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Examining Options for Mitigating Microplastic Pollution in the Nairobi River Basin, Kenya
Summary
This paper surveys microplastic pollution in the Nairobi River Basin in Kenya, where over half the city's population lives in informal settlements along riverbanks with little waste management infrastructure, and an estimated 67 tonnes of plastic waste enter the river daily. The authors assess current plastic waste management efforts and propose mitigation options, arguing that proactive upstream waste management is more effective than downstream clean-up. The study illustrates how microplastic pollution is a particularly acute problem in rapidly urbanising cities in the Global South.
Microplastic pollution, along with climate change and global warming are environmental challenges that affect ecosystems and human ability to conserve biological diversity in the near to medium-term future. Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, is drained by the Nairobi River Basin (NRB) - an important ecosystem given its natural resource and socio-economic values to the residents. With over 55% of the Nairobi population living in informal settlements predominantly along the riverbanks, and almost no waste management system in place in these communities, it is estimated that 67 tonnes of waste primary plastic, which will invariably disintegrate into microplastics, pollutes the river daily. To address microplastic pollution, a proactive approach of managing waste is examined. A summary of the plastic waste management efforts in Nairobi to date is presented. The main aim is to highlight the shortcomings in current plastic waste management practices and to identify the research needs to inform future guidelines aimed at reducing the negative impacts of microplastic pollution on the NRB ecosystem.
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