THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY ON WASTE SEGREGATION IN KENYA, A 5 YEAR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN; KEY COMMUNICATION MATERIALS, AND A NATION-WIDE CAMPAIGN TO ENHANCE WASTE SEGREGATION IN KENYA

To enhance the implementation of waste segregation at source in Kenya, the Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) on Circular Economy and Waste Management between Denmark and Kenya Phase III is opening this call for applications to engage a communications expert/consultant to assist NEMA with the development of a national communications strategy on waste segregation, a communications plan, key communication materials and the development and roll-out a nation-wide campaign. Globally, 2.12 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste are generated annually, and the figure is expected to increase to approximately 4 billion tonnes by 2050.[1] 23 percent of the waste produced globally goes uncollected, while 33 percent is openly dumped.[2] In low-income countries, 60 percent of solid waste is uncollected and 93 percent of the waste collected is not properly managed.[3] In Kenya (with a population of 55 million people), every person generates about 0.5 kilogram of waste daily which translates into 25 metric tons of waste generated per day or 8 million tonnes annually.[4] While most of the waste generated is biodegradable, plastic waste accounts for about 20%, and only 45 % of the plastic waste is recycled.[5] The challenge is, that waste is mixed from the point of generation making it difficult to undertake waste recovery.[6] In 2022, Kenya enacted the Sustainable Waste Management Act (SWMA)[7] which proposes a circular model of waste management. This model prioritises reducing waste and maximising the lifespan of products and materials and calls on all waste generators (both households, public and private institutions, industries as well as commercial entities) to segregate waste at source. The Act requires that solid waste should be segregated at the source into non-hazardous waste and hazardous waste. The non-hazardous waste should be further sorted at source as per the national waste colour code system: Blue (Recyclables), Green (Organic) and Black (General) and also handled and transported using the same colour coded system. The Environmental Management Coordination (Waste Management) Regulation 2024 envisions that waste should be disposed by only licenced waste providers or at designated collection points.[8] Establishing the infrastructure to do so is still a work in progress, but has priority at both county and national level. In 2026, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) issued a national waste segregation guidelines (see Appendix III) operationalising the new requirements by Environmental Management and Coordination (Waste management) Regulations 2024, Legal Notice 178 of 2024 for waste segregation. The aim of this work is to develop relevant information materials targeting key stakeholders on waste segregation at source, and roll-out a nation-wide waste segregation campaign with focus on behaviour change. Ensuring not only that waste is segregated, but that it is segregated correctly and in accordance with the colour code system provided in the national waste segregation guidelines. See more information in the tender documents.