Let’s turn trash into cash my name is zambi mate i’m the founder of django makers limited and we convert plastic waste into building products plasticquest is not just a kenya problem but it’s a worldwide problem and here in nairobi we generate about 500 metric tons of plastic waste every single day And only a fraction of that is recycled we decided what more can we do instead of just sitting in the sidelines and complaining essentially companies have to pay to dispose the waste so we solve their problem the rest essentially comes for free this is the plastic quests we get from Batteries with this we mix with sand as the plastic is like the binder we have three machines the extruder does the mixing of plastic waste the sand at very high temperatures and then the press compresses it plastic is fibrous in nature and so therefore the brick ends up having a stronger compression strength Does that look like waste it’s almost half the weight so therefore during transportation and installation it’s faster in terms of cost implication we right now have a capacity of producing 1000 to 1500 bits a day so far we have recycled 20 metric tons and we are looking to push that value to 50 by the end of next financial year we think the young champions of the app award is a huge motivation booster for us as a team it’s been a long three year journey and so this was like someone saying i see what you’re doing and i appreciate that And with this platform we’re looking to see how we can get on both partners to scale this solution not just in kenya but all over africa just to start and in addition to that be able to impact and motivate other people and other youths to do similar things in different places So right now we are just making paving blocks but we now want to make actual building blocks as i like saying you have to be true to your why why are you doing this what is the motivation behind it for me i was just tired of being in the sidelines of seeing plastic I ideally jumped in off a cliff without even a parachute i was building it as i was falling down but isn’t that how great things are done so act for nature You Video Information
This video, titled ‘Plastic bricks in Kenya – NZAMBI MATEE – Young Champion of the Earth 2020 for Africa’, was uploaded by UN Environment Programme on 2020-12-18 06:26:42. It has garnered 1422598 views and 46165 likes. The duration of the video is 00:02:26 or 146 seconds.
Nzambi Matee (Kenya), a materials engineer and head of Gjenge Makers, which produces sustainable low-cost construction materials made of recycled plastic waste and sand.
“We must rethink how we manufacture industrial products and deal with them at the end of their useful life,” said Soraya Smaoun, who specializes in industrial production techniques with UNEP. “Nzambi Matee’s innovation in the construction sector highlights the economic and environmental opportunities when we move from a linear economy, where products, once used, are discarded, to a circular one, where products and materials continue in the system for as long as possible.”
The Young Champions of the Earth prize is the United Nations Environment Programme’s leading initiative to engage youth in tackling the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Seven winners were announced in December 2020. The winners are given funding and mentorship to support their environmental initiative. Since its inception in 2017, 28 environmental trailblazers have been recognised from every corner of the globe.
Together, they Act #FORNATURE.
For more information: https://www.unenvironment.org/youngchampions/
Produced by Florian Fussstetter and All of Us Films