Opinion: How TVET can drive Africa’s circular economy

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As Africa transitions to a circular economy, Chrispaul Muthaura of KPMG cautions that ambitions may falter without a skilled workforce to support the sector. Amid a shortage of trained technicians, he advocates for investment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to equip professionals with practical skills.

• Mr Muthaura is the Senior Manager and Circular Economy Lead at KPMG East Africa, focusing on the intersection of circularity, sustainability, greenhouse-gas accounting, and related environmental solutions.

• He recommends a network of TVET colleges with industry-standard equipment, practical apprenticeships, and embedded entrepreneurship to develop technicians who can transform waste, launch micro-enterprises, and advance Africa’s circular economy.

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By Chrispaul Muthaura

A circular economy requires more than policy; it depends on individuals equipped with practical skills in workshops, laboratories, markets, factories, and repair facilities. In Kenya and throughout Africa, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) provides the most direct pathway to developing this skilled workforce. When TVET serves as the foundation, major waste streams such as electronic waste, plastics, food waste, and textiles are transformed from municipal liabilities into employment opportunities, safer urban environments, and new industrial inputs.

Kenya has established a supportive framework. The Sustainable Waste Management Act 2022 mandates segregation at source and producer responsibility. Counties are drafting bylaws for collection and recovery, and industry stakeholders are organising take-back schemes and recycled content initiatives. However, a consistent pipeline of technicians and small-enterprise founders capable of meeting these standards and generating local value remains absent. TVET addresses this gap.

What TVET must deliver in practice?
A contemporary TVET program must be modular, practical, and validated by industry. Learners advance through short micro-credentials that accumulate into comprehensive qualifications. Training occurs in purpose-built laboratories and through field apprenticeships with recyclers, refurbishers, manufacturers, farms, hotels, markets, and municipalities. Each module emphasises safety, environmental compliance, and quality control, ensuring graduates can meet audit requirements from county authorities, national regulators, and producer-responsibility organizations.

The following sections outline the application of this approach across four priority waste streams.

E-waste: repair, reuse, and responsible recovery
Kenyan towns and cities receive a constant flow of devices from households, businesses, and the public sector. The most valuable and safest outcome is to repair and reuse before thinking about material recovery. Trainees require a clear progression, encompassing basic electrical safety and multimetre use, board-level diagnostics and component replacement, safe soldering and heat-gun work, data wiping that adheres to institutional IT policies, and proper handling of lithium batteries, CRTs, and refrigerants.

Training must include bench etiquette, anti-static procedures, labelling and traceability, as well as the use of repair manuals and parts catalogues. Graduates should be comfortable issuing repair warranties, documenting the chain of custody, and preparing lots for certified recyclers when a device cannot be saved. With these competencies, counties can route institutional e-waste to accredited TVET-linked hubs, while enterprises build refurbishment lines that supply affordable devices to schools and SMEs.

Plastics: design for recycling and high-quality reprocessing
The plastics sector in Africa presents an opportunity beyond collection; it involves producing consistent, specification-grade recyclate suitable for manufacturers. Learners start with polymer identification through tactile, visual, and basic testing methods, progressing to sensor-assisted sorting. Training includes contamination control, washing and drying of polyethene terephthalate (PET), hot-wash procedures, and the operation of shredders and granulators. The reprocessing curriculum covers extrusion, pelletizing, and injection or blow moulding.

Quality control is essential; trainees conduct melt-flow index, tensile, and impact tests, and maintain batch records to ensure recycled pellets meet buyer specifications. A parallel design module explores how closures, labels, and colour choices impact recyclability, equipping graduates to advise local brands on effective packaging modifications for Kenyan recycling systems. These competencies enable TVET centres to operate demonstration lines that supply pellets or finished goods to local buyers, generating program revenue and reducing investment risk.

Food waste: organics to soil health, energy, and carbon value
Markets, hotels, schools, and residential estates in Kenya generate significant quantities of organic waste, much of which is disposed of in dumps, resulting in methane emissions and pest infestations. TVET training should begin with source-separation system design and bin logistics, followed by instruction in small- and medium-scale composting, vermiculture, and anaerobic digestion for kitchens, institutions, and farms. Learners develop skills in feedstock preparation, moisture and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio management, temperature and pathogen control, and record-keeping for quality assurance.

A specialised module addresses biochar production from crop residues and food-processing by-products, including kiln operation, quenching, grinding, and safe agronomic application. Graduates are equipped to design systems for markets in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, or county-operated facilities, manage odour and leachate, and produce marketable compost, bio-slurry, or biochar for agricultural use. With foundational skills in greenhouse gas accounting and monitoring, they can also contribute to projects that quantify methane reduction and enhance soil carbon, facilitating access to results-based financing.

Textiles: extend life, remanufacture, and prepare for recycling
Clothing and household textiles circulate rapidly within African cities. Optimal environmental and employment outcomes are achieved by extending the lifespan of these items. TVET programs should provide instruction in advanced mending, alterations, darning, and invisible repairs, followed by pattern adaptation and remanufacturing processes that convert damaged garments into new products. Trainees acquire skills in fibre identification, grading for resale, workroom organisation, and safe dyeing and washing techniques.

The curriculum also covers the operation of take-back programs and preparation of textiles for mechanical or chemical recycling, where available. Graduates are prepared to manage repair counters in malls and markets, operate community repair laboratories, collaborate with designers on remanufactured product lines, and supply graded materials to recyclers. These activities reduce landfill use, increase local value retention, and create new opportunities in creative manufacturing.

How to run TVET for circularity in Kenya and the region
The implementation model involves a network of colleges equipped with shared resources, including e-waste benches with antistatic protection, secure battery storage, shredders and extruders for plastics, testing rigs for melt-flow and tensile strength, composting pads, small anaerobic digesters, biochar kilns, sewing laboratories, and pattern-making tables. County governments supply space and reliable feedstock by enforcing source separation and contracting collection partners.

Producer-responsibility organisations and manufacturers collaborate to design competencies, certify micro-credentials, and provide offtake agreements, ensuring trainees work on actual orders. Development partners contribute to initial equipment procurement and trainer capacity building. Each cohort completes a work-based apprenticeship, and graduates receive verifiable digital badges.

Quality and safety are fundamental components. Learners engage in hazard assessment, fire prevention, machine guarding, chemical and refrigerant safety, environmental management, and basic public health protocols. Training includes documentation practices such as batch sheets, maintenance logs, manifests, and compliance reports, which are necessary to meet the requirements of county inspectors, national regulators, and buyers.

Entrepreneurship is integrated throughout the curriculum. Trainees learn to price services, calculate yields and losses, maintain basic accounts, adhere to customer service standards, and understand public and corporate procurement processes. This foundation enables graduates to establish micro-enterprises such as mobile repair services, plastics micro-sorting stations, composting units for residential estates, and remanufacturing studios, or to assume technician roles in larger organisations.

What success looks like
Within one year of implementation, a county-TVET-industry partnership can demonstrate measurable outcomes. These include increased employment with specific targets for women and youth, significant reductions in waste entering rivers or dumps, consistent delivery of recycled materials to manufacturers, decreased methane emissions from organic waste, and a growing number of small enterprises that remain operational beyond their first year. The short, practical modules enable rapid transition from training to employment. Built-in quality assurance fosters business confidence and encourages repeat orders.

Education leaders should begin by mapping current courses to the competencies described above and converting theory-focused content into laboratory sessions and apprenticeships. Manufacturers and producer-responsibility organisations can define specifications, commit to offtake agreements, and host trainees. County governments can allocate land for training and production hubs and align bylaws with source separation requirements. Investors and development partners can provide funding for equipment and performance-based grants linked to measurable outcomes.

Africa's circular economy depends on a skilled workforce capable of diagnosing motherboards, operating extruders, managing compost windrows, remanufacturing garments, and completing quality documentation independently. TVET can supply this workforce at scale. Through effective partnerships, Kenya and neighbouring countries can transform current waste streams into future prosperity, resulting in cleaner urban environments, stronger local industries, and meaningful employment for the next generation.