A zero waste company
Creating a Greener Future
About Our Mission
Our Vision
Okota Waste Management Company promotes sustainability by diverting waste from landfills through upcycling and recycling. Our mission is to eliminate landfill waste and tackle Africa's growing waste problem, with daily urban waste generation expected to double by 2050. Founded out of necessity, we aimed to support sister company, Chanzi, by investing in waste aggregation and addressing the lack effective waste management in Tanzania ourselves.
Key Metrics
Full Time Employees
85
Waste Processed (MT/Day)
30
CO2 Equivalent Avoidance (MT/Day)
133
Equivalent number of trees
1,928
Amount of Energy saved (MWh)
1300
Methane Avoided (MT/month)
3.9
Our approach
Recycling: Of the waste discharged at our location, 20% is inorganic recyclables that, once processed at our facility, can be repurposed as raw materials to make new products.
Upcycling: Food waste accounts for 30% of the waste collected, which is known to be difficult to handle. At Okota, we send it to Chanzi, who upcycles the food waste by feeding it to BSFL, which can then be utilized as nutritious animal feed.
A further 40% we classify as Grade C; organic, non-food waste, and high in lignocellulose. We convert this into biochar using our pyrolysis machines
Environmental Impact
Okota's Arusha facility currently processes 21 MT of waste daily, with plans for three shifts per sorting line and five additional lines, aiming for 180 MT/day by year-end, covering 65% of Arusha's waste. At maximum capacity, the facility can achieve significant environmental benefits, including: - Preventing 7.08 MT of methane emissions by diverting over 200 MT of food waste. - Saving 135,112 KWh of energy and 3,720,296 liters of water through plastic recycling. - Avoiding 32.4 MT of carbon dioxide emissions.
Community and Employment Impact
Okota employs 14 workers, 58% of whom are women, aligning with UN SDG 5 (Gender Equality). We aim to reach 80% female employment as we expand.
We provide former informal waste pickers with:
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Formal Employment: Offering job security, fair pay, and protections.
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Safe Working Conditions: Providing PPE and safety protocols.
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Fair Wages: Paying competitive salaries.
Partnering with USAID, we run training and awareness campaigns in Arusha, educating residents, vendors, and students on waste sorting and providing collection bins.
The Okota-Chanzi model is unique in its ability to be replicated and deployed across Africa. This creates a powerful waste management solution with far-reaching environmental and social benefits. It is easy to replicate Okota’s and Chanzi’s operations, which means that these could simply be used in other places without much change.
Currently, Okota only operates in Arusha, Tanzania, and we explained earlier that the reason was to provide waste aggregation services for Chanzi. To broaden our reach, we intend to establish new facilities in other Tanzanian cities like Tanga and Dar es Salaam, as well as in other Sub-Saharan cities.
Okota takes the exact same approach to waste management and aims to replicate our sites throughout the continent by providing holistic waste management solutions in any African city.
Geographical Reach
Future Goals
At Okota, we aim to make Africa a zero waste landfill continent. This is achievable by scaling up our pyrolysis process and enabling the production of biochar, which uses organic grade C and inert materials from waste as fuel sources. Biochar is a form of charcoal that sequesters carbon. Chanzi is currently using biochar to reduce the pungent smell of the grinded waste.
Okota recognizes the importance of scalability and efficiency as we expand our operations. To achieve this, we are committed to two key initiatives:
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Enhanced Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: Therefore, with a growing number of employees needed to operate a standard Chanzi facility to be over 300, effective ERP systems must be incorporated. Conversion to better systems will enhance flow of operations, data handling and decision making processes.
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Going Paperless: Okota’s management ensures that environmental sustainability is considered in all that we do. The adoption of a paperless system shall greatly cut on our impact on the environment and at the same time enhance the efficiency of service delivery in our institution.
