How EcoBitz Is Turning Waste Recycling into Bitcoin-Powered Economic Opportunity in Kenya
Bitcoin adoption does not always begin with trading, investing or saving. Sometimes, it begins with a discarded glass bottle.
In Machakos, Kenya, Kevin Makini and his initiative, EcoBitz, are exploring how Bitcoin can create economic incentives around waste recycling while supporting local commerce and environmental sustainability.
By combining glass collection, community cleanups, Bitcoin education and Lightning payments, EcoBitz is developing a model where people can earn Bitcoin through environmental work and use those earnings within their communities.
The idea addresses two interconnected challenges: waste management and limited economic opportunities for people involved in informal recycling. Rather than treating discarded materials as worthless, EcoBitz sees them as resources that can generate value for the people who collect and recycle them.
Its approach is built around a simple principle: reward useful work, make Bitcoin practical and keep more economic value circulating locally.
The Founder’s Journey
Kevin Makini’s Bitcoin journey began with curiosity. After discovering Bitcoin online, he enrolled in a course through Core Bitcoin Education in Kenya to understand the technology and its potential applications.
The learning experience changed how he viewed money, financial systems and the possibilities of using Bitcoin to address everyday challenges.
One opportunity stood out.
In his community, discarded glass bottles were accumulating on streets, around businesses and in landfills. Although recycling offered a way to address the problem, the economic incentives were often insufficient to encourage sustained participation.
Kevin began exploring how Bitcoin could change that equation.
Instead of approaching recycling solely as an environmental activity, he envisioned a system that rewarded people for collecting discarded materials while introducing them to an alternative financial network.
That idea became EcoBitz.
The initiative started with collecting glass bottles and returning them to productive use. Its broader ambition was to build an ecosystem where environmental contributions could generate earnings, introduce people to Bitcoin and create opportunities for local economic participation.
For Kevin, Bitcoin education also needed to move beyond theory. People should be able to experience its usefulness through activities that directly affect their lives.
Core Insights & Infrastructure
EcoBitz combines environmental work with Bitcoin-based rewards through a straightforward process.
Glass bottles are collected from streets, shops and landfills before being sold for recycling. The proceeds are converted into sats, which are then distributed to the people involved in the collection process.
However, the initiative quickly encountered an important challenge.
Initially, some participants converted their Bitcoin earnings into M-Pesa or other fiat currencies. While this allowed them to access their rewards, it meant that the Bitcoin earned through recycling was not necessarily being used within the local economy.
Kevin recognised that rewarding people in Bitcoin was only one part of building a circular economy. Participants also needed places where they could spend their sats.
This shifted EcoBitz’s focus towards merchant adoption and local spending opportunities.
By connecting recyclers with businesses willing to accept Bitcoin, the initiative is working towards an economic cycle in which people can earn sats through recycling and use them to purchase goods and services.
Lightning Network payments make this model more practical by enabling faster, lower-cost transactions suitable for everyday purchases.
Kevin also drew lessons from other African Bitcoin circular economy initiatives, particularly AfriBit Kibera, whose experience with community-based merchant adoption demonstrated the importance of creating opportunities to spend Bitcoin locally.
The objective is not simply to distribute sats but to establish an ecosystem where Bitcoin can circulate between people, merchants and businesses.
Transparency remains central to the model. EcoBitz aims to make the connection between collected glass, recycling proceeds, Bitcoin conversion and participant rewards understandable, helping people see how their environmental contributions translate into economic value.
The initiative has also received support from members of the wider African Bitcoin ecosystem. Bitcoin Ecosy and other supporters have provided sats at important moments, helping sustain its activities and development.
EcoBitz’s work extends beyond collecting glass bottles.
The initiative has introduced organised community sanitation activities, bringing residents together on Saturdays to clean their surroundings. Participants use basic equipment, including gloves, rakes and spades, to remove waste and improve the local environment.
These activities encourage residents to take collective responsibility for their surroundings while strengthening the community relationships behind the project.
Another important development is the establishment of the EcoBitz Hub.
The hub provides a physical location where people can learn about Bitcoin, ask questions and drop off recyclable glass in exchange for instant payment. By bringing education and practical Bitcoin usage together, EcoBitz makes the technology more accessible to people who might otherwise have little reason to interact with it.
Kevin reports that the initiative has made considerable progress in clearing discarded glass from the community. More residents are beginning to recognise the economic value of recyclable materials, while some participants have developed an interest in acquiring additional sats after experiencing Bitcoin transactions firsthand.
EcoBitz was also featured in the Bigger Than Bitcoin documentary, giving the initiative an opportunity to showcase its work and the people contributing to it.
For Kevin, however, the most important measure of progress remains the work happening on the ground. Community participation, cleaner surroundings and practical Bitcoin transactions matter more than simply documenting the initiative.
Future Outlook
Kevin believes Bitcoin can play a significant role in Africa’s economic development, particularly as more people understand its practical applications beyond buying and holding.
He sees education, merchant adoption and community-led initiatives as important drivers of wider adoption.
EcoBitz demonstrates how these ideas can come together around an existing community challenge. Rather than introducing Bitcoin as an entirely separate activity, the initiative connects it to recycling, sanitation and local commerce.
There are still challenges to address, including expanding merchant participation, maintaining recycling incentives, accessing better equipment and helping more people understand how to use and secure their Bitcoin.
Nevertheless, Kevin’s approach offers a practical starting point for aspiring African founders: identify a real problem, understand the people affected by it and build a solution that creates tangible value.
His own journey reflects that philosophy. Raised by his grandparents in a humble background, Kevin has navigated personal and resource limitations while pursuing his ambitions. Beyond his work with Bitcoin, he is also a spoken-word artist and writer, using creative expression to communicate ideas and share experiences.
For him, EcoBitz represents more than a recycling initiative. It is an opportunity to demonstrate how technology, environmental responsibility and community participation can work together to improve lives.
The broader lesson is that Bitcoin adoption does not have to begin with speculation or financial discussions. It can start with something as familiar as waste collection, a local business willing to accept sats and a community determined to solve a shared problem.
In Machakos, Kevin Makini is putting that idea into practice, one bottle, one transaction and one community cleanup at a time.