KIVUMBINI PLASTIC
RECYCLING
By Kim Richek
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| Kivumbini plastic Recycling company offices near Kisumu road |
As UNEP suggests banning of Flimsy
plastic shopping bags and a hefty levy slapped on thicker ones to rid Kenya of
an increasing environmental and health menace, Lydia
Sigilai a middle-aged lady from Kericho County has initiated a unique idea of
collecting, sorting, recycling, and selling materials that someone else has
thrown away.
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| Right. in red is Lydia Sigilai the founder with a guest in her office |
The thought aims to improve
community’s environmental conditions since plastic bags block gutters and
drains, choke farm animals and marine wildlife and pollute the soil as they
gradually break down.
The move has also employed street boys “scavengers” who collect
and sell the plastic materials to her.
“When I came up with the initiative, I chose not to do by
myself but to use street boys who normally languish without food. At least in a
week I pay three to five boys a total of 15,000 shillings” she said
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| Employees at work in their offices in Kericho |
Street boys used to survive on begging along the streets
while others spend nights without food but nowadays in Kericho they can now
afford to buy food in hotels.
Street boy from Kericho whom we found collecting the
materials for sale told Famous South rift that the initiative has helped them
pocket some notes without begging or stealing.
The idea is all about collecting and pulverizing waste plastic
materials into powdery materials to be used to make plastic materials like;
basins, bottles, buckets, plastic drums, shoes, bowls, tables, seats and any
other product.
The graduate in Commerce says after visiting a foreign
country, she was inspired by how waste products are recycled and in the long
run environment is conserved.
“When I came home, I saw an unexploited opportunity as the
County Government is troubled collecting and ditching the waste. I decided to
start this business and up to now I have collected and milled ten tones of
ready raw materials” she said.
The materials are now ready for use and she will be going
for a machine for the manufacturing in a foreign country soon.
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| Milling of Waste plastic materials |
Ms. Sigilai has bought a built a firm immediately after
Kisumu road on your way to Litein.
Amid the shortage of employment opportunities, Ms. Sigilai
challenges youths to go business way and create the opportunities instead of
stagnating expecting employment.
The eager-to-learn lady is the only one out of thousands of
Kericho residents who have saw and seized the opportunity and she hopes to be
the solution to the problems facing the society.
The move has got a positive reception in Kericho as Johana
Mutai a resident told us that “ the lady has contributed to local economy, to public health and safety, and to
environmental sustainability”
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