CENTRE FOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS

Human activities have historically generated pollution and waste which accumulates in landfills and dumpsites. The accumulated waste is carried by wind or rainfall or directly dumped by humans into the same water bodies used for drinking water, crop irrigation, and fisheries. A summary of the effects of human activities on the degradation of Eastern Africa's land and aquatic systems can be found in Odada, Olago and Olaka's 2020 article. Rapid industrialization is improving the quality of life across the globe while simultaneously depleting resources from the natural ecosystems that sustain life and human comfort. Pesticides sprayed on crops also flow into natural water systems when there is rain. Alarmingly high levels of globally banned pesticides (persistent organic pollutants such as organochloride) that create a serious health risk have been found in Kenya's Nairobi River (Ndunda, Madadi & Wandiga, 2018). Local populations are able to identify longitudinal (10yrs to 40 yrs) changes in climate and temperature (Yvonne, Ouma, Olago & Opondo, 2020). An increase in regional weather reporting hubs such 3D printed automatic weather stations (3D PAWS) would enable more accurate analysis on the relationship between human polluting activities and climate variability (Singh, Daron, Bazas, Ziergovel, Spear, Krishnaswamy, Zaroug & Kituyi, 2018). Both mitigation and adaptation activities need to be scaled up at the community level in order to reduce and reverse the negative effects of human pollution on local ecosystems.

Circular Bioeconomy is an emerging field in which the chemical processes and the raw material supplies for products are diverted from landfills towards industrial raw material supply chains where they are converted into new products. Extended producer responsibility practices such as recovery of waste plastic to make plumbing pipes and bottles is an early stage circular bioeconomy activity. If you keep waste banana peels in a clean bin instead of the garbage can, they can be blended as a micronutrient fortifier for smoothies, used as flavoring for meats and traditional African dishes, used as animal feed, and, if you still have left over banana peels, they can be carbonized and used as aggregates in building materials (Wandiga C., 2020). Increased use of IoT sensors and material flow tracking through platforms such as Uchumi Duara (Uduara for short) will enable improved tracking of the type, quantity, and quality of materials that are available for reuse. Safer chemical processes can be developed using chem analytics to predict toxic by-products. Digital construction and manufacturing tools enable greater supply chain traceability as well as rapid process redesign.

IoT sensors are nanoscale data capturing tools that can be easily configured to a variety of uses. An IoT sensor can measure temperature in soil, in freshwater, in an industrial furnace, on a human body. The same is true for measuring carbon dioxide and green house gases as well as chemicals that are toxic in large or small quantities. Responsible Care® guilding principles provide a global voluntary standard that, if taken seriously and integrated with green chemistry and biomimicry principles, will enable a market driven transition towards safer chemical management in the reuse of products, by-products, residues, and waste.