Summary
Community-based Waste Management Model (COBWAMM) is a youth-led social enterprise inspired by the Big Ship organization. Its mission is "To provide a reliable, affordable and efficient waste management service and derive value from resource-rich waste products in order to promote healthy communities and protect natural resources."
COBWAMM has two strategies:
- Resource Collection (RECO) - This is a franchise model that simplifies solid waste management operations for the urban poor, placing special emphasis on helping women and young people;
- Material Recovery Facility (MAREFA) - This is a model for deriving value from resource-rich waste in order to improve livelihoods.
With a view to increasing the rate of waste collection, particularly in low-income and densely populated neighbourhoods, efforts are taken to sort and generate revenue from materials at source.
Classifications
Region
Scale of implementation
Ecosystem
Theme
Urban and Disaster Risk Management
Challenges
Sustainable development goals
Aichi targets
Sendai Framework
Business engagement approach
Challenges
Challenges addressed
- Lack of adequate and affordable waste collection service
- Littering of the environment
- Lack of sorting at source culture
- Poor solid waste management practices in urban centres and densely populated neighbourhoods of Mombasa County
- Weak research and development (R&D) function limiting green innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector through innovative collection, recovery and divergence of waste.
- Poor waste disposal in the County and the resulting pressure on marine ecosystems including plastics and solid waste pollution in mangrove creeks
Beneficiaries
- 1.3 million residents of Mombasa County through the provision of a cleaner healthier environment
- Youths and women guaranteed sustainable livelihoods
- County Government of Mombasa
- Waste pickers, informal and formal garbage collectors within the sector
Building blocks
Comment les blocs constitutifs interagissent-ils entre eux dans la solution?
Primary Collection
- Mapping of waste collection zones.
- GIS mapping conducted progressively to determine the waste collection zones that have the potential for the services.
Transfer / Transportation
- COBWAMM is engaging the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to ensure that waste storage areas are carefully assessed and monitored to limit any environmental harm.
Sorting and Separating Waste
- The waste generators have the advantage of reducing the cost of waste collection services by sorting materials at the source.
- COBWAMM has established buy-back stations to buy recovered material from anyone willing to sell.
Impacts
- Facilited effective residential waste collection especially in low-income and populated neighbourhoods.
- Provided innovative training on entrepreneurship, including how to start and run social enterprises.
- Developed networks of both private and public waste actors.
- Improved state of the environment, employment opportunities and higher living standards for the urban poor including youths, women and people with disabilities.
Story
It's 2009. My priority is to survive and serve my community. As a young and energetic person straight out of high school, I couldn't find a better thing to do than help save my community from drowning in illegal waste while combatting high levels of unemployment. Together with like-minded youths, I decided to give it a shot and soon found myself as a director of a community-based organization. Our story has not only inspired more youths to follow in our footsteps but has provided key partners with a mirror to reflect on what could become of people like us when given the opportunity in a conducive environment to exercise our talents, skills and knowledge in an ever-challenging world. Today I am not only a director but I have managed to give back to my community by facilitating the development of social enterprises that provide solutions to real problems in real-time.
Pictures
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