Nine youth-led green enterprises have launched Mombasa County’s first-ever Zero Waste Festival dubbed “Zero Waste Fest” as part of commemorating the International Day of Zero Waste 2024.
Zero Waste Fest culminated a week-long digital campaign dubbed #BeatPlasticPollution aimed at addressing the plastic pollution menace in Mombasa.
Dr. Godffrey Nato, Faculty Lecturer at the Technical University of Mombasa, said, ‘’Currently, Mombasa generates approximately 170 metric tons of plastic waste daily, with almost a third of this waste leaking into the ocean annually. This has a significant impact on marine ecosystems and human health.”
“We applaud this homegrown innovator-led initiative to mitigate the waste pollution challenge in our county, and,” he added.
The green entrepreneurs are part of the Mombasa Plastics Prize (MPP) Incubator. Delivered by Challenge Works and funded by USAID, the MPP Incubator was launched in September 2023 to support young innovators and their market-tested prototypes that tackle marine plastic waste in Mombasa County’s informal settlements.
In addition to providing support to early-stage start-ups to formalize their businesses and refine their ideas into sustainable business plans, the MPP Incubator is dedicated to inspiring residents across Mombasa County to reduce plastic waste while creating green jobs.
Zero Waste Fest took place at SwahiliPot Hub and was attended by county government officials, local leaders, environment conservation champions and the local community with a series of exciting events including a plastics fashion runway, roundtable discussions, networking sessions, and exhibitions emphasizing the importance of sustainable waste management.
Through collaborative efforts with the county government, local environment conservation stakeholders, and multi-sector partnerships with organizations such as Close the Gap, Proportion Global, Swahilipot Hub, and Brand Spark PR this program has achieved significant progress in generating community goodwill and action toward tackling plastic pollution, and amplifying awareness on locally-led sustainable environment protection initiatives.
Background of the Zero Waste Day
International Day of Zero Waste underscores global efforts towards sustainable waste management, contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
During International Day of Zero Waste, which is jointly facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, civil society, the private sector, academia, youth, and other stakeholders are invited to engage in activities aimed at raising awareness of national, subnational, regional and local zero-waste initiatives and their contribution to achieving sustainable development.
Mombasa’s #BeatPlasticPollution Social Media Campaign and #ZeroWasteFest were featured and officially recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of the few associated events held in Africa to celebrate the International Day of Zero Waste.
