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Nzambi Matee - Kenyan, Africa

2020 Winner | Material engineer | Kenyan

Gjenge Makers Ltd is a sustainable, alternative and affordable building products manufacturing company. They produce eco-friendly pavers that are made of a composite of recycled waste plastic and sand. They have partnered with different manufacturers of plastics bottle tops and seals in the beverage and pharmaceutical industries in Kenya, from whom they collect offcuts and scraps. This is amalgamated with discarded single use plastics that our informal waste collectors deliver to us.

Nzambi is a self-driven individual, entrepreneur and a self-taught hardware designer and mechanical engineer. She has a background in physics and material engineering with a passion for creating sustainable solutions. She used design thinking experience to start Gjenge Makers with the mission to convert plastic waste into lower cost alternative building products, hence tackling plastic waste pollution and Kenya’s inadequate housing problem.

Disclaimer: NOTE: This content was shared online for the 2019 cycle of the Young Champions of the Earth programme and has not been updated. This listing does not constitute any endorsement by nor status with the UN Environment Programme.

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