Kenya

Partnered with Uhunzi

Uhunzi is a small Kenyan company established six years ago, dedicated to producing products that are recycled, sustainable, environmentally friendly and promote fair trade. Based in the highlands north of Kenya’s capital, Uhunzi ‘s employees belong to diverse tribes from all over the country. Along with their 7 highly skilled team members, the company supports the living of the people living in Nairobi’s slums, buying their collected scrap metal to recycle. With this scrap metal, the process continues:

“The scrap metal is melted down in a home made clay furnace that is powered by recycled waste engine oil. The molten metal is then poured into sand moulds, utilising waste sand from the glass industry, which is usually discarded by the Glass companies once they have extracted silica from it for making glass. Uhunzi utilises this waste sand, mixing it with molasses as a binder and making our moulds from it.

Once the casting process is complete, each item goes through a very labour intensive finishing process that involves skill, time and effort, before the item can be packed and marketed. From creating the mould through to casting and polishing, each stage is done by hand which makes each product unique and special.”