Nzambi Matee is a Kenyan materials engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Gjenge Makers, a company transforming discarded plastic into affordable and durable construction materials.

Her journey began after she became increasingly concerned about the plastic waste scattered across the streets of Nairobi. Instead of simply seeing waste as a problem, Matee saw an opportunity to create something useful from it.

In 2017, she left her job and began experimenting with plastic waste and sand in a small laboratory she set up in her mother’s backyard. She invested her savings into developing a way to transform the materials into paving blocks, spending years testing different plastic mixtures and designing the machinery needed to produce them at scale.

The result was Gjenge Makers—producing paving blocks made from recycled plastic and sand. The products have been used in homes and schools, offering an alternative to conventional concrete while giving discarded plastic a second life.

Matee’s innovation also created economic opportunities for waste collectors, including women and young people involved in supplying and processing plastic waste.

Her work earned international recognition when she was named a 2020 UNEP Young Champion of the Earth, an award recognising young innovators developing solutions to environmental challenges.

Nzambi Matee’s story is a powerful reminder that innovation does not always begin with abundant resources. Sometimes, it begins with looking at a problem everyone else has learned to overlook—and asking, “What can I create from this?”

She saw waste.
She saw possibility.
And she built something that turned one into the other.