EcoPost Kenya: Inside the company turning plastic waste into building materials

Kenya's plastic waste problem and demand for affordable construction materials rarely appear in the same conversation.

EcoPost decided to connect the two.

Founded in 2009 by Lorna Rutto and Charles Kalama, the Nairobi-based social enterprise set out to manufacture building materials from discarded plastic.

Its first production line became operational in 2010, initially using refurbished industrial machinery.

The idea was simple: create an alternative to timber while finding commercial value in plastic that would otherwise end up in dumpsites or waterways.

How plastic becomes lumber

EcoPost's manufacturing process begins with collecting and sorting plastic waste.

Suppliers include waste collection businesses, informal collectors, companies and groups dealing in recyclable materials.

At the factory, the plastic is separated according to type and quality, with contaminants removed before processing.

The material is then shredded, heated and moulded into solid profiles, which are cooled and cut into usable lengths.

The company primarily works with recycled polymers including high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP).

It also produces wood-plastic composites by combining recycled polymers with recovered wood fibres and sawdust.

The result is plastic lumber designed to perform some of the everyday functions of timber without requiring chemical treatment.

What can you build with EcoPost?

The company's catalogue has grown beyond its original fencing posts.

Its products include round and square fencing poles, plastic planks, decking boards, wall cladding, road-signage posts, garden beds and outdoor furniture.

They are marketed to homeowners, farmers, institutions, landscaping businesses and commercial customers.

EcoPost says its products resist termites, rot, mould and algae, making them suitable for outdoor applications.

Its own ageing tests estimate a lifespan of at least 50 years, although actual performance depends on the application and conditions.

There is an important limitation: the company cautions that its plastic lumber is not intended for load-bearing structural applications without engineering assessment.

The collectors behind the factory

EcoPost's business model extends beyond manufacturing.

The company relies on a network of waste collectors, including young people and women in marginalised communities, who supply the plastics used in production.

This creates an income market for materials that might otherwise have little commercial value.

In March 2023, Austrian plastics manufacturer Borealis announced a partnership with EcoPost to strengthen this supply chain.

The collaboration included training, capacity building and entrepreneurial start-up kits for youth and women's groups involved in plastic collection and preparation.

The approach gives the company two commercial advantages: access to raw materials and a wider network of people participating in the recycling economy.

The struggle to scale

EcoPost's early years were not an easy environmental success story.

A 2012 Stanford Graduate School of Business case study, EcoPost: Financing a Green Startup in Africa, documented a business producing approximately 80 - 100 posts daily, with demand regularly exceeding manufacturing capacity.

The founders needed additional machinery and working capital but struggled to secure financing.

Incomplete financial records, thin operating margins, power interruptions and limited production capacity affected expansion.

At one point, the business even struggled to meet its factory rent.

The case study offers an unusually candid account of the difficulties facing manufacturing start-ups: having a product customers want does not automatically provide the capital required to produce it at scale.

More than plastic recycling

EcoPost has attracted support from organisations including Safaricom Foundation, WWF, KCB Bank, Coca-Cola and the Opes Impact Fund, according to its company profile.

Its work has also featured in international environmental and circular-economy programmes.

The company is now part of a broader conversation about circular manufacturing in Kenya: recovering waste, reducing dependence on virgin materials and creating commercially useful products from discarded resources.

Its business proposition is straightforward.

Plastic waste becomes raw material, raw material becomes a saleable construction product, and the recycling chain creates income for people supplying the material.