Cradle To Cradle Taking Root As Climate & Health Incentives Collide

Nairobi- In gated communities in the city's middle class neighbourhoods residents are reworking the life cycle of everyday waste.

What began as grassroots neighbourhood clean ups and pilot recycling projects has matured into a practical, cradle to cradle approach; separating, repairing, composting and redesigning waste flows so material remain useful- not disposable.

Gated communities are collaborating through neighbourhood associations, to pursue sustainability in waste management.

The Metro Residents Alliance Association of Kenya (ANMRA) , a city wide initiative that seeks to enhance collaborations amongst residents in gated communities is championing circular economy.

In a post on X, Teddy Obiero an official of ANMRA spearheading the recycling infrastructure notes that residents have moved from awareness to action.

Segregation of waste at source for recycling

Waste management is a crisis across cities in the world. A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report warns that solid waste will surge unless circular solutions are embraced.

UNEPs Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 projects municipal waste to rise from 2.3 billion tonnes in 2023 to nearly 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050, and that a circular economy approach could turn a looming cost into a net economic gain.

UNEPs Executive Director Inger Anderson says cities need to decouple growth from waste, for the health of the planet.

Waste generation is intrinsically tied to GDP"

Inger Anderson

FROM SEGREGATION BINS TO LOCAL INDUSTRY

Further away in rural Kenya, in Kisii county residents are turning farm waste like banana trees into beautiful bags through women groups and earning an income.

Moraa explains how they turn farm waste into beautiful ornaments in Kisii

CRADLE TO CRADLE FOR CLIMATE AND HEALTH

The cradle to cradle model as opposed to the cradle to dump sites is inspired by natural systems where waste is an input for another process.

A resident in Kisii crushing waste from glass into powder to make cabro and pots

These are cradle to cradle building blocks: keeping materials circulating at their highest value, creating local jobs and reducing the methane and CO2 footprint of unmanaged refuse.

Finished product from glass waste

UNEP links poor waste handling to greenhouse emissions ( especially methane from organic waste) micro plastic pollution and local air and water contamination that undermine human health.

The report finds that better waste prevention and management could avoid billions of dollars in hidden costs from pollution, health burdens and climate damage.

A low income neighbourhood in Kenya's capital choking from poor waste management

UNEPs 2024 outlook stresses that municipal action must be matched by policy: incentivising product redesign, enforcing extended producer responsibility, financing local waste infrastructure, and protecting informal waste workers during transitions.

The report show that, adopting full circular economy measures could convert a projected multi hundred billion dollar cost into a new annual gain by 2050- an economic as well as environmental argument for action.

Women group displays handbags woven from farm waste.

Scaling cradle to cradle across Kenya, requires sustained behaviour change, affordable collection services for lower income neighbourhoods, secure markets for recycled materials and technical support for composting and small scale processors.

Every ton of waste diverted from landfills cuts methane emissions, every recycled material reduces demand for virgin resources; and every community that reimagines waste as wealth helps bend the curve on global warming.

These innovative ways of handling waste demonstrates that solutions begins right at our doorstep towards a cleaner, greener earth.