How To Reduce Organic Waste In the Dandora Landfill For Economic Value

Nairobi residents dispose of 3,000 Metric Tonnes of waste on a daily basis. Organic waste makes up 60% of what is dumped into the Dandora landfill. Since it is not segregated at the disposal point, this waste is responsible for uncontrolled decomposition that eventually leads to pollution of air, water, and soil.

When this organic waste is sent to landfills or the oceans, it not only consumes space but also releases methane, adding to the greenhouse emissions. With Circular Economy being the future, it is essential to recycle materials from waste in order to close the loop.

Waste disposal should be faced out and where it is unavoidable, it must be controlled to be safe for human health and the environment. Such includes recovery of energy, production of animal feeds, and even organic fertilizer to increase food production.

For a good start, families in Nairobi County could adopt the three R’s Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to align with the future of the Circular Economy. To control the waste that goes into the bin, ‘Reduce’ should be top of mind at the purchase level. Individuals should buy adequate portions of food especially where refrigeration is not available, in turn, this reduces portions dumped.

‘Reuse’ comes second and this could be recooking leftovers, reusing the food for domestic purposes such as feeds, and this ushers in the next stage ‘Recycle’ where an individual could set up an onsite composting project to produce animal feed and organic manure. In cases where the individual has no space, the involvement of Community Based organizations comes in handy to map outstations where waste recovery and recycling could be done.

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Recycling organic waste improves the quality of air and water by reducing pollution. Assembling this kind of waste at one center and treating it avoids odor problems as well as gas emissions and leachates in landfills and incinerators.

Gathoni Kuria

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