Communities turn plastic, textile pollution into livelihoods

Women collect important items from Nairobi River that passes through the Korogocho slum area. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Kenya produces between 0.5 million and 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, but only about eight per cent is recycled. The rest is dumped, burned, or leaks into the environment, choking rivers and piling up on beaches.

Along the country’s 1,400-kilometre coastline, this pollution translates into an escalating crisis for marine ecosystems and the blue economy, which is worth more than Sh400 billion annually in fisheries, tourism, and related sectors.