Gjenge Makers Ltd

Upon selection as one of the elevate prize winners, the funding and support will allow Gjenge Makers Ltd to further curb the plastic waste problem in Nairobi and Kenya just to start with. As currently we are recycling approximately 10 metric tonnes of plastic waste a month.

Inaddition to creating more job opportunities for more than 127 youths who we are currently working with both directly and indirectly. 

Increasing our production of Gjenge Plastic pavers from 500psc a shift to about 2000psc.

Successfully seeing  through the introduction of different product lines to enable strategic positioning of  Gjenge as a household name in the construction industry. 

Increasing market share by  venturing into the East African market and eventually globally.

Gjenge Makers Ltd is a sustainable alternative affordable building products manufacturing company. Gjenge produces eco-friendly pavers that are made of a composite of recycled waste plastic and sand. The company has currently partnered with different manufacturers of plastic packaging products for different beverage and pharmaceutical companies in Kenya, from whom plastic waste is collected. This is then amalgamated with the single use plastic from local waste collectors of the environment to produce the Gjenge plastic pavers. 

To date Gjenge has recycled over 34 metric tons of plastic waste, and converted this into beautiful building products at a current production rate of 700 Gjenge plastic pavers a day.

Our vision is majorly aligned with four Sustainable Development Goals numbers 8,9,11 and 13. 

Our Goals are:

To solve the waste pollution problem by recycling and upcycling plastic, while providing alternative construction products which area affordable and sustainable.

To provide job opportunities for  youths in Kenya and Africa at large. 

To promote recycling and upcycling culture in Kenya and Africa. 

To promote and support the next generation of female entrepreneurs within the engineering space.

The biggest cost implication within a construction project after deducting the cost of land, is the cost of building materials. In Nairobi alone, an estimated 500 metric tones of plastic waste is generated in a single day and only a small fraction of this is recycled. The Gjenge team thus decided to use the problem of single use plastic waste as a catalyst and formulate a solution by creating sustainable and affordable alternative building material. It is from this inspiration that we fashioned our first product line of plastic pavers, using the latest cutting-edge technologies to mix the recycled plastic with sand to form a mixture which we mold into our various products. Gjenge Makers has cut a niche as a manufacturing trail blazer in the provision of beautiful and sustainable alternative building materials. 

The current and only product on the market is the Gjenge Makers pavers that are made from a composite of waste plastic and sand. The pavers can withstand more flexural and compression strength than the common concrete pavers . This is by the virtue of the fibrous nature of the plastic .

The brick is not only stronger (up to 3-7 times stronger depending on the size in question) but also lighter than the normal concrete pavers. In addition to this our biggest value proposition is the ability to customize the product according to the customer's liking. 

To date, Gjenge has recycled over 34 metric tons of plastic waste into pavement blocks that are stronger and relatively much more affordable than ordinary pavers.

In addition to this, Gjenge has financially empowered over 134 individuals by creating job opportunities. The majority of whom are women and youth groups who are our partners in supplying the waste plastic and the preprocessing stage of our production process.