What does it take to operate a waste management company in a market where you have to compete with a dump site fee of just one dollar per ton?
In this episode, Daniel Paffenholz from Taka Taka Solutions details the realities of building an integrated waste management and recycling company in Kenya. He explains the immense challenge of scaling in a heavily fragmented and informal market, where you must compete against hundreds of other operators.
We discuss the entire operational flow, from collection and sorting at their material recovery facility. Daniel describes the economic pressures of operating without gate fees and the strategic necessity to move beyond simple recycling into value-added compounding to build resilience against global market shifts.
Recorded on site in Nairobi, this episode provides a ground-level view of the complexities and strategic decisions involved in the waste management industry in an emerging market.
