The Community Cooker project in Kibera converts rubbish into energy using a high-temperature industrial cooker. Workers sort waste, separating out recyclable materials, and incinerating the rest. The cooker is housed in a communal publicly accessible facility. It uses natural airflow, discarded sump oil, and water to heat to temperatures of more than 800 degrees Celsius. Heat from the cooker can be used to boil water, brew tea, cook traditional foods, and bake cakes, among many other purposes. Residents exchange waste for tokens that buy them time to use the cooker, either as a stove, to heat/purify water, or even to bathe.
Driving plastic recycling through industry support
The South African Plastics Recycling Organisation (SAPRO) is the national association of plastic recycling companies with a mandate to grow the recycling rate for waste plastics. The core of SAPRO's efforts is to 1) improve the quality of materials entering the...
