Making baby diapers and sanitary pads from farm waste

 

From left, Martin Murigi, Moses Mathenyu and Edwin Madivoli.

From the regular rice straw, papyrus reeds, banana stalks and the water hyacinth that have constituted a menace to both fishermen and water transport operators  alike has turn to resources that creates wealth!

Rice straw.

Seated in a small tent at the Nyeri Agricultural Trade Fair recently, the three young men dressed in white overcoats waited eagerly for the show-goers to approach them.

On a table in the tent were small bundles of dried papyrus reeds, banana stalks, rice straw and water hyacinth — their raw materials.

Papyrus

          

Moses Mathenyu, Edwin Madivoli and Martin Murigi were at the trade fair to exhibit their biodegradable sanitary pads and diapers made from agricultural waste.

The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) second year Masters of Science students make the pads and diapers from papyrus reeds, banana stalks, rice straw and water hyacinth.

“We came up with the innovations to help rural women especially. Ours are not the first ones since there is someone who is making sanitary pads from banana waste, but they are unique because we use a variety of agricultural waste and make baby diapers,” Mathenyu says.

Water hyacinth

                            HOW DID THEY MANAGE TO PULL THIS FEAT?   
      

The students of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry collect the raw materials and thoroughly dry them.

They are then ground into fine particles and treated with various chemicals to extract cellulose, which is needed for making super-absorbent polymers for diapers and sanitary pads.

The polymers are put in non-woven cotton fabrics to come up with final products.

The sanitary pads and diapers are suited to different kinds of people and are classified into light, medium and heavy.

The students have taken their idea to the Kenya Industrial Property Institute with a view to having it patented.

If endorsed and commercialised, Madivoli says, the innovation will provide efficient products for the low-end market.

                                              BIGGEST BENEFICIARIES

“We have done an analysis and found out that the towels will be cheaper than what is in the market because we use locally available materials. A twin-pack of 20 can profitably retail at Sh80.” ($0.96)

Once patented, the students, through JKUAT, intend to invite investors willing to partner with them.

“If commercialised, the project will create an industry that will offer employment opportunities.”

But banana and rice farmers could be the biggest beneficiaries as they will be able to earn cash from what they consider waste.

“Water hyacinth has become a menace, but here we have a chance to make it economically beneficial.”

The weed has mainly affected Lake Victoria in Kisumu County, hampering transport, fishing and becoming a breeding ground for various pests.

Madivoli says they plan people to harvest the water weed from the lake and sell to them.

The student’s greatest challenge has been lack of funds to actualize the project.

“We have so far received up to Sh100,000 ($1,125) funding from JKUAT to work on the project. We are really grateful, but we now need to take the project forward,” says Murigi.

They are hope to get funding from JKUAT’s Innovation Fund and a grant from the National Council of Science Technology and Innovation, he says, adding: “A small pilot project would require approximately Sh1 million ($11,250) before commencement of large-scale production.”

 “A gram of the polythetic material produced as a final product is able to absorb 20 times its weight. For instance, one gram of polymer absorber will absorb 20g of liquid,” JKUAT chemistry Professor Patrick Kareru, who guided the three students through the project, says.

The don notes that the super-absorbent substance has undergone thorough laboratory analysis to ensure it is working and that it has no effect on users.

According to Prof Kareru, most diapers and sanitary towels in the market are made from petroleum products, which pose serious health risks to the users — babies and women.

“Petroleum products do not decompose quickly and can last up to 1,000 years even after disposal thus becoming a threat to the environment. These diapers and towels are bio-degradable.”

                                                         HAVE GREAT IDEAS

He reveals that so far, investors from US and Britain have expressed interest in taking part in the development of large-scale processing of the sanitary pads and diapers and that negotiation are underway.

“There is much potential in young people. They have great ideas that if nurtured can help the country develop, particularly in the agricultural sector where value addition is almost non-existent.” 

So inspiring!

l will be attending the Nairobi international trade fair which is starting on the 29th of September and ends 3rd of October. It is being organized by the Agricultural Society of Kenya where everything  agricultural will be exhibited. l expect to come across lots of innovations at the fair and would certainly post them here.

l will also be visiting the stand of the biogas technology,   Read  here 

l was at their center earlier in the week and was informed they are working towards setting up  a demonstration center in Nigeria in the coming months and this would  mean  anyone can go there and learn and also buy the materials to set up his or her biogas digester, which is easily set up in a day and after a week begin cooking in your kitchen with gas from your digester.

While at the centre l was shown an on-going project that is aimed at providing cooking gas for slum dwellers, a biogas plant that would be generating gas that would be filling about  8 biogas cylinders of about 50kg each daily, It will be taken to the slum in a cart and would be stationed in a centralized place and piped to the  kitchens of different homes.

l also saw tuk-tuks (Keke-NAPEP) that is running on biogas generated from the digester likewise generators (slightly modified) getting its fuel from the digester! 

Email: koboideas@gmail.com