KEPSA in partnership with the Nyayo Estate Residents Association (NERA), Alliance of Nairobi Metro Residents Associations (ANMRA) and the Royal Danish Embassy – Environment Strategic Sector Co-operation on 18^th April 2023, organized benchmarking and learning circular economy in practice visit to Nyayo Embakasi Estate which is the first-ever Circular Economy Zone in Nairobi.

Nyayo Estate adopted the initiative of segregating waste at source in May 2020 in line with Circular Economy Tenets thus trailing the blaze of putting circularity into action in Kenya more so at citizen level under the Partnership for New Plastics Economy in Kenya (NPE-K).  The Estate was awarded the Circular Economy Zone Declaration by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in August 2021.

The New Plastics Economy Partnership (NPE-K) was formed through the support of the Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals (P4G) platform as a start-up partnership in Kenya in October 2018, to pilot a business model for recycling PET bottles waste into value-added products as well as to inform policy recommendations for circular economy in Kenya. The purpose of the partnership was to spur a formal circular model for recycling PET bottles by initiating a closed loop for post-consumer PET through extended producer responsibility schemes, domestic recycling and policy recommendations. The visit provided insights into the progress of implementing a circular economy for addressing Kenya's waste management challenges, showcased the transformative power of extended individual responsibility, partnerships and collaborations in a circular economy.

Mr Teddy Obiero the immediate past Chairman of Nyayo Embakasi Residents Association (NERA) and the Chairman of the Alliance of Nairobi Metro Residents Association (ANMRA) in his remarks said that Nyayo Estate is the second largest Estate in Africa with about 5,000 households, schools and commercial centres; home to over 30,000 residents.  The Estate through its new leadership in 2020, made a commitment to continue championing better livability standards for the Nyayo Estate residents and surrounding communities to translate this vision into tangible actions. Since then, the residents recycle over 80% of their waste including plastic and organic waste, have created decent job opportunities for youth groups of UNITASSIA, Alliance for Green Environment and FEDHA, and generated income for the association through the sale of recycled materials.

He also emphasized on the need to bequeath the circularity mindset to the younger generation who he noted are the most effective ambassadors in implementing a circular economy action and called for innovative ways to incentivize the service providers in the waste value chain. Since adoption of the   Estate has segregated a total of 7 tons of plastics at source which is collected directly by the recycler’s (T3) one a month. He added that there are opportunities to increase material collection by retrofitting existing infrastructure and utilizing designs already in place by NERA and that the Nyayo Estate is a circular economy anchor to for other estates and neighborhood in Nairobi that is possible to successfully segregate waste at source. We are happy to confirm that so far AMRA has reached out to the wider Embakasi ward with Tassia, Fedha, Embakasi Village and Baraka estates further increasing the monthly collection of segregated plastics from 300kg to over 1,000 kg of plastics collected between January 2023 to date. 

ANMRA is partnering with the Nairobi City County Department of Environment in formulating the best strategy and concept for introducing a circular economy in informal settlements. Using the already established model, where women groups and youth are organized in Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that are tasked with the collection and segregation of materials. This will ensure the concept of circular economy is replicated down to the informal settlements.

The KEPSA Devolution and Planning Sector Board Vice Chair, Ms Wambui Mbarire commended the Estate commitment. She said, “Nyayo Estate as a pilot Estate of circular economy has demonstrated the role of extended individual responsibility for citizens and household level and the significance of a commitment of estate leadership in segregating plastic bottles at the source. She further advocated for personal responsibility in circular economy stating that, “However great the policies and laws are, without the goodwill of the consumers, circular economy is but a dream”.

There is a need to attach value to materials in order to incentive consumers to return them to designated points. She also appreciated the partnership between Kenya and Denmark especially the Capacity Building Programs in Green and Circular Economy and called upon the DANIDA alumni who have been trained in Denmark to be proactive to localize the ideas to suit the Kenyan context.

Ms Faith Ngige,   KEPSA’s  Partnership for New Plastics Economy  Project Coordinator, while sharing the project background and significance of collaboration, mentioned partners who closed the circular loop at the Estate through KEPSA coordination including the Danish Embassy, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, PETCO Kenya, BESIC Group, Retail Trade Association of Kenya( RETRAK, Discover Brands, Nairobi City County, PETCO Kenya,  Thrash Tread Textile (T3), Coca Cola Beverages Africa, Kenya Climate Innovation Centre(KCIC), Centre for Clean Air Policy( CCAP), Danish Embassy, Ministry of Environment and Forestry and KEPSA.  She noted that the initiative has since expanded to the larger Nairobi Metropolitan Estate- ANMRA. NPEK through KEPSA also supported the government of Kenya to develop a legal framework for sustainable waste management and extended producer responsibility. She also called upon the participants to transform policy into action by taking responsibility for source segregation, and innovation for creating market demand for secondary materials for an increased rate of recycling in the country.

The Danish Embassy represented by the Program Manager, Strategic Sector Co-operation Mr Martin Scheneeloth and Danish Environmental Protection Agency – EPR Specialist Ms Janne Winther appreciated the progress Kenya is making towards a circular economy and lauded the efforts of the Nyayo Estate in having long-term visions and also seeking to scale up the circular economy and climate change programs to the wider Embakasi Community terming it as an excellent model that can be emulated in Nairobi City.