The Youth Corner
Sustainable Innovation
By Norah Kimathi
Young innovators are at the forefront of technological advancements that underpin circularity. They harness tools like modular design, evident in robotics to reimagine waste as a resource. In Africa, youth-led initiatives in e-waste management employ robotics to extract value from discarded electronics, challenging the linear model of disposability. These efforts illustrate how technology, wielded by the youth, transforms visionary ideals into practical, scalable solutions.
The world stands at a crossroads. Climate crises intensify, inequities widen, and the linear economy built on extraction, production, and disposal crumbles under its own weight. Global material consumption has quadrupled in fifty years. In 2025, global e-waste generation is projected to surpass 65 million metric tonnes. This is not sustainable. The circular economy offers a system where waste is designed out, materials cycle endlessly, and value uplifts communities. When built with intention, technology becomes the foundation of a regenerative economy.
The youth represent a transformative force in advancing the circular economy, leveraging their creativity, technological acumen, and commitment to sustainability. Their active participation is a current reality, influencing a future in which fairness and resource efficiency coexist. This conversation highlights their ability to bring about significant change by examining their crucial position in innovation, education, technology, and systemic impact.
Education serves as a catalyst for this transformation, with the youth both learning and teaching circular principles. Universities increasingly integrate sustainable design into curricula, empowering students to create enduring systems. Simultaneously, young entrepreneurs establish startups like Africa’ s Zerobionic, which fuse robotics with education to promote inclusion. By viewing waste as untapped potential, they cultivate a mindset that bridges ecological and social benefits. This dual role amplifies their impact, fostering a generation equipped to tackle global challenges.
Beyond innovation and education, the youth influence policy and business practices, advocating for structural shifts. Despite circular systems comprising less than 10 % of global economies, young leaders push against entrenched barriers, outdated policies, short-term investment priorities, and resistance to change. In Africa, the African Circular Economy Network, driven by youth, exemplifies this momentum, though it requires broader support. They champion regulations that embed investments in durable technologies, and business models like resource-sharing, proving their capacity to reshape systemic frameworks.
Their efforts also embody inclusivity, ensuring circularity uplifts marginalized communities. In regions like Africa, young waste reclaimers convert discarded materials into livelihoods, demonstrating how local cycles generate jobs and equity. Scaling these models can reduce inequality, aligning sustainability with social justice. The youth thus humanize the circular economy, ensuring it serves both the planet and people.
The youth ' s influence extends beyond local initiatives, catalyzing a global movement toward circularity. Through digital platforms and social media, they share knowledge, collaborate across borders, and inspire peers worldwide. As they leverage technology to scale their solutions, the youth address immediate challenges and lay the groundwork for a sustainable future. Their actions today are the seeds of a circular economy that will flourish tomorrow, proving that innovation and responsibility can coexist.
The transition to circularity demands urgent action, and the youth are not waiting. Their energy and resolve illuminate the path forward through technology, education, and advocacy. Supporting their endeavours is imperative: policymakers must align incentives, businesses must adopt their innovations, and educators must amplify their voices. The circular economy is not a distant goal but a movement in motion, propelled by the youth. Their leadership today ensures a sustainable tomorrow.
A Call to Act
The circular economy is a necessity, ready to be built. As we reshape global infrastructure, the moment is now. Circularity does not slow progress; it ensures progress lasts. The strongest technology is not the fastest, it is the one that holds firm under strain. This is what circularity delivers: a world where nothing is wasted, and everything has value anew. Together, we can forge a future that regenerates, includes, and endures. The question is not whether they are ready. It is whether we are ready to trust them, support them, and follow their lead.
Norah Kimathi is a multi-awardwinning young innovator and Computer Science student at Strathmore University, with proven expertise in machine learning and computer vision. As the co-founder of Zerobionic, she is engineering the future of inclusive education in Africa through advanced robotic exoskeletons. Engage her via mail at: Norah. Kimathi @ strathmore. edu.
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