KENYA – Nairobi-based start-up, Noma Green Plastics Limited is utilizing plastic waste as a substitute for wood to make in-demand furniture and other items.

Noma Green collects nearly 30 tonnes of plastics every month from various dumps and sifts and heats them via molds using thermo-regulated machinery.

The subsequent product is then creatively transformed into poles, tiles, table beams, and other pieces of outdoor furniture.

Mugo Macharia, Founder of Noma Green Plastic limited, stated that the venture helps locals clean up the environment by tackling landfills that have become an environmental hazard in parts of Nairobi.

In an interview with Africa News, Mugo opined that converting plastics into furniture was economically viable and also saved carpenters from cutting trees for timber.

“We believe that we contribute to the action on climate change in two ways. One is that we clean up the environment. We take the waste plastic from landfills, which aggravate global warming,” he stated.

“Our products are very great substitutes for wood. Just look at it this way, one wooden pole is one of our plastic poles. So, the more we use the plastic poles, the more trees we have in our environment and the more we can save our environment from deforestation.”

Mugo founded the business to both clean up the extra plastic thrown into the environment and to make creative benches and tables.

“The beauty of plastic is that it’s malleable. We can turn it into so many different forms like the outdoor bench and tables and we can partner with anyone who has any form of plastic waste,” he added.

Additionally, the business produces 100 fence poles per day. The poles are estimated to cost Ksh 900 on average and can last for 40 years.

Since the major dumpsite in Dandora holds nearly 1.8 million tonnes of solid waste against a capacity of 500,000 tonnes with a daily load of 100 trucks from various parts of the city, the treatment of waste in Nairobi has been a contentious problem for decades.

The startup not only reduces plastic waste in Kenya but also contributes to the global effort to mitigate plastic pollution.

According to the UN Environment Programme, 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are generated each year.

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