Integrated solid waste management: decentralised service delivery case study of Nakuru municipality, Kenya

Effective Solid Waste Management (SWM) in Kenya is a major challenge facing responsible Local Authorities (LAs) across the country. The challenge is more serious in urban centres, where solid waste generation rate outstrips the ability of LAs to manage the same effectively. In Nakuru town, the fourth largest urban centre in Kenya, daily solid waste generation is approximated at 250 tonnes. Before changes were introduced in 2006, the average daily collection rate was less than 30%. To resolve this challenge on domestic solid waste handling, the Municipal Council of Nakuru (MCN) enacted 2006 Nakuru Environmental Management by-laws that paved the way for decentralized service delivery of domestic solid waste management. This article outlines the legal changes that were made, and the opportunities it has opened for both cleaning up the town and generating incomes for small private waste entrepreneurs and community-based groups. It includes a case study of a successful community-based waste enterprise. It ends by highlighting some of the remaining challenges.