1. A waste characterization study was conducted in Mombasa, Kenya to quantify waste production, composition, and management. Mombasa generates an average of 875 tonnes of waste per day, with organic waste making up 68% on average. 2. Currently, 460 tonnes (52%) of waste is formally managed each day, with 420 tonnes dumped at uncontrolled dumpsites. There is potential to increase recycling and recovery rates. 3. The study findings can inform improved waste infrastructure, collection models, and policies to create jobs and make waste management more efficient in Mombasa. Extending services to underserved areas could provide hundreds of new jobs.

1. Proceedings Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy; 5 – 9 October 2015
 2015 by CISA Publisher, Italy
MAPPING OUT WASTE CHARACTERISTICS
IN MOMBASA, KENYA
J. PALFREMAN AND M. CLARK
SUMMARY: Situated on the shore of the Indian Ocean, Mombasa—East Africa’s largest port and
Kenya’s second largest city—has the potential to be one of the most economically and environmentally
advanced urban areas in Africa. Instead, the rapidly expanding municipality is struggling. With over
40% youth unemployment and a tourist economy jeopardised by regional security concerns, this city of
one million people has also received international condemnation over its improper municipal solid
waste management. In an effort to address a dire shortage or comprehensive, up to date scientific data
concerning waste characteristics in Mombasa County, investigators performed a solid waste
characterisation study of the city. The study was designed both to quantify waste production per capita
and also to analyse the composition of waste streams in low, middle and high-income areas of
Mombasa County. The aim of the study was to inform the development of a relevant waste
management policy and to highlight how changes in practice can create exciting opportunities for more
efficient collection models, resource recovery and job creation. Data yielded waste production at 850
tonnes per day. 420 tonnes of solid waste per day is dumped at one of three uncontrolled dumpsites. An
additional 23, 16 and 2 tonnes of waste is recycled or incinerated by commercial industries for export,
energy or heat recovery. Average waste composition in Mombasa is dominated by organic waste
streams (68%), at density/moisture content rates of 947kg/m3
and 41% respectively. The average
proportion of inorganic recyclables, based on the identification of corresponding markets is 23%, with
non-recyclable waste accounting for the remaining 9% of waste composition. Further spatial and
statistical analysis of waste production and composition has teased out important findings on likely
total waste production by geographic and socio-economic character areas to be used as a further
benchmark against solid waste that is formally managed. The report also highlights usage trends and
efficiencies of waste transfer stations and vehicles being operated to manage waste in Mombasa. Such
data analyses can generate the knowledge, skills and forward-looking rationale to build an improved
infrastructure (e.g. new waste transfer stations) or increase the work efficiency of relevant waste
stakeholders (e.g. in designing new primary or secondary collection systems).
1. INTRODUCTION
Mombasa is Kenya’s second city and home to approximately 1.1 million people. It is the most
prominent trading hub in East Africa and the second largest in sub-Saharan Africa. The city lies within
an area of approximately 294.7km2
, with a calculated density of 3,733/k2
, split into four distinct
geographical areas comprising Mombasa Island, Mainland North, West Mainland and South Mainland.

2. Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
Mombasa Island is separated from the mainland by inlets to the sea, though is linked to the west and
north by a causeway and a bridge. Access to the south is by ferry only.
Figure 1. Mombasa County, Kenya
Demographic change, as across much of eastern and southern Africa, is rapid. Population growth
rates, although expected to slow by the middle of the century, are estimated to have averaged around
3.8% per annum over the last 10-15 years. A key feature of the growth of Mombasa has been the
informalisation of the labour market with many families relying on informal economic activities for
income, and income inequality becoming increasingly disparate across the city. These inequalities have
manifested themselves in a physical sense too, with wide variation in housing and basic infrastructure
provision across the city, with as much as 65% of the population living in informal settlements.
Mombasa, like many urban centres across the region, is a young city. 44% of the Mombasa
County’s population is between the ages of 18 and 35 and unemployment, is staggeringly high, with
some estimates as high as 50%.

3. Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
2. INTRODUCTION
Municipal solid waste collection in Mombasa County is currently managed by both formal and
informal waste operators including the Mombasa County Government, community based organisations
(CBOs), individual waste pickers and private sector companies. ‘Formal’ waste management
stakeholders, including the Mombasa County Government, large private enterprises, SMEs and CBOs
are estimated to produce roughly 3,300 jobs, with informal sector stakeholders such as waste pickers
producing an additional 500 jobs or more. By and large waste that is collected is then dumped at one of
three uncontrolled dumpsites, or at a nearby ‘official’ collection point (waste transfer stations). Only
5% of waste that is managed is recovered.
Mombasa County Government and private enterprises normally manage the bulk/primary collection
of waste from waste transfer stations or large properties (e.g. shopping centres, hotels) to dumpsites.
CBOs and smaller individual waste pickers normally manage the primary, door-to-door collection of
waste, paid for almost entirely by user-fees, with most households or businesses paying between 200
($2.19USD) and 2000 ($21.85USD) Kenyan Shillings (KES) per month, per property. The ratio of non-
poor to poor households who pay for a service is roughly 2:1 (WSP, 2007).
3. METHODOLOGY
The waste characterisation study employed an eclectic methodology, sourcing data from a mix of
primary and secondary data sources. Primary data collection activities included the monitoring and
analysis of waste management operations by 88 vehicles, 44 waste transfer stations and three dumpsites
managed by the Mombasa County Government. Additional primary data collection activities included
waste density and moisture content studies and ten waste composition investigations conducted in low,
middle and high-income areas of Mombasa County on eighteen typologies of recyclable and non-
recyclable waste produced from approximately 900 residential, commercial and hospitality-related
properties. These waste composition studies identified a strong appetite for a participatory approach
among various waste stakeholders consisting of six CBOs, two private enterprises, 41 waste pickers
and the Mombasa County Government. Secondary data sources consulted included academic
scholarship and demographic and population data by the United Nations and the Government of Kenya.
Respective to the lack of literature, studies or official data available on waste issues in Mombasa
County and the largely undocumented operations of current waste management stakeholders operations
in the formal and informal sectors alike, this study admits a limited ability to present rigorous scientific
data for several of its reported findings throughout.

4. Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
3.1 Waste Generation
Average waste generation is estimated at 875 tonnes per day (.79 per capita). Generation rates vary by
socio-economic type.
Table 1. Population and estimated waste generation rate for Mombasa County
Socio-economic
type
% Population
(2009)
Population
(2015)
Per Capita
(kg/day)
Waste Production/
Tonnes (2015)
low 53.6 503446 590343 .55 324.7
(37%)
medium 23.9 224613 302458 .89 269.2
(31%)
high 22.5 211311 211199 1.33 280.9
(37%)
Total 100 939370 1104000 0.8* 875
(100%)
*average per capita generation rate
4. WASTE MANAGEMENT
On average, 460 tonnes (52%) of waste generated is ‘formally managed’. 420 tonnes (91%) is collected
and disposed of at one of three ‘uncontrolled/open dumpsites’. Kibarani dumpsite alone is estimated to
receive on average nearly 390 tonnes of waste per day, 140,000 tonnes per year, enough waste to fill
the equivalent of 60 Olympic sized swimming pools. 23 (5%) and 17 (4%) tonnes of waste is recycled
and incinerated respectively by industry and health facilities in Mombasa. 414 (48%) of waste is
‘informally managed’, most commonly burnt, buried or dumped illegally.
Investment and delivery of municipal solid waste management services tends to be distributed
unequally across Mombasa County. The distribution of secondary waste collection infrastructure and
technology, managed by the Mombasa County Government and relied upon heavily by private and
community based waste collectors for example provides proportionally fewer waste collection points to
population found on the Mainland areas of Mombasa (primarily low/middle income) than on Mombasa
Island (primarily high income). Such discrepancies result in waste management infrastructure that runs
overcapacity or is situated a considerable distance away from waste producers and collectors, largely
thought to be an incentive for residents, business and primary waste collectors to dump or burn waste
indiscriminately in a more convenient location (e.g. in greater proximity to where waste is
produced/collected from). Mainland South for example has the second lowest ratio of collection points
to population (1:21,678) and also the lowest estimated waste management rate at 18.22 tonnes per day
(15.21%). Mombasa Island on the contrary holds the highest ratio of collection points to population
(1:5,257) and reports a waste management rate as high as 80%.

5. Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
Table 2. Official Mombasa County waste collection points (transfer stations) by geographic zone
Geographic zone Population 2015
(estimated)
No. of collection
points
ratio of collection points
to population
Mainland North 374533 21 1:17835
Mainland South 195102 9 1:21678
Mainland West 366153 10 1:36615
Mombasa Island 168212 32 1:5257
Total 1104000 72 1:15333
With social inequalities in municipal solid waste management service delivery comes the economic
potential to serve many more and respectively, employ more, in the waste management sector through
governmental, community based or private sector solutions. Dixon-Fyle (2000)1
estimates that on
average, around one daily collector hour is necessary to serve about 200 inhabitants. This figure along
with population growth rates are used to estimate labour requirements for an expanded primary
collection scheme in Mombasa. The study recognises that these estimates do not account for fluctuating
labour requirements based on varying transport, technology and business models employed by waste
collectors, nor does it negate the fact that there is already informal collection and management of waste
across Mombasa County.
Table 3. Estimated labour requirements for an expanded primary waste collection system in Mombasa
County.
Geo-zone Est. waste
prod
Pop
(2015)
Waste
managed
(%)
Estimated
Population
not served
Collector
hours
(1/200
persons)
FTE2
s FTEs (5 day
week)
Mainland
North
402.8 446662 21% 352863 1764 221 309
Mainland
South
119.8 195102 15% 165837 829 104 145
Mainland
West
189.8 294024 20% 235219 1176 147 206
Total 753919 3770 471 660
1
Dixon-Fyle, K., 2000. Integrating employment into urban investment planning: towards a planning and impact evaluation
methodology.
2
FTE = full-time equivalent employment

6. Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
5. WASTE COMPOSITION
Very high waste density and moisture content rates were identified for organic municipal solid waste in
Mombasa at 947 kg/m3
and 41% respectively. Waste composition in Mombasa is dominated by organic
waste streams (68%), a consistent finding in low (72%), middle (72%) and high (48%) income areas
and in the hospitality (77%) and commercial (68%) sectors. The organic typology in waste composition
studies was inclusive of food, garden and trace quantities of wood, soil and sand waste.
Textile (2%) and diaper (7%) waste represented the two waste typologies where a corresponding
market or industry was not identified, leading to their classification as unrecyclable waste streams.
The proportion of recyclable waste streams identified during waste composition studies varied
widely between different income groups and sectors as well as between various waste types. All
recyclable waste represented 23% in all waste composition studies and 17%, 16% and 43% in low,
middle and high-income area waste composition studies respectively. In the sector waste composition
studies commercial waste streams were 31% and hospitality 23% recyclable. The higher proportions of
recyclables in high income residential, hospitality and commercial sectors is largely carried by an
influx of paper waste (20%, 10% and 23% respectively) and LDPE/HDPE fibre plastics (15%, 7% and
10% respectively).
Table 4. Waste composition by residential typology/sector
typology diapers glass metals organic paper plastics textiles
low-income 8 1 0.41 72 4 12 3
mid-income 10 1 0.52 72 4 11 2
high-income 5 3 1 48 20 19 3
commercial 0.16 4.5 0.65 68 13 13 0.16
hospitality 0.16 4 0.65 77 10 8 0.3
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
11% of total municipal solid waste results from the disposal of plastic bags and fibres which cause a
number of environmental threats. This is a strong incentive to further investigate a comprehensive
regulatory approach to reducing plastic fibre waste, for example though the banning of plastic bags on
a county-wide basis.
Extending service coverage through new primary waste collection business models and provision of
infrastructure, particularly in Mainland West, South, and North could help address inequalities in
service provision, ensuring more waste is formally managed and provide up to 660 FTE positions in the
waste sector. A key development to ensuring extended service coverage is improved coordination
among formal and informal stakeholders, such as the Mombasa County Government and community
based organisations.
There are large discrepancies between the quantity of waste recycled and the proportion of
recyclables observed in the waste stream from waste composition data. An estimated 100 tonnes of

7. Sardinia 2015, Fifteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
plastic and 50 tonnes of paper could be recovered on a daily basis if a more coordinated system of
separation was put in place, representing over $500,000 USD in recyclable market value per month3
.
The potential for separating greater quantities of waste at source remains high, the challenges of
implementing such a system include: low-levels of public awareness and willingness to separate; few
coordinated economic incentives to promote source separation.
There is substantially higher potential for recycling services in high-income areas that produce over
40% recyclable waste. Unfortunately, no formal recycling service exists in Mombasa and operations by
informal stakeholders (e.g. waste pickers) are unorganized and seldom facilitated by formal
stakeholders or government.
The identification of high density and moisture content rates has produced knowledge on the most
appropriate technologies and vehicles to be employed for municipal solid waste management in
Mombasa. Compactor technology for example, previously employed by the Mombasa County
Government, has been identified as being cost intensive due to the constant maintenance requirements,
lack of spare parts and abrasiveness of waste that wears and tears moving parts too quickly.
The high organic waste content found in the waste stream in Mombasa of between 48 and 77
combined with high moisture content rates (41%) indicates strong potential for composting and/or
waste to energy projects such as anaerobic digestion. In addition, facilitating greater re-use of organic
material would reduce transport and collection costs for secondary waste collectors. The lack of a
commercial market for compost/biogas and initial start up costs of such technologies present
challenges.
7. CONCLUSION
Findings presented throughout the report have established and quantified the scale of waste production
in Mombasa County and highlighted the knowledge, skills and rationale to invest in appropriate waste
management infrastructure and formulate incentives and targets to increase the effectiveness of the
current waste management system. Likewise the report has outlined the potential of enhancing resource
recovery (recycling); safe disposal; improved land allocation and service delivery planning for waste
management through the identification of ‘waste hotspots’ and the willingness of a range of
stakeholders from the public, private, and third sector to voluntarily contribute towards solving waste
management issues in Mombasa County. The waste characterization study offers various formal and
informal waste management stakeholders across Mombasa County the opportunity to exploit research
data to their advantage. Data may lend itself to the current operations of city planners within the
Mombasa County Government, give evidence to the viability of employing innovative, pro-youth waste
management business models or attract investors seeking to base important decisions on evidence of
how the waste sector operates in Mombasa.
3
Market values for plastic and paper recyclables are average figures, as reported by leading recycling industries surveyed.
They respectively account for seasonal/market fluctuations in the recycling market in Kenya as well as among international
traders with whom the industries have trade networks with.