High Tech Trash In Kenya To Boost Recycling

A high-tech trash bin is aiming to turn the tide for Kenya’s trash disposal problem. With an estimated 2400 tons of solid waste generated daily, the Tbin is a tech bin that is supposed to educate people on how to separate waste from source, to minimize 95 per cent of the waste that ends up in dump sites and increase recycling activities, which will be an economical advantage to the country.

In addition to banning the manufacture and use of polythene bags in 2017, the government introduced a ban on single-use plastics in “protected areas” in 2021.

But according to the sales and marketing director of plastic packaging manufacturer Packaging Industries Limited in Kenya, the demand has not been shut down and plastic bags are still illegally imported from neighbouring countries such as Uganda or Somalia.

The Tech bin is powered by solar panels and along with getting access to information about waste disposal, users can get free Wi-Fi

According to its inventor, Eddy Gitonga, This T-bin was first displayed in 2021 and since then, an average of 300 people have been using it daily.

“Before the T-bin arrived, we used to put all the waste that we were getting from the offices, from the restaurants, in one pack, and in one place. So, there was a mixture of all types of plastics, paper bags, there is the waste from the restaurants but with the T-bin we are able to separate the waste, and the T-bin it has an advantage because it has free Wi-fi”, says Pensquella Wangeci, manager Juja City Mall in Kiambu county Kenya.