A non-profit organisation has embarked on co-creating solutions for solid waste collection and management in Kisumu County.
Cordaid business development manager Susanne Roelofsen said they are working with different actors in the environment sector to address the challenging solid waste management.
Roelofsen said they managed to organise TakaTaka Challenge where entrepreneurs were encouraged to come up with new ideas on how to tackle the menace.
She said eight entrepreneurs, mostly from Kisumu, were selected as the finalists for their waste-to-profit ideas.
“Most of the finalists are from Kisumu and this will assist the county deal with solid waste,” she said.
Speaking on Wednesday in Kisumu at the Kenya National Library Services compound where the finalists showcased their ideas, Roelofsen said the most promising sustainable solutions are on waste reduction and recycling.
Most of the finalists presented new ideas on recycling works pointing out how it reduces the monetary and environmental costs of landfilling.
Turning waste plastic into building hardware, Dr Aghan Oscar who was a finalist explained how it substitutes used materials for virgin materials reducing the demand for natural resources.
Ben Obera, whose idea is to use solid waste to produce bio-methane and fertiliser, urged the county government of Kisumu to use local initiatives to address the solid waste menace in the city.
Obera said homegrown ideas are the best solutions to manage the waste menace instead of relying on donor funding.
“It is high time our county government stop relying of funding from donor agencies to be able to deal with waste when we have ideas here on how to collect and recycle for further use,” he said.