Selection Kenya
TakaTaka Solutions
TakaTaka Solutions is the largest waste management and recycling company in Kenya. We recycle 90% of the managed waste through an integrated model of collection, sorting, recycling, composting, and buying waste from waste pickers. TakaTaka Solutions will create direct and agency-based jobs across the waste value chain by recycling plants, sorting facilities, and sourcing from waste pickers.
The Problem
Kenya is stuck in an unsustainable linear economy – consumption to disposal in one line. The current solid waste management system in Kenya is not sustainable as it pollutes the air, dirties the water, and causes health problems. While 93% of Nairobi’s waste is potentially reusable, less than 10% is recycled and composted. This results in a tremendous economic potential, including job creation, being lost. However, with the right ecosystem, nearly 95% of this waste could “come back to life” through recycling and composting. This gap represents an opportunity to unlock substantial economic potential in Kenya.
The waste management sector in Kenya faces a multitude of challenges, including 1) contamination of waste at dumpsites, 2) lack of recycling markets for multiple materials, 3) inefficient logistics to and from dumpsites, and 4) little and low income as well as terrible working conditions for informal sector waste pickers.
The Solution
With over a decade of experience in waste management and recycling, TakaTaka Solutions will create and improve more than 2700 jobs. We will achieve this by launching new recycling plants for previously unrecyclable materials, building new sorting sites to divert mixed waste from landfills, and creating buyback centers near dumpsites to buy recyclable materials from waste workers.
With support from CFYE, we will build additional and expand the existing recycling capacity. We will target materials that are currently not recycled in Kenya: textile waste, flexible plastic packaging, and single-use plastic containers. All these materials are currently not recycled in Kenya. We will also set up additional buyback centers near dumpsites to purchase various recyclable materials from waste pickers. The materials we will buy will create new jobs and improve existing jobs. Waste pickers will not only receive a decent income from supplying our buyback centers, but they will also obtain a variety of social benefits to improve their working conditions. Lastly, we will set up sorting operations in Mombasa and Machakos county. This will enable us to divert more waste before it reaches the dumpsite, creating high-quality jobs for employed waste sorters.
Additionality
CFYE’s support will be crucial for TakaTaka Solutions’ expansion. The grant funding will make it possible to undertake work that would have been difficult to attract commercial funding, particularly the workaround integrating waste pickers into the waste value chain in an inclusive manner. The grant funding from CFYE will support both the capital expenditure and operating costs until all new sites have reached financial sustainability. CFYE’s expertise in youth and women will also help us make the hiring/employment practices sensitive to these groups’ needs.
