A Kenyan woman has received the United Nations Environment Programme’s The Young Champions of the Earth prize for her innovative start-up company, which produces bricks from plastic waste.
Nzambi Matee is the founder of Gjenge Makers Ltd, that uses a prototype machine to turn discarded plastic into affordable paving stones – up to 1500 a day – that are claimed to be even stronger than concrete!
Speaking to Reuters, Matee said:
“Our product is almost five to seven times stronger than concrete. There is that waste they cannot process anymore, they cannot recycle. That is what we get.”
The company accepts packaging that other factories cannot recycle or reuse for free, but still purchases plastic from recyclers. They have recycled up to 20 tons of plastic waste to date!
Innovation is a growing solution in the fight for our planet. You can read more about innovation as a solution here!
