The Ripple from Lake Victoria
Clifford Okoth grew up along the shimmering yet troubled shores of Lake Victoria, where the morning sun danced on water choked by plastic waste and invasive water hyacinth. As a child, he watched fishermen struggle to untangle their nets from thick mats of weeds and saw mothers boil fish over smoky fires surrounded by heaps of discarded plastic bottles. What was once a thriving source of life had turned into a symbol of neglect and forgotten communities.
After graduating from the University of Nairobi, Clifford moved to Mathare, living close to the polluted Nairobi River. There, he came face to face with yet another crisis: urban rivers choking on plastic waste, illegal dumpsites burning toxic fumes, and children and expectant mothers coughing in the suffocating smoke. In low-income settlements where households could not afford waste collection services, waste piled up, poisoned the air and waterways, and silently stole health, dignity, and opportunity.
These raw, physical encounters, combined with his childhood memories of Lake Victoria’s struggles, fueled a deeper determination. Clifford realized that pollution was not just an environmental crisis, but a social injustice that disproportionately burdened vulnerable communities.
Driven by hope and science, and inspired by community resilience, he joined hands with youth, women, and local innovators to found Chemolex, a social impact organization committed to turning environmental challenges into engines of opportunity. From invasive hyacinth weeds, he pioneered Biopactic™, a biodegradable alternative to plastics. From river plastics, he developed AI-powered interceptors and circular recycling hubs, enabling communities to turn waste into eco-tiles, poles, and paving blocks.
Expanding the Horizon
Chemolex: Revolutionizing Circular Waste Solutions for Equitable, Climate-Resilient Cities
Chemolex has developed Africa’s most inclusive, technology-enabled circular waste system, aimed at cleaning and restoring heavily polluted urban river ecosystems, empowering low-income urban riparian communities, and creating dignified green jobs in underserved urban areas. Our model combines AI-driven river waste interception, modular circular waste hubs, women- and youth-focused green employment, anddata-based policy innovation, establishing Chemolex as one of East Africa’s leading climate impact organizations.
Across Kenya`s most polluted rivers that pass through densely populated slums, we operate 12 AI-enabled river interceptors that autonomously detect, capture, and classify waste before it enters rivers and flows into the Indian Ocean. To date, these systems have intercepted 15,000 tons of trash, including 5,300 tons of ocean-bound plastic, reducing flooding, restoring river ecology, controlling the spread of waterborne diseases, and preventing dangerous downstream contamination by microplastics.
To reinforce upstream circularity, Chemolex deploys low-cost modular waste–processing hubsthat provideaffordable, accessible waste collection and recycling servicesto over 200,000 riparian slum residents. These hubs transform communities historically excluded from municipal waste systems. Each hub converts low-value plastics into durable construction-grade materials, collectively recycling over 12,000 tons of plastic annually into eco-poles, tiles, and paving blocks.
Our mission is rooted in dignity. We have trained and empowered 500 women and youth waste workers, offering safe working environments, protective equipment, structured pay, and professional training. By formalizing waste labor, we eliminate hazardous scavenging, prevent open dumping and burning, and reduce air- and river-borne health risks.
Chemolex also champions evidence-based climate governance. We collect granular segregated waste data, enabling national stakeholders to assess policy effectiveness and strengthen Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and plastic regulatory frameworks in partnership with ministries, industry coalitions, and global research institutions.
Finally, we have converted 12 former illegal dumpsites into green parks and play spaces, increasing community safety, well-being, and environmental pride.
Biopactic™: Transforming the World’s Most Harmful Invasive Weeds into a Circular Better Plastic Alternative
The world urgently needs superior, fully biodegradable alternatives to persistent plastics and fossil-based polymers, especially in high-consumption, high-emission sectors such as packaging, personal care, textiles, and hygiene products. These industries generate some of the most recalcitrant waste streams and chemicals on the planet, from single-use packaging to diapers and feminine hygiene products that linger for centuries in landfills, rivers, and oceans. Replacing these materials is no longer optional; it is a climate, health, and biodiversity imperative.
At the same time, Africa faces an ecological crisis driven by the invasive water hyacinth, the world’s most destructive aquatic weed. With persistent infestation across 5,000+ freshwaterbodies, including Lake Victoria, water hyacinth has suffocated fish habitats, disrupted transport and tourism, and created breeding grounds for mosquitoes, snakes, and disease vectors — increasing malaria, waterborne illness, and community vulnerability. Millions of riparian livelihoods are directly impacted.
Biopactic™ by Chemolex tackles these twin crises through circular bio-innovation. Working hand in hand with riparian community cooperatives, Chemolex mobilizes local women and youth to remove over 300 tons of water hyacinth from Lake Victoria and surrounding wetlands annually. Using patented advanced Bio-conversion technology, this biomass is transformed into Biopactic™, a high-performance, biodegradable material engineered to replace fossil-based plastics in critical industries. Every ton of Biopactic™ displaces an equivalent volume of petroleum-derived polymer, cutting plastic pollution and reducing carbon footprints across supply chains.
Residual biomass from the Biopactic™ process is converted into clean biogas, which is supplied to women fish processors and market traders as a sustainable alternative to charcoal and firewood. This not only protects local forests and reduces carbon emissions, but also improves health and income for women fisherfolk and fishmongers, while enabling cleaner, safer fish preservation and processing.
Takalex™: Digitizing Waste Work, Proving Impact, and Accelerating Circular Justice
Takalex™ is Chemolex’s breakthrough digital platform built to professionalize and empower frontline waste workers, bringing trust, transparency, and traceability into Africa’s circular economy. Designed with and for women and youth waste pickers, Takalex™ enables real-time tracking of waste collection, sorting, and recycling activities, turning informal labor into verifiable climate action.
Through intuitive mobile tools, waste pickers record volumes, material types, locations, and service beneficiaries, creating a transparent chain of custody for every kilogram recovered. This system ensures digital traceability, provides proof-of-work, and links community recyclers directly to offtakers, buyers, and verified recycling markets — improving income reliability and market access.
Takalex™ also functions as a river and ecosystem restoration intelligence system, documenting debris interception, waterway clean-ups, and progress in rehabilitating former dumpsites. Each data entry contributes to a growing evidence base that informs local governments, climate finance partners, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs.
Integrated performance dashboards allow partners to audit impact, monitor community engagement, verify recycling outcomes, and measure methane avoidance from reduced open dumping and burning, strengthening trust infrastructure across the waste value chain.
By digitizing informal work, Takalex™ transforms waste pickers into recognized environmental stewards, strengthens circular supply chains, and provides credible, field-level impact intelligence, proving that technology can make grassroots climate action visible, valuable, and investable.