Nzambi Matee is transforming discarded plastics into bricks stronger than concrete material.

Nzambi Matee is a trained engineer that founded the Nairobi-based startup company Gjenge Makers. She created a lightweight and low-cost building material made of recycled plastic with sand to make bricks that are stronger than concrete material, fighting pollution and poverty by providing cheaper building material. The bricks are being used as paving stones in houses, schools or streets, the product is highly durable and diminishes its maintaining cost. Gjenge Makers produces about 1000 bricks per day, "recycling close to 500kg of plastic waste a day". "Plastic waste is not just a Kenya problem, but it's a worldwide problem... Here in Nairobi, we generate about 500 metric tones of plastic waste every single day and only a fraction of that is recycled... We decided what more can we do instead of just sitting in the sidelines and complaining. Essentially, companies have to pay to dispose the waste, so we solved their problem," said Nzambi Matee. Thanks to this initiative, Matee was named Young Champion of the Earth 2020 Africa winner at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). https://www.gjenge.co.ke/ https://worldarchitecture.org/article-links/egmeg/kenyan-startup-founder-nzambi-matee-recycles-plastic-to-make-bricks-that-are-stronger-than-concrete.html