An African Success Story—Earthbound: Nzambi Matee

We have 10 free tickets to this award-winning documentary showing in Tokyo on March 14-21.
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Amidst a catastrophic plastic waste crisis in her hometown of Nairobi, Kenya, Nzambi Matee risks everything to pioneer technology that transforms plastic waste into sustainable paving bricks. Executive produced by Orlando Bloom with Tokyo NPO Hummingbird International, Earthbound is the first in a documentary series that explores the captivating lives of six seemingly ordinary people connected by an extraordinary relationship with the natural world. 

Each episode focuses on a different change maker (scientist, farmer, student, entrepreneur, technologist) whose work has transformed humanity’s relationship with the environment in a pivotal way. Each of them is taking compassionate action to help ease the world’s suffering. 

The plot: Nzambi Matee (pictured above) is a 29-year-old Kenyan oil and gas industry engineer who’s changing the way the construction sector thinks. Nzambi walked away from a lucrative career after a trip to the port of Mombasa, where she discovered a sea of plastic bags and bottles in the crystal blue waters of the Indian Ocean. This experience inspired Nzambi to create a solution to the country’s plastics problem by converting waste into sustainable materials. She launched the new venture in her mother’s backyard, where she began combining recycled plastic and sand to create paving bricks. 

Nzambi’s company, Gjenge Makers, produces a lightweight, low-cost and durable building material (pictured above) that’s stronger than concrete. The company currently produces about 500-1,000 bricks daily, and recycles close to 500 kilograms of plastic waste everyday. 

Named a United Nations Young Champion of the Earth in 2020, Nzambi is among a new generation of young environmentalists tackling global challenges.