From trash to treasure
The Kenyan recycling entrepreneur transforming waste into jobs
Samuel Nyingi Matimu understands the plastic pollution crisis facing Kenya better than most.
“Growing up in Nakuru, I saw the way plastic bottles, buckets and bags littered the streets, dumped by residents, shops and hotels,” he says. “It frustrated me so much, but it also gave me an idea to clean the city up. I also knew there could be money made out of the waste.”
Samuel did some research and found a number of plastic manufacturers in Nakuru. He contacted them to see if they were willing to purchase plastic waste. His timing was perfect. There was high demand for plastic and because there were so few recyclers in the town, the manufacturers were keen to buy from him. He began going around town with a small hand-held cart, picking up plastic and then taking it to sell.
“People mocked me and said I was a garbage collector, as if I was the lowest of the low,” he says. “It didn’t concern me because I was proud to be doing that job, helping to improve the city by recycling litter and waste. I saw too that I could develop something much bigger.”
When Samuel started gathering plastic in 2010, Nakuru was generating tons of waste every day. The local authorities struggled to provide adequate disposal services of the waste generated. Very little was being recycled, re-used or transformed. Samuel says he wanted there to be an environmental and economic benefit to what he was doing.
“I could see the potential, though with one hand cart, I was limited in what I could manage but I had a strong faith. I put my trust in God that he would see my business prosper. I called the company Mob Enterprises. Mob means ‘plenty’ in my native language, Kikuyu.”
Samuel didn’t have to wait long before his first big break came.
“A man I met on the street, who saw I was hard-working, asked me what the main challenges were in my business. I said ‘transport.’ He offered to sell me a truck. I took him up and I paid him back slowly. When that truck was purchased, he sold me another one. That is how I came to have ten trucks and a growing work-force.”
The company began gathering different recyclable waste, including household, greenhouse and construction waste. They recently started hazardous waste disposal. Samuel developed the premises of Mob Enterprises and realised that the company could be doing its own recycling but needed the right equipment and a different approach to doing business.
In 2018, he reached out to Argidius partner, Balloon Ventures Ltd. Balloon invests in small and medium enterprises in Kenya and Uganda. They partner with investees to introduce systems, technology and behaviours that build good management practices and good jobs. The partnership usually lasts between three and six months.
“We could see straight away that Samuel’s company needed structure,” says Virginia Wairimu, team leader at Balloon Ventures. “He was running everything himself and this was stretching him too much. He also fit our criteria in terms of the type of person we work with. He had no management skills, but that didn’t matter to us as he clearly had vision. He was also willing to learn. He had a plan but needed help to accomplish it.”
Under Balloon’s direction, Samuel hired an accountant and administrator to handle the financial side of the business and be responsible for stock-taking. He then promoted one of his dedicated drivers to oversee transport for the company, giving him a full-time contract. This man thrived with the new responsibility. Two of the women sorting plastic were promoted to become ground managers and similarly thrived.
“Samuel was very open to new methods of learning. When he saw how his staff worked better when they had the security of a work contract, he was delighted,” says Virginia.
With the business loan received from Balloon Ventures, Samuel was able to purchase a plastic crushing machine which was able to recycle far higher quantities of waste. From 2019 to 2022, Mob’s monthly income doubled following their partnership with Balloon Enterprises. They now make 7.2 million Kenyan shillings per month compared to 3.3 million. The staff workforce has grown from seven to 56 with 23 full-time staff. The company’s main customers are other small businesses as well as corporate organisations, including the area’s many flower farms.
“Balloon Enterprises have helped me in so many ways,” says Samuel. “Since I began more efficient methods of working, including record keeping, we’ve attracted far more clients. The support has changed me.”
Mob Enterprises is now the leading business in his sector and has expanded beyond the region. The company has secured licenses to gather waste from as far afield as Voi on Kenya’s coast. Samuel is developing different products with the recycled plastic he is producing.
Samuel has also been able to expand the corporate responsibility of the business. Always a passionate champion of the outdoors, he has formed an association with members of his staff which for the past two years has carried out cleaning drives and tree planting in different parts of Nakuru and the wider region.
“It’s good to be contributing to the cleaner environment we’re now living in,” says Samuel. “I feel so happy and blessed to be creating jobs for our people.”
“Samuel was very open to new methods of learning. When he saw how his staff worked better when they had the security of a work contract, he was delighted.”
