Nakuru City generates an estimated 6,000 tons of waste daily.

However, about 4,000 tons are collected, while more than 2,000 tons remain uncollected.

Eighty-five percent of waste generated in urban centres in Nakuru originates from homes.

While there is no clear depiction of the breakdown of specific waste, the numbers that continue rising with the urban centre’s expansion have given Peter Kinyua a purpose.

As the Founder of Eco-Glass Innovations, he started recycling glass waste, making interlocking building blocks, cabros, tiles, marble countertops, and ventilation.

Some of the bricks made from recycled glass on November 6, 2024.

Photo credit: LELETI JASSOR/MTAA WANGU

This he does by mixing glass cullet (crushed glass) with cement and other bonding agents to produce the final products.

“We are all recycling glass to crucial materials, putting a new meaning and life into construction materials and, at the same time, fighting to rid the environment of the same products that do not decompose,” says the 38-year-old.

While glass is a readily available material, Kinyua notes that the county is barely the main producer but an avid consumer, which is now spilling into a country-wide disaster.

“We are now partnering with the county government to help them permanently deal with glass waste and recover it from the environment. We are also in conversation with Bungoma county, who do not have building stones due to a lack of quarries for mining stone and are dependent on bricks made from soil to help them reduce their soil mining,” says the innovator.

He admits that while glass is heavy, the end products are water-repellent and durable.

Peter Kinyua displays a table whose top is made from recycled glass.

Photo credit: LELETI JASSOR/MTAA WANGU

Additionally, Kinyua says recycled glass produces more bricks than sand.

“We use six wheelbarrows of cullet against one bag of cement compared to normal construction where one bag of cement is used with three wheelbarrows of sand.”

Due to this innovation, the professional sound engineer has won several awards (trophies and monetary), including the county and presidential innovation challenge and award in recognition of his efforts to conserve the environment.

He believes working with glass waste is something that is going to change the building industry so much that he has 12 employees on a contractual basis.

Additionally, he has so far invested Sh. 450,000 into research and product production, and has been creative enough to create brick moulds and the crushing machine, all on his own, making improvements to perfection.

“The machine I use crushes about seven tons of glass in 4-5 days. I am now working on creating a big and automated machine that will be able to crush 10,000 metric tons of glass per week to consume more than what people are bringing into the industry,” Kinyua says hopefully.

While he has made headway in his innovation, he notes that the journey has not been without challenges, especially in changing consumers’ behaviour.

“People are still not yet understood and are not convinced that glass is valuable beyond what they know it to be. As we progress, this is a mountain I am willing to die on- to educate the public of the importance of caring for our environment, especially through glass recycling,” Kinyua says adamantly.

He adds that he has been able to prove that recycled glass is safe, a concern many have raised, noting that they can be harmed.

To add to the challenges, Kinyua says, minus inadequate funding to propel the project further, he needs vehicles to ferry the materials from different areas and a big and conducive working space away from his home.

The innovator is futuristic and hopes, in collaboration with other stakeholders, they will work to put in place mechanisms for recovering glass waste directly from consumers as the company works on converting the dumpsite into a recycling centre.

This, he says, will not only make the city cleaner but also create job opportunities for youth in Nakuru.

“Consumers need to understand that glass can give them a home when converted into long-lasting building material. Hence, keep glass where it can be accessed to be recycled and do not throw it in a latrine or bury it because they do not decompose,” Kinyua concludes.

Peter Kinyua: Man using recycled glass to make building material

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Leleti Jassor