THE GLASS OF HOPE

With urbanization witnessed across the entire African countries so rapidly, the production of waste has become a problem that is affecting most regions in the African continent. According to the Kenyan government, the country produces 22,000 tons of a waste per day, of which 60% is organic. At the same time, 35% and 5% of the material is recyclable and non-recyclable respectively. Nairobi alone produces 2,475 tones. Uncollected solid waste is one of Nairobi's most obvious ecological issues. There are no assortment frameworks for waste collection in the low-centered salary zones and informal settlements. This is mainly because of the housing structure and population distribution. In high pay and middle-class regions, private waste collection companies are rising up so fast. Residents pay liberally without genuinely knowing where the waste will end up.

 

Glass saves about one-third of the energy as compared to making the products from unused materials. That is one of the leading reasons to the creation of Bottle Logistics Company. This is a company that collects glass waste and recycles them into highly refined glass cullet, glass aggregate, and clean reusable bottles in the best possible form. 

“Bottle logistics is a professional glass recovery and recycling company which started in 2018.” Louisa Gathecha the C.E.O of Bottle Logistics started off our interview. 

“I worked for leading multinational companies importing wine and spirit into the country. After nine years in the field, I became increasingly conscious of the amount of glass waste produced from the glass packaging. I started investigating and doing my research on what I could do to this glass waste”, she went ahead.

She figured out that it can be an idea that they could convert into a business. 

“I had a bit of capital from my savings, and that played a big role since that I had some cash, I could now focus more on the process rather than money”, Louisa Gathecha  says.

 

“We mostly deal with direct selling to our customers, such as the glass manufacturing companies, and our suppliers, which are the glass waste collection companies”, the CEO stated.

 However, they are very strong and present on all their social media pages such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They try to create awareness around glass waste and how consumers can segregate their waste and supply the glass waste to their company. 

“We have achieved automation because we have an automatic glass cullet processing line, which is the first of its kind in the industry. We also have direct access to the market since we work directly with the glass manufacturing companies. We also ensure reliability when it comes to glass waste collection, unlike our competitors.” she added. 

“We are currently about to start a journey of rolling out glass banks, but we are still looking out for funding right now. The concept works because we will set up a glass collection bin in a major estate within Nairobi, where consumers can conveniently drop their glass waste. Then we can collect and recycle them as opposed to it ending up in the dumpsite.” Mrs. Gathecha explained. 

“We divert the non-biodegradable glass waste from the environment, and that's creating clean cities for Kenyans. We also provide employment opportunities for both the youth and women, which is helping in the empowerment of both genders and reducing poverty.” she stated further. 

“Our major importance in the waste management department is that we recover glass waste, mostly the packaging glass waste we recycle. We also promote the cycler economy since the glass waste is used as a raw material in the production material of a new glass.” the executive told us. 

Their biggest challenge that they are experiencing is in the collection of glass waste. This is  because, in Kenya, most households do not segregate their waste, so all the glass, plastic, and organic food end up in one bin, and all that end up in the dumpsite. Therefore, recovering the glass waste in the middle of a large dumpsite in Dandora is quite a challenge.  That is why they are looking to lightweight the solution with glass bunk.

“The services we offer include glass waste collection services and the establishment of reusable glass take-back schemes, and the products include glass cullet and reusable glass bottles. We

have established networks with waste collection companies in the region, and we also get our raw material from glass waste accumulators and small scale dealers. Our collector's network consists of about 150 participants, including small scale glass accumulators and waste collection companies.” she said.

“The Kenyan recycling sector consists of mostly informal dealers and informal businesses, so waste recycling is done as a second option. We chose to start from the dumpsite, before moving to the landfills. From there, we continued to collect glass from merger waste collecting companies who collect waste and then later segregate it for people like glass who are mostly interested in glass waste only. “added the CEO. 

“We have a monthly collection capacity of up to 600 tons with 48 employees. The previous year, we secured funding from the Eco-impact accelerator program, an Italian funded acceleration program where we secured a grant amounting to 15,000 USD. They were looking for green businesses and post-revenue businesses, and local business ecosystems. Our main market scenario is consistent with the glass recycling factories who prefer to use our product, the glass cullet, instead of the raw material, which includes silica and sodium carbonate because of the energy-saving and prolonging of the furnace and machine life at their factory.” she summarized.

They have partnered with Standard Chartered Bank, and IBS at Strathmore University, who guided them through an accelerator program to scale up their business. They have also worked with Eco-Impact, who took them through an accelerator program and given them access to critical services such as accountancy and legal services and helped them register their company professionally and improve the processes.

 

 

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