Nairobi,19th June 2024
Nairobi County Chief Officer for Environment Mr. Hibrahim Otieno has welcomed a project by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), promoting circular model of environmentally sound waste management in urban areas.
The project named ‘Promoting Circular Model of Environmentally Sound Waste Management in Urban area’ is supported by JICA and implemented jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, NEMA and the County Governments of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kiambu with a purpose to establish a material recovery system in urban areas of Kenya.
Speaking at the first joint coordination Committee for the project, Mr. Otieno said the project comes at a time when the County had already identified waste reduction through implementation of a circular economy model using interventions such as construction of material recovery facilities and awareness creation as per the Nairobi City Sustainable Waste Action Plan.
” Bringing the project on board at this particular time will really help the County do some functions which we could not do all by ourselves because of limitations of resources.” He stated.
The Chief Officer pointed out that Nairobi County through working with the Ministry of Environment, NEMA and other stakeholders, developed the first sustainable Waste Action Plan which birthed Sustainable Solid Waste Management Act 2022. He added that, one of the key dimensions of the Action Plan was to develop material recovery facility in the City County.
Mr. Otieno expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Environment’s support for getting stakeholders to work with the Counties in the issue of solid waste management which he termed as really a big issue within the City of Nairobi which is the largest producer of waste in the country, currently producing 3200 tons of solid waste per day.
” Such strategies that will help reduce waste at the source, becomes critical for us to be able to deal with the waste.” He said.
The Permanent Secretary, State Department for Environment and Climate Change, Eng. Festus Ng’eno said that the project represents a significant milestone in the collective efforts to address the pressing challenges of waste management in Kenya, with estimates showing that the country generates between 3000- 4000 tons of waste per day, hence the need for innovative solutions.
” The project has come at the right time when the government of Kenya through the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry has formulated a very comprehensive legal framework for the sector including the National Sustainable Waste Management Policy of 2021,the Sustainable Waste Management Act 2022 and Draft Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulation 2023.” Said the PS.
Eng. Ng’eno noted that the legal framework was necessitated by challenges that Kenya faced in waste management largely because of the linear model of ‘take- make -use -dispose’ that has informed the sector for a long time, meaning the waste is mixed and disposed in illegal dumpsites.
“I am delighted to note that the project whose purpose is to establish a material recovery system in urban areas of Kenya is geared towards addressing challenges in waste management.” Said Eng. Ng’eno.
The 5 year (2024- 2029) project will ensure among other things; Promotion of material recovery, promotion of public awareness on circular economy in sustainable Waste management, fulfilment of EPR requirements by producers is facilitated, efficiency in waste collection and transportation is promoted and landfill improvement and material recovery from the landfill is promoted.
The PS urged the Counties and other stakeholders involved to cooperate by playing their roles to ensure by the end of 5 years, the country will witness a positive change in the way solid waste is managed, including behavior and attitude change in the way people view waste.
Mr. Kentaro Hotta, Chief Advisor, Waste Management Expert -JICA expressed JICA’s appreciation for the cordial relationship and cooperation between Nairobi City County and JICA over the years.
The meeting was attended by Nairobi County Director Environment, Deputy Directors; Environment Monitoring Compliance and Enforcement and Climate Change and Air Quality Monitoring, Assistant Directors Environment, Monitoring Compliance and Enforcement, Chief Officer Environment Mombasa County, CECM Environment, Kiambu County, Director General NEMA, and a representative from the Embassy of Japan among others.
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