KWALE, Kenya – In the wake of the devastating effects of climate change, companies globally are quickly embracing cleaner production to save energy and increase efficiency by optimising resource use, reducing waste, and enhancing sustainability.
This approach minimises their environmental impact and improves competitiveness through better energy management and efficiency in production processes.
For instance, in Kwale County, at least six companies have gone green by embracing cleaner production with the support of the World-Wide Fund for Nature Kenya (WWF-Kenya).
Y News has established that through the support offered by the International Climate Initiative, the companies were taken through training and processes for wastewater treatment, energy saving, and cleaner production.
Who funded the Kwale training program
This project was funded through the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection.
“We are expecting that the private institutions will comply with the cleaner production by engaging measures that ensure they reduce their footprint in terms of environmental pollution,” said Mohamed Pakia, WWF-Kenya, Programme Coordinator for Terrestrial Landscape in the Coastal Kenya Project.
According to Jane Nyakang’o, Managing Director of Kenya Cleaner Production Centre, some of these companies get their energy from cutting down trees and mangroves and using that energy to run their operations.
“So, the Kenya Cleaner Production Centre was brought on board to assess how these businesses use energy. How efficient are they? What alternative energy sources can also help alleviate the pressure from the existing natural resources?” Nyakang’o said.
Nyakang’o further disclosed that they also consider how the companies use the water.
“We want to establish how efficiently they use the water. And after they use this water, the wastewater resulting from there, do they treat it to the required levels by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and other entities before returning it to the environment?”
What were the targeted industries in Kwale County
When asked for comment, Robert Orina, Deputy Director of Field Operations at NEMA, observed that they have a program in Kwale County targeting about 14 industries.
“We selected six facilities for in-plant assessment and in terms of providing interventions for improvement,” said Orina.
These industries included two hospitality industries, the Baobab and Swahili Beach; food processing, Kentaste Products Limited and Kenya Bixa Limited; and Agro Fibre and Kasemeni Slaughter House.
Nyakang’o further revealed that at the Kenya Cleaner Production Centre, they established that most companies were wasting 30-40% of that water when it could be conserved.
“In terms of inefficiencies, companies could enhance their efficiency up to about 30% without introducing new technology. We were able to help identify opportunities for investments,” explained Nyakang’o.
Pakia reiterated that the selected companies gave a number of their staff for training, and the staff were trained in in-house assessments to continue monitoring and showing indications of the direction the companies are taking.
How Kenyan companies can reduce their energy bills
Kenya Cleaner Production Centre began by training the beneficiaries on sustainable energy practices.
“We made them aware that by using alternative technologies, alternative practices, and alternative fuels like waste-to-energy for your process, like coconut husks to generate energy for your process, you can reduce your energy bills,” Nyakang’o said.
Jerry Opondo—Human Resources, Agro Fibre, observed that the training was eye-opening.
“We came down and checked on the surcharge; we checked on the electricity bills, and then we discovered that we were paying a lot of money, like Sh 250,000, as a surcharge. So, when we came, we found that it’s something we can handle, but right now, we are at zero surcharges,” said Opondo.
How Kentaste Products Limited is saving on water consumption
For Amos Kosgei, Quality Manager, Kentaste Products Limited, the average daily amount of water was 18 cubic meters before the training.
“However, after implementing the necessary measures to cut down consumption and waste of water, we realised that the average consumption per day is 15 cubic meters. So, we could save three cubic meters per day,” said Kosgei.
Following the training, Orina indicated that the uptake and willingness were encouraging.
“This is because all the industries we trained appreciated the interventions of compliant assistance, especially on the cleaner production approach.
Some companies initially had vertical boilers that used Industrial Diesel Oil (IDO), which is not environmentally friendly.
“Our boilers now are currently using treated water. We no longer have those adverse effects of corrosion; the water is already softened, so it takes a shorter time to be heated up to generate the steam so that we can pump that to the calorifiers to heat the water system.”
How WWF-Kenya supported the Kwale project
Orina further hailed WWF-Kenya, terming the non-governmental conservation organisation as a key sponsor of the Kwale program.
“WWF-Kenya enabled us to have technical officers that are the resources efficiency and cleaner production experts, to be on the ground to recruit those industries, train them, and provide the necessary guidance that is now enabling them to implement whatever they have been guided on,” explained Orina.
He singled out WWF-Kenya as a critical partner, especially with NEMA, in ensuring that the state agency manages Kenya’s ecosystem sustainably without degrading it.
“Compliance is a win-win situation because the facilities comply with the legal requirements, and at the same time, they employ efficient systems that enable them to save money and resources,” Orina further said.
Orina said reducing pollution in that particular area of Kwale will go a long way toward helping the ecosystem enjoy a clean and healthy environment while enabling the industries to manage and produce their products sustainably.
