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Kenyan Teenagers Build $126 Exhaust Filter From Maize Cobs and Coconut Shells
Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo call their invention HewaSafi, Swahili for "clean air". It is designed to fit onto matatus, the privately owned minibuses that carry millions of passengers across Kenya's cities every day and are among the country's biggest sources of urban air pollution.
- Categories
- Energy, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Making Waste Pay: The Keys to Sustaining Paying Customers in Solid Waste Management
Despite growing discourse around the revenue potential of waste to wealth — i.e., reimagining waste as a valuable resource — profitability in municipal solid waste management remains low in India and other low- and middle-income countries. As Vishwanath Varma, Archana Masih, Diksha Rana and Ashish Kapil at Waste Warriors Society argue, this challenge has led to a growing focus on collecting user fees from households — yet that goal is easier said than done. They share analysis based on Waste Warriors Society’s user fee records and customer surveys, which reveals key insights on how to retain paying customers in solid waste management and other user fee-based models of social entrepreneurship.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, WASH
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Research: Microplastic Pollution Can Fuel Rise in Antibiotic Resistance
Plastic pollution and drug-resistant infections are usually regarded as separate global crises. But emerging research suggests links between them: Microplastic particles in the environment are colonized by bacteria, and those bacteria develop antibiotic resistance at an unprecedented rate.
- Categories
- Health Care, WASH
- Region
- Global
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China and the West Are Taking Opposite Paths on EV Battery Recycling
China has 85% of the world’s recycling capacity and a mandate to shred old packs. The U.S. has another plan: use them to save the power grid first.
- Categories
- Technology, WASH
- Region
- Global
- Tags
- e-mobility, recycling, renewable energy, solar, waste
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Report: The Human Cost of Recycling Tech Devices
Using more than 20 years of data, Finn and Gounaridis are working to make sense of what they call the “informal paradox”; a complex trade-off between relative economic opportunity and exposure to chronic health and environmental harm.
- Source
- University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) (link opens in a new window)
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Poor Battery Recycling Drives Lead Poisoning Risks in Africa’s Solar Energy Boom
Lead-acid batteries are widely used in many low-income markets because they are cheaper than alternatives like lithium-ion batteries, but safely recycling them requires costly infrastructure that is often lacking.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Three Questions for Five African Businesses: Insights from Sankalp Africa Summit’s ‘Enterprise Showcase’
The recent Sankalp Africa Summit featured an “Enterprise Showcase” where up-and-coming African businesses shared information about their work and missions. NextBillion interviewed five of these entrepreneurs and company representatives, asking each of them three questions: What are the main challenges you’re facing in running your business? What kind of support would help you overcome these challenges? And what’s one thing you wish funders understood about your business needs? Their responses reveal some of the innovative approaches and key issues that are emerging in Africa’s vibrant ecosystem of small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Social Enterprise, Transportation, WASH
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Analysis: Who Pays for Dignity? Rethinking India’s Waste Economy
Despite the essential role that waste workers perform in any functioning city, they are often severely underpaid and denied the dignity, security, and recognition they deserve.
- Categories
- WASH
- Region
- Global
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