Aston Lukoye
Indeed, the 30-acre Dandora garbage has created moguls whose filthy and ragged clothing hides incredible riches, unknown to snobby Nairobians who turn up their noses when a waste truck goes past.
Garbage has proven to become a lucrative business for Stephen Kambi. The 31-year-old spent 4 years rummaging around the Dandora dumpsite to support his young wife.
“Garbage is a source of income for many prosperous individuals in Dandora and its environs. “We came from low beginnings, and the only way out was to scavenge at the dumpsite,” says the lawmaker, who benefits financially from Nairobi’s 2,000 tonnes of rubbish created every day.
A chunk of the garbage winds up at the Dandora sanitary landfill, which has made millionaires out of the city’s nearly broken disposal sites and management system.
He compares it to “dropping a KES 100 or KES 1,000 note on the road.” “Rather than wasting away our resources, we should repurpose them.”
About 70 private waste collection businesses exist in Kenya, filling the hole left by metropolitan and municipal authorities.
Nairobi generates 2,000 tons of garbage every day. That’s the size of four high-altitude football fields or half of Nyayo Stadium. Garbage is being diverted from homes and businesses around the city to the Dandora landfill and other illegal disposal sites.
Apart from the detrimental social impact of sites like Dandora and the increasing illegal dumping sites in Embakasi, Kenyan society must begin to view rubbish as a resource that can be used to create revenue.
Every person wants to live in a better condition. However, in many metropolitan areas, rubbish mountains stay scattered about and uncollected for days, becoming an eyesore and posing health risks. However, there is a business opportunity on that foul-emitting garbage that you may take advantage of. You might start a waste collection service to make money while also helping to keep the environment clean.
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