rules'.