https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ocean-pollution-kenya-plastic-bricks-eye-on-earth/
“I get excited when I see waste,” the materials scientist told Patta, “because I know that’s life for us.”
The fact that plastic does not sink is precisely what intrigued Matee.
“It took us about nine months just to make one brick.”
One brick wasn’t enough, but that was no problem for a woman who likes to get her hands dirty. Next, she built a machine to mass produce the plastic bricks. First the waste is sorted to remove rubble and metal, and then the plastic is baked — just like “making cookies,” joked Matee — before the boiling mixture is molded into building blocks. Her setup can churn out as many as 2,000 per day, and they’re 35% cheaper than standard bricks, and up to seven-times stronger.
Kenya’s fight against plastic pollution isn’t just a homegrown issue. It’s complicated by the fact that, two years ago, the U.S. exported more than one billion pounds of plastic waste to 96 nations, including Kenya. Now Washington wants to make the shipment of more plastic waste a condition of a proposed trade deal.
Greenpeace activist Amos Wemanya believes Kenya can barely manage its own waste, let alone recycle America’s.
Matee agrees that countries should keep their waste in their own backyards, and she intends to make good on what she calls her triple threat:
“The more we recycle the plastic, the more we produce affordable housing… the more we created more employment for the youth,” she said.
Like many young Kenyans, Matee is passionate about saving the environment, but it’s not just words. She’s hoping that through her actions, the mountain in Dandora will become a mere hill.
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