COLLECTION,TRANSPORTATION AND DISPOSAL IN NAIROBI 75
containers with fitting lids. Since the efficiency of waste collection is inextricably
related to the mode of storage and technical appropriateness of storage containers, it
is not surprising that the private companies offer a better quality solid waste collection
service than the NCC.
Private companies altogether collect 115-130 tonnes of SW daily (JICA, 1998),
almost double the amount collected by the NCC. There is a high concentration in the
private solid waste collection sector, with a few of the firms collecting a large propor-
tion of this waste. For example, in 1998 Kenya Refuse Handlers Limited (KRH) alone
collected more waste than the NCC: 46 percent of all the waste collected then (JICA,
1998). About 81 percent of the households served by private companies live in the
high and middle-income areas (largely the western part) of the city (see also table 4.2
and 4.3).
Privately provided garbage collection services are reported to be regular, reliable and
well- organised because the clientele demands quality solid waste collection services.
The survey we carried out in 1998, however, indicated that the service provided by
small firms is erratic.
Other actors in solid waste collection
Self-provision on an ad hoc basis and outside formal rules is a common response to
public service failure, especially when private companies consider market opportuni-
ties unfavourable. Communities often organise themselves as providers, especially in
the areas of wastewater and solid waste disposal, with NGOs playing the key role of
providing technical input during design and implementation (World Bank, 2000). This
trend has been observed in Nairobi. Although private companies started joining the
solid waste collection sector in mid-1980s they failed to extend into low-income and
unplanned settlement areas. Consequently, community-based initiatives in waste
collection, transport, storage, trading and recycling started to emerge, especially since
the early 1990s. There are now numerous CBOs, in the form of charitable organisa-
tions, ethnic associations, welfare societies, village committees, and self-help groups.
Residential associations are a special and significant category of CBOs.
CBOs
The majority of CBOs in the city concentrate on composting, which involves solid
waste collection as a way of obtaining waste materials. However, the main activity of
about 44 percent of the CBOs interviewed was cleaning their neighbourhood while
one-third of them were involved in waste picking. Households receiving solid waste
collection services from CBOs dump their waste at a central place in the neighbour-
hood, from where it is collected by CBO-employees or volunteers.