184 ANNE M. KARANJA, MOSES M. IKIARA, THEO C. DAVIES
The individual quantities of materials used were not obtained but the reported total
monthly quantities ranged from 20 –800 kg, averaging 242 kg per enterprise per
month. The table below indicates that enterprises consume relatively low quantities,
perhaps also indicating low production levels.
Sources and prices of waste materials
Waste materials (factory rejects like metal sheets, metal slugs) produced in metal
foundries at the Industrial Area are sold cheaply to ‘workers^23 ‘ and in turn sold to the
small-scale enterprises. This system evolved with the small-scale-recycling
sub-sector. Previously, these factories sold metal waste directly to artisans at
Kamukunji but as demand increased, stimulated by the expansion of the jua kali activ-
ities, ‘new’ intermediary positions emerged. Large-scale recycling units established
scrap metal dealerships around the Kamukunji area. Two of these, KIOI^24 and ROMA,
established in the early 1990s, are now the largest scrap metal dealers in the area. They
obtain metal waste in bulk from large-scale recycling units for sale to small-scale
metal recyclers in the city and from waste pickers at cheap prices for sale to LSRCs.
Other less important sources include building sites, car garages, factories and dumps.
The scrap metal dealerships in the areas surrounding Kamukunji^25 are now owned by
Asian businessmen closely associated with the large-scale metal foundries in the
Industrial Area.
Table 8.5. Total monthly consumption of waste material by small-scale enterprisesQuantity in Kg. No. enterprises using Percent
< 1
1-100
101-200
201- 300
301 – 400
–500
500
Not known
1
11
6 2 5 2 3 33
33
18
6
15
6
9
9Total 33 99
- These, as we later found out, are actually Asian scrap metal dealers in close business association with
the large-scale recycling units. - ‘Kioi’in Kikuyu means collector or gatherer. The name is in this instance used by an Asian business-
man essentially to camouflage the underhand business relations and operations with the large-scale
metal foundries in the city.
25.Industrial Area and the nearby Burma market and City Stadium and even those further away in Kari-
obangi