PAKPRO: Building Kenya’s circular economy from the ground up 

When Kenya banned plastic carrier bags in 2017, it triggered a national conversation about waste and marked the beginning of a journey that would reshape how the country manages packaging. At the heart of this transformation is Joyce Gachugi Waweru, Chief Executive Officer of the Packaging Producer Responsibility Organization (PAKPRO). Her work, and that of the collective she leads, has been central to establishing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Kenya, a system now recognized as one of the continent’s most progressive waste-management frameworks. 

But the story of EPR in Kenya is not only about policy; it is also about a woman who grew up dreaming of a life as a globe-trotting environmentalist working at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), an ambition that, by chance and persistence, aligned with a mission to build the foundations of Kenya’s circular economy. 

This year, Joyce was nationally celebrated for her leadership and was recently honored among Kenya’s heroes for her contributions to sustainable waste management. For her, the accolade symbolized something bigger: “It validated the work that we have been championing for the last seven years, that we are creating an impact.” 

The genesis: A coalition of the willing 

PAKPRO’s story traces back to 2018, when the country was debating what to do about PET bottles, the next major pollutant after plastic carrier bags. “There was this conversation: should we ban the bottles?” Joyce recalls. For manufacturers who had heavily invested in PET production, the debate threatened their business model. 

Relief came from a model already thriving in South Africa. Kenyan companies like Coca-Cola were members of PETCO South Africa, which had been effectively managing post-consumer plastic since 2004. The model showed that producers could fund collection and recycling while supporting waste pickers and aggregators. 

Through the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, a framework of cooperation was established with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Forestry and NEMA. PETCO Kenya was launched with eight founding companies, “a coalition of the willing,” Joyce notes. They operated without a regulatory blueprint, experimenting, iterating, and gradually building a system that worked. 

From PETCO to PAKPRO: Expanding a national mandate 

Between 2018 and 2022, PETCO collected close to one billion PET bottles, raised the value of collected PET bottles, and injected more than KES 150 million into the recycling value chain. Even UNEP’s then country representative acknowledged visible progress. “Where we used to have an accumulation of PET bottles, it’s not like that anymore. We are noticing that there’s some traction; this thing might actually be working,” Joyce notes with evident satisfaction. 

This success set off a policy shift. In 2022, the Sustainable Waste Management Act was gazetted, followed by EPR regulations in 2024, making EPR mandatory for all producers. PETCO now had to evolve. 

“We realized that we could no longer only handle one packaging material – PET bottles,” she explains. “We had to rebrand so that we could handle all types of packaging materials, and that’s why now we are PAKPRO, the Packaging Producer Responsibility Organization.” 

The business model: Making responsibility profitable 

At its core, PAKPRO operates as an intermediary, collecting fees from producers and reinvesting them into the waste recovery value chain. But the organization’s value proposition extends far beyond simple compliance. “Our value proposition is not only compliance,” Joyce says. “Most important is that we take care of your legal liability once consumers have used your packaging.” 

PAKPRO provides members with comprehensive data: where their packaging ends up after use, how much has been recycled, how many people have been impacted by the money injected into the waste stream, and the carbon footprint of managing their waste. The organization also advises on packaging design, steering members toward materials that are more recyclable and cost-effective to recover. 

“We have also helped our members to design their packaging so that they are using more recyclable, less expensive materials to reduce their environmental impact, because not all materials are equal,” Joyce notes. 

Perhaps most importantly, the PRO has brought transparency to a historically opaque market. By publishing prices and connecting waste pickers directly with contracted recyclers, the organization is dismantling the broker-dominated system that has long characterized the waste trade. 

“We are breaking down layers that have made it opaque as a business,” she explains. “We are trying to make it more transparent so that you have more people who are willing to play and participate in this business.” 

Waste pickers working through PAKPRO’s network receive premium prices, better than they would get from non-contracted recyclers, because the organization subsidizes collection costs. This creates an incentive for more material to enter the formal recycling stream. 

Infrastructure: Building the network 

What began with two aggregators has grown to more than 600 aggregators and 6,000 waste pickers, supported by a 16-member PAKPRO team. Joyce believes the potential is far greater. “We can have the potential to create over 100,000 green jobs for waste entrepreneurs,” she says. 

Instead of building parallel structures, PAKPRO works through the regional offices of KAM, KEPSA, and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce to reach producers. They conduct training, registration drives, and market activation events to strengthen local recycling ecosystems. 

PAKPRO is also working with existing and new material recovery facilities (MRFs) in strategic clusters. “These MRFs need volume to be sustainable,” Joyce emphasizes. “You create clusters to ensure constant movement of vehicles and material.” 

The data revolution 

One of PAKPRO’s most significant contributions has been quantifying Kenya’s packaging waste for the first time. Before the organization’s formation, no comprehensive data existed on how much packaging material entered the market or what happened to it afterward. 

“We’ve been able to quantify waste and quantify it from the context of packaging. How much packaging material is going out? How much product, be it beverages, cosmetics, or cement, we can trace within our system, how many of these products are actually going out,” Joyce explains. “Before that, no one was collecting it. No one cared for it. It was not useful to anybody. Now we are acting as repositories for this data.” 

This information is transforming how Kenya understands and manages its packaging pollution challenge. “Data is really the currency,” she insists. “This is how we are going to know how much volume of good plastics we have in Kenya? Bad plastics, do we have? Of glass? Of etc.” 

The organization is also reframing the conversation around packaging pollution itself. “We are now trying to tell you, the Packaging isn’t the problem, it is how we dispose of it and whether there is any value in it that will drive recovery,” she explains. “It’s not just me throwing my used bottle, no, because I can be throwing my used bottle, but if it doesn’t have value, then it becomes a pollutant. If it has value, it will not even lie around in the streets for two minutes.” 

Navigating regulation and awareness gaps 

PAKPRO’s expansion comes amid a complex regulatory environment. Two key regulations drive membership: the Extended Producer Responsibility regulations that require all producers to obtain EPR certificates. In contrast, the Plastics Clearance Certificate regulation requires any company using plastic to demonstrate Extended Producer Responsibility plans. 

Non-compliance carries fines and jail terms. Yet awareness remains low, especially among SMEs and freight forwarders, who often serve as primary distributors of imported goods. “They don’t know they must be paying an organization like ours before putting products on the market,” Joyce warns. “Awareness is now the most critical factor for EPR success.” 

PAKPRO is also calling for collaborative awareness campaigns by industry and government to close this knowledge gap. “This is one of the most collaborative legislative pieces that have been done in Kenya, collaborative between the private sector, civil society, and the government,” Joyce acknowledges. “That being said, however, there is a deficiency in terms of awareness creation.” 

Obstacles and frustrations 

Despite the organization’s success, significant challenges remain. PAKPRO recently overcame a major hurdle when conservatory orders that had halted EPR implementation were lifted, allowing the system to proceed. But other obstacles persist. 

Government fees for legacy waste management create friction with producers already paying EPR fees. “County governments are arguing they need to raise money so that they can push it into the counties, so that they handle this legacy waste,” Joyce explains. “Now, in doing that, it means they are charging these same manufacturers we are charging a fee, so already there’s some friction there.” 

Infrastructure gaps present another major setback. Outside major urban centers, waste management systems remain severely underdeveloped. Joyce notes that in many areas, the prevailing culture is to throw waste away. Counties often focus on removing visible waste from public spaces rather than building systems for proper collection, sorting, and recycling. This not only undermines efforts to increase recovery rates but also leaves rural regions far behind in adopting circular economy principles. 

Financing the circular economy is another challenge. Banks, which play a central role in funding business operations, often struggle to understand waste management and recycling as viable, scalable sectors. As Joyce points out, “They are the heart of money. If they don’t understand, we are in trouble.” Without tailored financial products or risk assessments suited to the sector, recycling businesses and waste innovators face difficulties accessing the capital needed for equipment, expansion, or technology upgrades. 

Policy reversals have also slowed momentum. In 2019, the government introduced tax exemptions for recycling equipment to stimulate investment in the sector. However, these incentives were reversed after the COVID-19 pandemic, creating uncertainty and placing additional financial strain on recyclers. Joyce expresses frustration at this stop-start approach, saying, “We are being asked to run before we have even found our feet.” For the circular economy to thrive, she argues, policy stability and long-term support are essential. 

Regional ambitions 

Despite domestic obstacles, PAKPRO envisions EPR expanding regionally but warns against fragmented policies. Different bans and regulations across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania create market distortions. 

“We need a common protocol,” Joyce emphasizes. Harmonizing regulations across East Africa would not only streamline compliance for producers but also open the door to cross-border trade in recycled materials. She envisions a system where recyclers and manufacturers benefit equally.  

“We could reach a point where Uganda has crushed PET or glass, and Kenya has the market for it. They sell to us, we sell to them, everyone wins. We promote what we’re doing, and vice versa. It unlocks an entirely new level of regional trade.” 

Looking ahead: Bold and better 

As Kenya moves from voluntary to mandatory EPR, Joyce’s vision for PAKPRO centers on being bold and better. Bold means greater visibility, higher impact, more partnerships, and stronger value chain investments. 

Better means improving metrics, more collection, more jobs, more money in the waste value chain, and more producers in compliance. 

Her recognition as a national hero affirms the sector’s collective effort. “It validated the work we’ve been championing for seven years,” she reflects. “Circular economy is coming of age in Kenya.” 

PAKPRO’s journey, from eight pioneering companies to a national mandatory system, shows that environmental responsibility and economic opportunity can coexist. As Joyce puts it: “Better to have something and work around making it work than have nothing at all.” 

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