Campus to Community: How Three UCU Students are Turning Mukono’s Plastic Waste into Building Pavers

In an open yard situated along Bishop Tucker Road just behind the Uganda Christian University main gate, a group of three final-year engineering and environmental sciences students are demonstrating how youthful ingenuity can solve Mukono's plastic menace.

Under their registered startup, Eco-Pave Mukono, the trio collects discarded plastic bottles, polyethylene bags, and water sachets from local municipal markets, melting them down under controlled low-emission kilns and blending the molten polymer with quarry dust.

"Every square metre of our pavers takes away approximately 400 discarded polythene kaveeras from Mukono’s drainage channels. Our pavers have undergone compressive strength testing at the district materials laboratory and passed with flying colours," explains project co-founder Brenda Nabirye.

The initiative has already paved walkways for two community primary schools in Nama sub-county, providing durable surfaces that eliminate muddy classroom floors during rainy seasons while educating pupils on circular waste economies.