Research estimates the move could increase GDP by about 0.5%, create about 46,000 additional jobs Karin Boomsma, Project Director, Sustainable Inclusive Business Kenya/ Kenya Plastics Pact/ HANDOUT KENYA’s private sector wants the country to increase recycling of products and materials to cut on waste, minimise businesses expenses and create new job opportunities.
This, as Kenya pushes towards a circular economy which ensures materials are kept in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, and recycling, as opposed to the old system of “make, use and dispose.” The move will create jobs, strengthen local businesses, reduce reliance on imports and make the economy more resilient to global supply shocks, experts at this year’s annual circular economy conference, in Nairobi, said.
The conference is organised under the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa)’s Sustainable Inclusive Business Kenya and the Kenya Plastics Pact, with this year’s forum bringing together businesses, innovators, policymakers, researchers and communities to explore practical circular solutions.
Karin Boomsma, project director at sustainable inclusive business Kenya, said circularity should be viewed beyond environmental protection and positioned as an economic resilience strategy. “Circularity gives us an opportunity to ask a different question. What can we produce locally?
What can we repair locally? What can we reuse locally? What materials do we already have around us?” she said. A circular economy seeks to keep products and materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, repurposing and recycling, while reducing the use of virgin raw materials and waste.
According to National Environment Management Authority, the model goes beyond recycling by redesigning products and business models to preserve value and minimise waste throughout their life cycles. Proponents say the model could unlock substantial economic value.
Modelling cited in research on Kenya’s circular transition estimates that the shift could increase GDP by about 0.5 per cent and create about 46,000 additional jobs, compared with a business-as-usual scenario.