IMPACT STORIES

From Trash to Treasure

The Kenyan recycling entrepreneur transforming waste into jobs

Samuel Nyingi Matimu understands the plastic pollution crisis facing Kenya better than most.

“Growing up in Nakuru, I saw the way plastic bottles, buckets and bags littered the streets, dumped by residents, shops and hotels,” he says. “It frustrated me so much, but it also gave me an idea to clean the city up. I also knew there could be money made out of the waste.”

Samuel did some research and found a number of plastic manufacturers in Nakuru. He contacted them to see if they were willing to purchase plastic waste. His timing was perfect. There was high demand for plastic and because there were so few recyclers in the town, the manufacturers were keen to buy from him. He began going around town with a small hand-held cart, picking up plastic and then taking it to sell.

“People mocked me and said I was a garbage collector, as if I was the lowest of the low,” he says. “It didn’t concern me because I was proud to be doing that job, helping to improve the city by recycling litter and waste. I saw too that I could develop something much bigger.”