The world produces around 350 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, of which around 82 million tonnes is mismanaged or littered. This means it’s not stored in secure landfills, recycled or incinerated.
Mombassa’s population of 1.5 million people generates 900 tonnes of waste a day – a figure the city’s infrastructure simply can’t cope with. A lot of this waste works its way into the Mtopanga river, which was once a source of clean drinking water.
Magadalene Radier used to look at the plastic waste surrounding her home in one of the poorest areas outside Mombassa and despair. Life as a single mother of four was difficult enough without the added health hazard of mountains of rubbish.
Where there’s plastic to be cleared and recycled, there is money to be made.
Magdalene joined her local Hand in Hand savings group where she learned how to start and run a small business. By embracing circular economy practices and techniques, she could make money out of the rubbish. She’d always been good at making things – what if she collected, cleaned and repurposed the plastic? Perhaps she could create something others would want to buy?
Today Magdalene’s recycled plastic flowers and garlands are in demand for local weddings and her children’s toys are popular with children and parents alike. This creativity, combined with her Hand in Hand business know how, has enabled her to earn 40 per cent more.
Today she can pay her household bills, her grandson’s school fees and, at the same time, reinvest in the business. What’s more she now needs help in her expanding business so employs some of her neighbours to collect the plastic waste.
“In everything I do, I think about the future of my children and the world we leave behind. Every small step towards a cleaner environment and more stable economy is a step towards a brighter future for all of us,” she says.