The Dandora Landfill: A Glimpse into Nairobi’s Waste Management

Dandora Landfill A Source of Employment

One notable aspect of the Dandora landfill is its role as a major employment hub for local residents. Many waste pickers, often coming from further away towns, find their first job opportunity here. The landfill ‑off the record- employs approximately 5,000 waste pickers, who work tirelessly sorting through the massive amounts of waste. For many, this job is a guaranteed source of income, crucial for putting food on the table amidst widespread unemployment in the city. On August 6^th, COSH! founder Niki and her family joins Charles and Joyce from the Nairobi Recycles Waste Association, Janet Chemitei a Kenyan Activist and Soleil from Nasty New Yorkers while handing out sanitary pads and gumboots to waste pickers.

The Waste Sorting Economics and the Environmental and Health Challenges

Upon arrival at the landfill, the unsorted waste is picked through by women who sort various materials such as plastics, metals, and glass. Despite the laborious and often hazardous conditions, this sorting process is vital. It highlights a stark contrast to waste management practices in Europe, where waste is typically sorted at the household level before collection.

The economic system within the landfill is intricate. A weight system and mechanism are used to measure the sorted waste, with women generally earning 20 Kenyan shillings (approximately 0.14 euros) per kilo of plastic. This sorted waste is then transported to lower market levels and sold to recyclers. This reverse system of waste management, compared to countries like Belgium or the Netherlands, illustrates the unique challenges and adaptations in Nairobi.

The After Life of Clothing in Africa’s dump sites

Despite the extensive sorting efforts, not all waste is picked out, resulting in towering mountains of refuse. Clothing, in particular, often remains unsorted due to its condition, creating additional environmental challenges. Fast fashion and technical clothing are often made of polyester and might contain hazardous substances including PFAS. The health risks for waste pickers are significant, with many suffering from respiratory problems, skin diseases, and other ailments due to prolonged exposure to hazardous waste.

While sorting through the textile waste, only 1 in 100 items are quality branded clothing, everything else is Fast Fashion and ​‘fake brands’, but 7 out of 100 items are H&M. This is not surprising as lesser quality clothing arrives to the shores of the Global South, many 2^nd hand clothing traders complain on only receiving bad quality nowadays and the ​‘cream’ better quality second hand staying in Europe nowadays.

A Cleaner Nairobi

The Dandora landfill was initially designed to handle the waste needs of a smaller population, it now receives more than 2,000 metric tons of waste daily. The landfill contains a mix of household, industrial, and medical waste, with a lack of effective waste segregation, in fact the sorting for recycling is done on the landfill. One positive development is the prohibition of single-use plastics, such as shopping bags and cups, in Nairobi. This policy has contributed to cleaner streets and a reduction in plastic waste. Many products are now sold in glass jars, which, while beneficial, still contribute to the overall waste problem. This however also makes it very tangible that all plastic forks and spoons arriving at the dumpsite are in fact coming from airline waste. While handing out sanitary pads to the women the stories of the locals flooded in:

Stories from the Landfill

Esther’s Journey to Dandora

Esther’s story is a poignant example of the challenges faced by many in Nairobi facing a change in life without a fallback network. Once a shop owner, she and her partner managed to sustain their household with their combined incomes. However, when her partner married another woman and ceased supporting her, Esther found herself a single parent unable to make ends meet with her shop alone. Seeking a steady income, she turned to the Dandora landfill. Renting a place nearby, she could at least ensure her children attended school. ​“As a shop owner, some days you sell, some days you don’t. Here, I can always earn something,” Esther shared.

Kenneth’s Plea for More Support

Kenneth’s interaction highlighted another facet of life on the landfill. Observing volunteers distributing sanitary pads, Kenneth approached us with a candid request. ​“It’s great that the women feel supported, but there’s another need here,” he said. He suggested distributing condoms to help address issues arising from the relationships that often form among new arrivals at the landfill. ​“At least there can be some form of love and relationship here without additional problems,” he confided.

Ndoto Zetu Kenya Community Organisation: A Beacon of Hope

As the sky turned dark and the sun set, we returned to the neighbouring slum where many landfill workers live. We visited the Ndoto Zetu Community Organisation, which currently houses children of those working in the area, including at the landfill. Thanks to donations and minimal government support, the association provides free meals, snacks, education, and after-school care to about 60 children. In four small classrooms of only 12 square meters each, 15 to 20 children take classes. When asked what they were learning, the children responded in unison, ​“Leadership course,” which left me mesmerised. The power and hope carried forward by these children give me hope. They don’t shy away but stand up proudly making their voices heard. It’s such a shame the funding might end at the end of the year. 

Secondarily the school mentor Charles from Growth4Change_​V4C and the Nairobi Recyclable Waste Association experimented with self-made vertical farming amidst a concrete setting offering solutions to serve healthy greens to the children but meanwhile teaching them how to farm in an urban landscape in a healthy and safe way. Offering the students tools for them to make an impact in the local communities they might eventually move to. 

While on the dumpsite Soleil, Joyce and Charles approached as many of the younger people as possible in order to open-up the conversation around offering them better shoes. Hoping this might lead to the younger ones to potentially be able to join the community Association and classes either as a replacement to work or to join after the sunset.

There are so many sides to this story that left me speechless the day itself but my entrepreneur brain spends all night looking for solutions on how I can help. 

A Call for Impact Leaders

I would like to call on impact leaders to volunteer for an online leadership course for children aged 12 to 16. These courses can help equip the children with the skills to make a difference in their world. I am willing to contribute my time and effort to this cause.

A Call to Action

The fast fashion industry is changing, but it still significantly contributes to landfill waste. Quality garments are rarely shipped to Africa anymore, leaving only fast fashion, which deteriorates quickly. We can all take action to help waste pickers and prevent landfill waste by:

• Making wise purchasing decisions and choosing quality over quantity.

• Donating good quality clothing.

• Supporting fundraising efforts to provide necessary supplies.

Your support can make a tangible difference:

1. Donate the equivalent to a purchase a package of condoms.

2. Donate the equivalent to a purchase a package or box of sanitary pads.

3. Donate the equivalent to a purchase to buying gumboots for landfill workers. 

4. Sponsor a pupil at the Ndoto Zetu Association to offer these children better prospects.

By making even a small donation, you can help improve the lives of waste pickers and their families, ensuring a brighter future for the children of Dandora. We are aiming to start a big fundraising campaign and are looking for retailers looking to support the campaign with their Black Friday => Green Friday and Circular Monday action. Please mail [email protected] if you wish to join the fundraising campaign. Any money which in meanwhile is sent via Paypal to COSH! will be entirely donated to the cause as well.