Students of Dandora Secondary School have taken the initiative of planting bamboo trees to tackle the severe air pollution emitted by the Dandora landfill, Kenya’s biggest dumpsite.
The school, located in Embakasi North Constituency, Nairobi County, borders the dumpsite on one side, being only 900 meters away, thus being significantly affected by the gases arising from the Dandora Dumpsite.
The project was launched in 2023 by the school principal, Eutychus Maina, after he noted the number of respiratory illnesses among students and teachers.
“The dumpsite produces gas in the morning and also in the afternoon,” Allan Sila, a student at Dandora Secondary School, said in an interview with France 24, adding that some of the challenges they grapple with include the smell and smoke that emanate from the dumpsite.
He further stated that the burning of elements at the dumpsite leads to the production of smoke, which in turn affects their respiratory systems, causing some students to suffer from asthma.
The school, which also receives external donations for the cause, aims to ensure that the 900-meter area separating the school and the dumpsite is covered by bamboo trees. Currently, more than 4,000 trees of various species have been planted.
Aderiana Mbandi, an Africa Regional Air Quality Expert, stated that planting bamboo trees ensures that there is a barrier provided, “in terms of the air that is coming through, especially when you look at the fine particles.”
Dandora dumpsite covers approximately 30 acres, and about 850 tonnes of solid waste generated by residents of Nairobi (with a population of more than 6 million people) end up there daily.
The Dandora dumpsite was officially opened in 1975 with World Bank funds, and 26 years later, in 2001, it was considered full to the brim. However, dumping continues at the landfill.
In 2016, a German firm contracted by City Hall to set up a Ksh28 billion power plant at the Dandora dumpsite withdrew because the county lacked a title deed for the land, according to a report by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
However, on Thursday, May 30, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed that his administration had struck a Ksh50 billion Public-Private Partnership (PPP) deal with a Chinese firm for the construction of Kenya's first waste-to-energy Plant in Dandora.
“Met with China National Electric Engineering Co. President Wu Guisheng and our teams earlier today at City Hall. We shortly commence the construction of Kenya's first Waste to Energy Plant in Dandora, a 50 Billion PPP awarded to CNEEC,” Sakaja communicated via his official channels.
The plant is expected to produce 45 Mega Watts of electricity from solid waste which is considered a game changer and arguably the most sustainable way to handle the waste that keeps piling up at the Dandora dumpsite.
Besides posing serious health risks to residents of Dandora and its environs, many residents also depend on the dumpsite for survival, earning their daily bread by working at the site.
According to a report from the National Environmental Complaints Committee (NECC), Kenya produces 22,000 tonnes of waste daily, with Nairobi County contributing 2,400 tonnes.
The waste composition includes 60 to 70 per cent organic, 20 per cent plastic, 10 per cent paper, 2 per cent metal, and 1 per cent medical waste.
