Driving the development of youth-led sustainable businesses

The MPP Incubator aims to reduce marine plastics waste in Mombasa County’s informal settlements by driving the development of youth-led sustainable businesses.

It follows on from the successful initial phase of Mombasa Plastics Prize (MPP), which took place between September 2022 and May 2023 and supported 57 young entrepreneurs.

The MPP Incubator will build on that success by working with 9 teams from MPP to progress their prototypes into sustainable businesses, including the three winning teams: Team Twende Green Ecocycle, Team Eco-Redemptors, and Team Oceania Pacesetter. 

The MPP Incubator, funded by USAID, is being delivered by Challenge Works in close collaboration with other organisations working across the innovation ecosystem in Mombasa County and Kenya.

These teams are on a journey to becoming sustainable businesses tackling plastic waste pollution. The MPP Incubator will provide them with access to bespoke capacity-building support and partnerships to advance their incredible efforts to tackle this pertinent and pressing issue, and build on their impact across Mombasa County and beyond.

There are three persistent issues facing Mombasa County in terms of plastic waste…

  • 0 tonnes of plastic waste

    is produced in Mombasa County each day. About 20% of this waste is plastic.

  • Only 0% of waste

    in Mombasa County is collected by formal services. The informal sector also contributes to waste recovery (although data is limited).

  • Only 0% of total solid waste

    is recycled in Mombasa County.  3.7 kg plastic per capita enters the waterways every year.

The problem

The marine plastic waste issue is caused by multiple issues within the plastics value chain: from the moment a manufacturer decides to create a single-use plastic product; to the moment someone purchases and disposes of this incorrectly; or until an uncollected piece of plastic waste is blown into the ocean. The high amounts of plastic waste pollution can have significant impacts on ecosystems and human health.

These issues are prevalent in Mombasa County – a critical hotspot to Kenya’s plastic waste pollution – and especially its informal settlements, which are at the forefront of plastic waste pollution due to a lack of formal waste management services.

There are opportunities for innovation to help tackle these issues and reduce plastic waste in Mombasa County. The MPP Incubator, aims to support these efforts through the development of sustainable innovative solutions.

Find out more about the MPP Incubator