Githurai residents no longer need to travel to Kasarani or Roysambu to sell sorted plastic — a new buy-back point is now open on site every Tuesday, the fourth fixed point in our growing network, and the clearest recent example of how we decide where to expand next.

Why Githurai specifically, and why now

Githurai wasn't a speculative choice. For months before this point opened, we'd noticed Githurai residents making the trip to our Kasarani and Roysambu buy-back points to sell sorted plastic, a clear signal that demand existed locally well before we had dedicated infrastructure there. Rather than waiting for a formal request through a baraza or committee, in this case the evidence was already visible in who was showing up at our existing points — which made Githurai a natural next step once we had the capacity to support a fourth location.

How the location was chosen

We worked with market vendors and the local estate committee to identify a site that fit how residents already move through Githurai in an ordinary week, rather than asking them to make a special trip. The market frontage was chosen specifically because it sits on a route residents already pass through regularly, which matters more for sustained participation than a technically central but less-visited location would.

How the Githurai point operates

Every Tuesday from 9am to 1pm, our team weighs and pays for clean, sorted plastic directly outside Githurai market, following the same process as our other buy-back points: plastic weighed on the spot, paid for immediately in cash at our standard published rates, with no registration or minimum quantity required. The same guidance applies as at our other points — clean, dry plastic, sorted by type where possible, with PET and HDPE the two categories we can process at volume.

Early results from the opening weeks

Turnout in the opening weeks has been strong, consistent with what we'd expect given that demand was already visible before the point opened. It's reinforced something we've learned from every previous buy-back point and collection village expansion: when we expand into an area where interest is already demonstrated rather than assumed, uptake tends to be immediate rather than something that needs to be built up slowly from a cold start.

What this means for Githurai's wider waste picture

A local buy-back point does more than simply save residents a trip. It creates a direct, visible incentive for segregation specifically in Githurai, which should, over time, reduce how much recyclable plastic ends up in general waste or informal dumping locally rather than being sorted and sold. It also strengthens the case, discussed separately in our piece on Githurai market vendors, for treating Githurai as a genuine hub within our wider network rather than a peripheral area we occasionally serve.

What's next for the buy-back network

Githurai is our fourth fixed buy-back point, alongside Kasarani, Roysambu and Sunton, and we track uptake carefully at every new location before deciding where the next one might go. The same evidence-led approach that led us to Githurai — watching where demand was already showing up rather than guessing — will guide wherever the fifth point eventually opens.

How to use the Githurai buy-back point

  • Bring clean, sorted plastic (PET or HDPE) to the market frontage any Tuesday between 9am and 1pm.
  • No registration or appointment needed — just arrive with your sorted material.
  • Rates match our other buy-back points and are posted clearly at the point itself.
  • Rinse and separate caps where possible to speed up weighing, though our team can help sort if needed.

What Githurai vendors specifically asked for

Beyond the general demand we'd observed at our other buy-back points, conversations with market vendors during the planning stage surfaced a specific, practical concern: many vendors handle small volumes of packaging plastic themselves — wrapping material, containers — and wanted assurance that a local point could handle both household-scale and small-vendor-scale selling without one crowding out the other. We built the Tuesday schedule with enough capacity margin to accommodate both, rather than sizing it purely around household estimates and risking longer queues once vendor volume was added in.

How this connects to Githurai's organic waste collection point

Githurai now has two distinct waste-related touchpoints operating on different rhythms: the market's organic waste collection point, covered separately on our blog, running on a near-daily basis reflecting market volume, and this new Tuesday plastic buy-back point serving both household and vendor recyclables. Together, they mean Githurai residents and traders now have dedicated, local outlets for both major recoverable waste streams, rather than needing to travel elsewhere for either.

What we're watching over the coming months

Beyond the strong opening weeks, we're specifically tracking whether Githurai's turnout holds steady once initial novelty fades, which has historically been a more reliable indicator of a buy-back point's long-term viability than an enthusiastic first few sessions alone. Early signs are encouraging, but we've learned from previous expansions not to declare a new point fully established until it's shown consistent turnout across at least a couple of months.

How opening a fourth point has affected our other three

We were initially uncertain whether a new, closer Githurai point might simply redirect existing sellers from Kasarani or Roysambu rather than generating genuinely new participation. Early data suggests it's mostly the latter — new sellers who previously found the travel to an existing point too inconvenient to bother with — which is the outcome we'd hoped for rather than simply redistributing the same volume across more locations.

Frequently asked questions

What time does the Githurai buy-back point operate?

Every Tuesday, 9am to 1pm, outside Githurai market.

Do rates differ from other buy-back points?

No, Githurai follows the same published per-kilogram rates as our Kasarani, Roysambu and Sunton points.

Will Githurai eventually get full door-to-door collection too?

It's under consideration as part of our ongoing route assessment; the strong buy-back uptake in Githurai is a positive signal we're factoring into that decision.

See the full current schedule across all four buy-back points on our programmes page.