Innovation: Kenyan Woman Lulu Ahmed Builds a Garbage ATM

A Kenyan woman has innovated a garbage ATM in what could help ease waste management challenges in Kenya and especially in Nairobi.

Lulu Ahmed, the founder of Next Level Escalating Enterprise says she plans to install about 40 of the high-tech bins in Nairobi CBD.

In her plan, garbage will be collected from residents by street children at no fee and deposited in the machines. The refrigerator-shaped machine contains two bowls on both ends, one receiving organic waste while residents deposit recyclable waste like plastics in the other.

The machine is able to identify the kind of waste deposited and will reject waste put on the wrong bowl. It has a pointer that directs one to put the waste to the right bowl.

When a client deposits waste in the machine, it weighs, classifies and issues a prize voucher. The machine also has a screen where corporates can advertise products and services as a means of generating income for the project's sustainability.

"At least this can provide entertainment to the street families or even news," Lulu told the Star.

Data from the National Environmental Complaints Committee shows Nairobi generates 2,475 tonnes of waste per day but 270 tonnes are not collected.

Lulu believes her innovation will create jobs for the street families and improve waste management. She says she developed the concept but the machine was built in Turkey after capacity constraints at the University of Nairobi.

"I went to China, sold my concept but they asked me to wait for at least six months. It is until I consulted further that I got a company that understood my invention at Izmir in Turkey and the engineers agreed to work on my idea," she said.

"We are identifying supermarkets where the vouchers can be redeemed in kind. The waste will be recycled and sold to make the programme sustainable."

National Environment Management Authority NEMA  has welcomed the technology. "We welcome its use as long as the actual operation and installation meet legal requirements, especially those set by Kenya Bureau of standard (KEBS) and NEMA,"said NEMA director general Geoffrey Wahungu.