SOLUTION / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
OTHALO solves Africa’s housing shortage with plastic waste
- Published 2 December 2022; updated 21 September 2026; estimated reading time 3 minutes. Listed as available under Architecture and construction.
- OTHALO’s patent-pending technology converts recycled plastic into prefabricated housing components assembled into detached homes and apartment blocks by local workers. The company focuses on locally sourced waste and local housing needs, with a stated goal of licensing technology to local partners and keeping communities actively involved.
- The article cites a 2-million-unit housing deficit in Kenya and says only 2% of new builds there target low-income families. It also cites 12 million tonnes of plastic entering oceans annually. These are claims and context presented by the source.
- The company says it can process a wide range of thermoplastics and hardened plastics, which together it estimates represent 75% of global plastic waste. Feedstock may come from households, industry, landfills and land/ocean cleanup.
- Beyond homes, OTHALO lists temperature-controlled storage for food and medicine, refugee shelters and temporary facilities such as hospitals, schools and living quarters. It also says it aims to create local jobs throughout waste collection, assembly and operations, including opportunities for young people and women.
- The page says the first homes were expected “soon” in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. It names a longstanding partnership with UN-Habitat and work with other development organizations. This timing is retained as the article’s statement; no completion status is provided.
- Contact: Frank Cato Lahti, Founder/CTO, frank@othalo.com. Phone number is behind a collapsed reveal control. Company: OTHALO AS, Brattørkaia 17A, 7010 Trondheim, Norway; othalo.com.