We meet a woman in Kenya pioneering trash collection in traditional ecofriendly carts — all via a smartphone app. Tayba Hatimy was so passionate about promoting a circular economy that she quit her job as a dentist to set up a social enterprise.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 An app for trash.
00:07 Entrepreneur Teba Hatini wants to use it
00:10 to reduce plastic pollution in Mombasa.
00:13 Anyone can register to have their plastic waste collected
00:16 from home.
00:19 You are able to book waste management services on the go,
00:21 on the mobile application, using authorized waste managers.
00:26 Then you are able to trade or donate your plastics
00:29 for cash incentives.
00:31 Kenya's coastal city is drowning in plastic garbage.
00:35 It's trashing up the streets and polluting the ocean.
00:39 A year and a half ago, Teba Hatini
00:41 started her own business because the city wasn't providing
00:45 adequate sanitation services.
00:47 One of the major challenges in Mombasa County
00:49 is the illegal dumping of mixed plastic waste in open spaces.
00:53 She's providing incentives to counter this
00:56 by paying participants.
00:58 Depending on the type of plastic,
01:00 about one euro for 10 kilos.
01:02 Her business now has 10 full-time employees.
01:06 First, they inspect the plastic to make sure
01:08 it's been properly cleaned and sorted by the app's users.
01:11 Then they weigh it.
01:13 Finally, they shred it with an eco-friendly shredder
01:16 that runs solely on muscle power.
01:18 The startup sells most of its collected plastic
01:21 to businesses who further process it.
01:24 The shreds can be melted and molded into plastic boards,
01:27 like those they use in their own hand carts.
01:30 The startup has already collected
01:32 more than 11,000 kilos of plastic.
01:35 - During our pilot phase, we've been able to onboard
01:38 more than 1,608 users onto the mobile app.
01:43 In Old Town, in collaboration with Mombasa County
01:46 Department of Environment and Solid Waste Management,
01:48 we've been able to collect waste from about 6,000 households.
01:52 One and a half years later today,
01:54 seeing how successful this project has been,
01:57 It fills me with so much joy and pride.