Project Lead(s): Daniel Paffenholz
Issue
Globally, 2.5 billion people cannot afford proper waste collection services.
In addition, inefficient cooking with low-quality charcoal leads to indoor air pollution, from which nearly 2 million people die prematurely every year.
Solution
This project tackled the dual health challenges of uncollected urban municipal waste and indoor air pollution.
TakaTaka Solutions collects previously uncollected waste in urban, lower-income areas and processes it to high-quality charcoal.
The project focused on developing the waste collection services and bringing the charcoal to market.
TakaTaka Solutions sought to achieve proof-of-concept for two aspects of its business model: affordable waste management services in low-income areas, and validating the market for bio-charcoal made from organic waste.
Outcome
The project was able to provide high-quality waste management services to 24,000 people (6,000 households) in Nairobi’s lower-income areas of Kangemi and Kawangware.
Bio-charcoal was sold to 5,000 households.
Through TakaTaka’s removal of all waste and provision of sanitary bins on the plots, residents benefitted from having a significantly cleaner environment and saw a reduction of health hazards stemming from waste (stagnant waste water, infected roaming animals, emissions from waste-burning, etc.)
Sale of the bio-charcoal meant residents were able to reduce indoor pollution in their homes.
There are plans to apply for Phase II funding from Grand Challenges Canada, focusing on all aspects of the TakaTaka business model (waste collection, compost production and marketing, charcoal, and textile recycling).