KWALE, Kenya – Industrialisation has significant adverse environmental effects, including increased pollution, waste production, and greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change.
The rise in manufacturing and industrial activities leads to the release of harmful substances, such as methane and Carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, as well as massive pollution that adversely affects air and water quality.
In light of this, at least six companies have adopted cleaner manufacturing practices by going green, with assistance from WWF-Kenya, a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) affiliate.
Thanks to the International Climate Initiative funding, the six businesses received training and were guided through procedures for treating wastewater, conserving energy, and producing greener products.
The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection funded this ambitious project.
When reached for comment, Mohamed Pakia, the Programme Coordinator for Terrestrial Landscape at WWF-Kenya in the Coastal Kenya Project, told Y News that under the International Climate Initiative Project (IKI), WWF-Kenya partnered with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Kenya National Cleaner Production Centre to undertake a clean energy project.
“After all these, we expect that the private institutions will comply with the cleaner production by engaging measures that ensure they reduce their footprint in terms of environment pollution,” Pakia said.
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For her part, Jane Nyakang’o, the Managing Director of Kenya Cleaner Production Centre, lamented that some of the companies on the Kenyan coast 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?” explained Nyakang’o.
Nyakang’o also revealed that her organisation was looking at how the companies use water, how efficiently they use it, and how they treat the water resulting from this use to the required levels by NEMA and other entities before discharging it back to the environment.
Robert Orina, the Deputy Director of Field Operations at NEMA, said the agency has a programme in Kwale County targeting about 14 industries.
“But we selected six facilities for in-plant assessment and in terms of providing interventions for improvement,” Orina said.
Y News established that these industries included two hospitality industries: the Baobab Beach Resort and Spa and the Swahili Beach. Additionally, there were food processing firms like Kentaste Products Limited, Kenya Bixa Limited, Agrofiber, and Kasemeni Slaughterhouse.
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Meanwhile, Nyakang’o lamented that the Kenya Cleaner Production Centre had established that most companies were wasting 30 to 40 pc of water when it could be conserved.
“In terms of inefficiencies, companies could enhance their efficiency up to about 30 pc without introducing new technology. However, we were able to identify opportunities for investments,” Nyakang’o explained.
Pakia further disclosed that the selected companies gave some staff training and were trained in in-house assessments to continue monitoring and showing indications of the directions the companies are taking.
Nyakang’o reiterated that they began by earnestly training the companies in mid-2024.
“We made them aware that by using alternative technologies, practices, and fuels like waste to energy, i.e., using coconut husks to generate energy for their process, they could reduce their energy bills,” said Nyakang’o.
Jerry Opondo, the Human Resource manager at Agro Fibre Company, a Kwale-based firm specialising in sisal products, confirmed Nyakang’o’s remarks.
“It was an eye-opener; we came down and checked the surcharge and 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,” Opondo told Y News.
All we know about how some companies in Kwale County saved on water consumption
Amon Kosgei, the Quality Manager at Kentaste Products Limited, revealed that the average daily water consumption 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 amount of consumption per day is 15 cubic meters, so we were able to save three cubic meters per day,” said an elated Kosgei.
Orina said that the uptake and willingness were very encouraging because all the industries trained appreciated the compliance assistance interventions, especially the cleaner production approach.
Some industries that initially had vertical boilers used Industrial Diesel Oil (IDO), which could be more environmentally friendly.
“But today, our boilers are using treated water. We no longer have the adverse effects of corrosion since the water is already softened. It takes less time to be heated up to produce the steam, which we can pump to the calorifiers to heat the water system.”
How WWF-Kenya came through for the Kwale program
Meanwhile, Orina observed that WWF-Kenya was a key sponsor of the Kwale program. This enabled technical officers who were resource efficiency and cleaner production experts to be on the ground, recruit those industries, train them, and provide the necessary guidance that now enables them to implement whatever they were guided on.
“WWF-Kenya has been a critical partner, especially with NEMA, in ensuring that we manage our ecosystem sustainably without degrading them. Compliance is a win-win situation because the facilities comply with the legal requirements and at the same time enjoy efficient systems which enable them to save money and their resources,” he explained.
Today, Orina believes that reducing pollution in that particular area of Kwale will significantly assist the ecosystem in enjoying a clean and healthy environment and enable the industries to manage and produce their products sustainably.
