The rest of the world mints fortunes

By Harold Ayodo

Mr Peter Kariuki makes a living collecting garbage from houses in Nairobi for resale.

He buys old newspapers at Sh25 a kg from residents of South C Estate for re-sells to butchers at a profit. "I also collect old electronics like cassette players, computer key boards, televisions and amplifiers which he sells to traders at Gikomba and Muthurwa markets," Kariuki says.

Mr Moses Mwangi who buys old electronics from garbage collectors like Kariuki sells them to electricians for spare parts.

Garbage is an eyesore in parts of Nairobi as the City Council has only the capacity of collecting a paltry 40 per cent of the 1,600 tons generated daily.

The council has 20 vehicles against the required 120 and it contracts private firms to aid in the collection and disposal of garbage in Nairobi.

Former City Council of Nairobi Town Clerk John Gakuo said recently that the local authority has collected and disposed of 300,000 tonnes of garbage in the past year.

Garbage had been a thorn in the flesh in Nairobi that a recent study of the United Nations found that the capital is home to one of the largest dumpsites in Africa.

Recycling rubbish

Ironically, developed countries are reaping billions of shillings from garbage as Kenya mourns over the bother of the trash. Investors in garbage are raking profits running into billions of shillings monthly from recycling rubbish in the US.

Economists say trash is no longer an environmental liability but a financial asset in the West and Far East.

Recyclers are making a living out of combing through rubbish, processing before re-selling to other companies as we dispose ours at the over 50-year-old Dandora dumpsite.

Residents of Korogocho slums who live on less than a meal a day are among the many who sift through the dumpsite for ‘valuables’ they can re-sell.

Garbage waste and recycling drew a record Sh5 billion of investment in the US in 2007 up from Sh1,600,000,000 in 2001, according to study by the Cleantech Group.

Researchers say recycled products are more attractive following the rise of prices of oil and related raw materials.