Profiting from Waste Recycled Water Bottles
When Kenya introduced a law banning the single-use plastic bags (Jiwala) in 2017, the UNEP and other Environmental conservation bodies applauded the move that was intentional in reducing landfill Pollution. However, little was achieved in management of the multi-use plastics waste, mostly the drinking water bottles, that account for the fifth of the 2,400 tons of solid waste generated DAILY in Nairobi alone.
1000 Drinking Water Manufacturing Companies in Kenya
According to a local PET bottle recycling company CEO, Joyce Gachungi, Kenya has over 1,000 companies that are producing bottled drinking water in the country. Add to the tens of thousands of Soda Bottles bought every single day, and the true picture of the plastic bottle litter (garbage) menace will suffice.
Converting PET bottles waste into a million Dollar Empire
PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is the chemical name for the PET bottle material. Polyethylene terephthalate, therefore, is a common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, carbonated beverage bottles, drinking water etc. thanks to its versatility in thermo-processing which achieves clarity, various shapes and is easy in handling.
With a little knowledge in chemistry about the PETs, one can choose to convert the used bottles to make materials for numerous fast-moving industrial products such as non-woven carpets, Wadding, Filtration materials, Polyfil (Fibrefil) stuffing for cushions and quilts, Geotextile, and Spinning yarns and thence create an empire out of it.
Fiberfil stuffing, is processed from the PET bottles and is used for making bed pillows and cushions. These two products are currently the leading FMCGs (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) in East and Central Africa.
The Lady Hawker at the Supermarket Parking Lot
The first time I bought Polyfil Pillows was during COVID Lockdown. While walking out of “Powerstar” Supermarket, a lady courteously approached me while I was opening my car booth and asked me (while smiling) to purchase “two Pillows” meaning mine and wife’s. At first I declined the offer, pointing that I had many in my bedroom. She convincingly told me that “these are not the usual pillows”, adding that “they are very comfortable, and that’s why she is suggesting I buy two”. I decided to give them a try and on arriving home, my Daughter picked them while screaming with joy. I reminded my wife to sterilize them and encase them with clean pillow cases before we lie on them. And for sure, that night, I slept loudly with kingly comfort. My wife marvelled at them and suggested we add more for the rest of the family. I asked her to remind me to instruct my secretary to forage through the Polymer Chemistry books we have for training and make something worth out of it for our followers.
Polyester Fiberfil is a fine synthetic dense fibre, made into white yarns and commonly used for stuffing pillows and look fluffy, soft kind of, like a ball of cotton. Polyester Fibrefill It is made from recycled plastic PET bottles through a non-expensive process to make what is known as Recycled Polyester Staple Fibre (RPSF).
With numerous applications, not mentioning fibre-filled high density mattresses, one is capable of creating products capable of building a multi-million-dollar empire, whose raw material is the “waste”
“Free” Raw Material to RPSF Yarns to FCMG
The process of converting waste water bottles into RSPF fibre yarns is not as demanding and capital intensive as it may sound. Neither is it not out of reach for the commoner who is interested in creating an alternative source of revenue with what is considered waste, and again, what is almost available as FREE Raw material.
At our Institute, we orient the learner with the processes, take him/her through basic classes of converting plastic bottles into RPSF and finally value addition, as in Pillow making. Small machinery to facilitate the conversion will be needed and this is part of what we train. We also fabricate the machines in our teaching workshop that can aid in the process flow that will achieve standard products that must meet stringent requirements of quality control tests which measure color, composition, and length of the fibre, amongst other criteria as per the Kenya National Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
Profitability
The Fibrefill Pillows go for an average of 400 shillings, whose cost of production is approximately Ksh. 120. Now, assuming the pillow encasement is 1 mitre square (Ksh. 35) and the sewing thread is 5 mitres (Ksh. 0.50), Labour (Ksh. 10), we can easily do math for the total cost of production:
To fill one standard (20” x 26”) one will need approximately 900g of the RSPF. One Litre empty bottle weighs approx. 30g. Therefore, we need 30 bottles to make RSPF of 900g. Buying each used bottle at Ksh. 2, one will need Ksh. 60 to purchase 30 pieces of them. Processing them into a RSPF yarn using Power Optimized Extruder cum Spinning machine model iPRO-Ex 30 one will spend 0.3 Units of Electricity (Ksh. 8.00) per Kg. Total expenditure is therefore Ksh. 35+0.50+10+60+8.0=113.50/- add Ksh. 1.50 for process waste and overheads that include branding, transport, Labour etc. Total expenditure to make one Fibrefill Pillow is Ksh. 115.00 Net profit = 400-115= 285/-. Assuming a manufacturer with well branded pillows, well marketed via digital and other forms including TV and Road Shows, is doing sales of 10,000 pieces a month, that’s a whopping 2.85Million. meanwhile, youth organisations collecting at least 1000 bottles per day can gain over Ksh. 2,000 on daily basis.
Local Textile Industry and Reduction of Landfill by County Governments
At the government’s level, the much publicised Vision 2030’s Industrial Parks can make a pilot project in collecting the over 44,400 used plastic bottles every month, creating income for collectors who are mainly youth and young single mothers. The processed material from these PET bottles can make Spurn yarns for geotextile industry which can significantly reduce imported clothes among many other things.
Community Courses
With our well established training and consultancy firm, and knowledgeable staff members, our 14-Year experience in Industrial Skill Training, we have shaped the training landscape in Kenya by providing individualised training in manufacturing of over 80 products including Automotive Paints, Sugar, Powder Milk, General cosmetics and all types of detergents. We conduct group and community training and capacity building on various industrial Skills including Foam Mattress Manufacturing, Machine design and fabrication for Sugarcane juice extraction and sugar processing, Waste Paper recycling, Sanitary Pads Manufacturing using Banana Fibres, Fertilizer making, LCD Screen production, Radio Frequency Modulators manufacturing and Environmental conservation.
This article is written by Dr. Herman
Senior Polymer Chemistry Specialist
And published by Kiki Irene,
Chief Training Officer (0710 20 23 26)
Cosmetics Kenya Limited Institute 