Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that makes producers responsible for the environmental and post‑consumer lifecycle impacts of their products, including design, use, and end‑of‑life management. The principle emerged in Sweden in the early 1990s and was formalized by Thomas Lindhqvist to ensure that manufacturers internalize environmental costs—thus aligning polluter‑pays, product recovery, recycling, and eco‑design objectives.

At its core, EPR seeks to shift the costs and responsibilities for waste management away from local governments and taxpayers onto manufacturers and importers. Common mechanisms include:

  • Product take‑back or recycling programs, often managed directly by the producer or via a collective system.
  • Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs): collective entities that manage logistics, recovery, and reporting for multiple producers.
  • Eco‑design incentives, encouraging producers to reduce toxicity and improve recyclability.
  • Fee modulation, where producers pay fees calibrated to environmental impacts, product materials, or recyclability.
  • Public awareness and consumer education campaigns to promote proper disposal, reuse, and recycling.

These principles aim to promote sustainable product design, reduce waste generation, maximize reuse/recycling rates, and ensure environmental costs are borne by those introducing products to the market.

EPR in Kenya: Legal Framework and Policy Instruments

Legal Foundations: Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022

Kenya’s statutory EPR framework is grounded in the Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022, which mandates extended producer responsibility in Section 13. Producers who introduce products into the Kenyan market must ensure the post‑consumer lifecycle is managed sustainably. This includes reuse, recycling, recovery, and safe disposal.

Regulations: The EPR Regulations 2024

To operationalize the Act, Kenya gazetted the Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024 on 4 November 2024. The Regulations:

  • Define EPR Compliance Schemes, both individual (for single producers) and collective (via PROs).
  • List priority products and materials subject to EPR, including plastic, glass, aluminium packaging, e‑waste, batteries, end‑of‑life vehicles, diapers, sanitary towels, and hazardous chemical containers.
  • Require producers to submit four‑year EPR plans, including baseline data, collection and recycling targets, logistics and infrastructure design, eco‑design procedures, fee modulation, awareness programs, compliance monitoring, and financial modelling.

Supporting Policy Instruments

Key supporting policies include:

  • National Sustainable Waste Management Policy (2020): Aims to advance circular economy goals, zero waste principles, improved segregation, recycling and safe landfill disposal .
  • National E‑Waste Management Strategy (2019–2024): Focused on structuring e‑waste governance, financing, awareness, innovation, and multi‑level coordination.
  • Kenya Plastics Action Plan (2019) and Kenya Plastics Pact (launched 2021): Private‑sector led platforms to drive EPR compliance, circular plastics design, and multi‑stakeholder engagement .

Key Organizations and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs)

Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) / Clever Green Kenya (CGK)

Back in December 2019, KAM partnered with CGK to establish an industry‑led Producer Responsibility Organisation focused on plastic waste. This PRO was designed to collect fees from producers, coordinate recycling logistics, raise public awareness, and manage plastic packaging waste in line with EPR requirements.

Packaging Producer Responsibility Organisation (PAKPRO)

PAKPRO acts as a PRO specifically for the packaging sector. Its mandate includes setting up reverse‑logistics, incentivizing collection, establishing infrastructure for empty packaging materials, supporting sorting centers, and promoting recycling initiatives across Kenya.

Hazardous Waste PRO (HAPROK)

Initiated by KAM and aak‑GROW, HAPROK represents producers of hazardous product packaging, including agrochemicals, lubricants, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints, and treated wood. It aims to manage the lifecycle of these products under the EPR regime.

Kenya Plastics Pact / Kenya Plastics Pact Secretariat (via SIB‑K)

Operated by Sustainable Inclusive Business Kenya (under KEPSA), the Kenya Plastics Pact convenes producers, retailers, PROs, NGOs, and informal sector actors to commit to EPR compliance and circular plastics targets by 2030: 100% reusable or recyclable packaging, 40% effective recycling, and 15% average recycled content.

EPR Implementation Case Studies in Kenya

A) KEPSA–NEMA Workshops: Private Sector Roll‑Out

Between April and October 2024, KEPSA (through SIB‑K) and NEMA convened industry sensitization workshops:

  • In April 2024, over 150 producers and informal waste actors participated in a workshop where 28 leading companies presented EPR implementation plans. These included major firms such as Unilever, Bidco Africa, Mars Wrigley, Weetabix, Kinangop Dairy, Githunguri Dairy, Premier Foods, KAPA Oil Refineries, and DAWA. Their plans addressed product design changes, recycling incentives, infrastructure strategies, informal sector inclusion, and consumer education—as required under Section 13 of the Act .
  • In October 2023, a larger Private Sector Sensitization Workshop introduced EPR to over 100 business leaders. They underscored data collection, environmental cleanup, pricing mechanisms, and private‑sector–led compliance models. KEPSA emphasised that EPR compliance is not just regulatory but part of sustainable business practice .

B) Company Commitments via the Kenya Plastics Pact

Several companies have publicly committed to EPR-linked goals:

  • Bio Foods Ltd: Aims for 50% recycled PET (rPET) use by 2026, redesigning bottles per recyclability guidelines.
  • Bidco Africa: Eliminated color in one beverage SKU and removed the security seal in its Planet Aqua water bottles, reducing plastic use by approximately one tonne per SKU.
  • Silafrica: Already at 90% recyclable packaging content, with a goal of 100% recyclability by 2025.
  • Coca‑Cola Beverages Africa (Kenya): Transitioned Sprite bottles to clear PET design, to enhance recyclability.
  • Line Plast Group: Plans to switch from tinted PET to clear PET and from printed HDPE to water‑based labeling on 80% of packaging by 2025, and to drive consumer awareness on conscious plastic use.
  • Takataka Solutions: A Nairobi recycler committed to awareness campaigns and ensuring post‑consumer plastics reach collection streams.

C) Social Enterprises Exemplifying Circular Impact

  • EcoPost (founded by Lorna Rutto): Manufactures fencing posts and building materials from recycled plastic waste. Since inception in 2009, the company has recycled millions of kilograms of plastic, created hundreds of jobs in marginalized communities, and preserved forest cover via timber substitution.
  • Gjenge Makers (founded by Nzambi Matee): Converts waste plastic into high‑density bricks stronger than concrete. The enterprise has recycled over 20 tonnes of plastic waste by 2021, deploying locally engineered machines and empowering urban informal waste collectors.

Although not formal PROs, these enterprises demonstrate eco‑design, recycling infrastructure, and value recovery—aligning with EPR goals and informing best practice.

Achievements, Challenges, and Impact

Progress Achieved

  • Legal infrastructure: EPR is now statutorily enshrined in the 2022 Act and the 2024 Regulations.
  • Industry engagement: Over two dozen multinational and local producers have submitted EPR plans and initiated compliance efforts via workshops.
  • Circular packaging commitments: Companies under the Plastics Pact have pledged measurable changes in packaging recyclability and recycled content.
  • Private‑sector and PRO models: Organizations like PAKPRO, CGK/KAM, and HAPROK are operationalizing collective PRO frameworks.

Persistent Challenges

  • Kenya’s plastic recycling rate remains low, between 8–10%, well short of the 40% target by 2030.
  • Pricing imbalances: Recycled materials are harder to sell profitably than virgin ones—making recycling economically uncompetitive.
  • Market demand for recycled content remains limited; regulation, procurement incentives, or mandates may be needed to boost uptake.
  • Informal sector integration: Although workshops have included waste-pickers, formal models for sustainable inclusion at scale remain nascent.
  • Data and monitoring gaps: Enforcement of reporting and compliance plans requires robust data gathering systems.

Analysis and Forward Outlook

1. EPR as a Pillar of Circular Transition

EPR is central to Kenya’s journey toward circularity. It realigns incentives toward durable, recyclable products and shifts responsibility upstream to the producer. By mandating ecosystem‑wide planning and financing—including infrastructure, eco‑design, and awareness—it positions Kenya to reduce waste, improve resource recovery, and support local recycling industries.

2. Multi‑Stakeholder Ecosystem Enabled

Success depends on continued collaboration between government (NEMA and MoEF), business (KEPSA, KAM, producers), PROs, private recyclers, and the informal sector. The proactive engagement through KEPSA/NEMA workshops displays how cross‑sector dialogue can kickstart implementation.

3. Scaling PRO Models

The presence of KAM-CGK, PAKPRO, HAPROK, and SIB‑K suggests a robust framework for collective compliance. These bodies can drive economies of scale in logistics, outreach, and recycling investments—particularly as more producers adhere to fee-based schemes under the 2024 regulations.

4. Market Demand and Economic Viability

To support the economics of recycling, Kenya must stimulate demand for recycled materials. Public sector procurement, recycled content mandates, extended public awareness—and cross-border recycling markets—can help create stable markets that support PRO and producer investments.

5. Grassroots Innovation as Example

Social enterprises like EcoPost and Gjenge Makers exemplify how local innovation and informal-sector integration can provide practical examples of EPR-aligned circular businesses. Scaling such models, supporting them via PRO partnerships, and amplifying their impact produces tangible community-level benefits.

Conclusion

Extended Producer Responsibility in Kenya now stands on a strong legal and institutional foundation. With the Sustainable Waste Management Act (2022) and EPR Regulations (2024), Kenya has operationalized a comprehensive policy requiring producers to manage waste across product lifecycles. Multiple PROs—like PAKPRO, HAPROK, and CGK/KAM—are stepping in to coordinate collective schemes, while major corporate players under KEPSA are submitting implementation plans and committing to greener production.

Yet, challenges extend beyond legal norms: Kenya must scale recycling infrastructure, stimulate markets for recycled content, integrate the informal sector at scale, and ensure robust compliance monitoring. Success will rest on collaborative action—across government agencies, private sector, recyclers, and community actors.

By 2030, under the Kenya Plastics Pact’s targets and broader EPR mandates, Kenya aspires to reach a 40% recycling rate for plastic packaging and 15% recycled content across packaging. If these are met, Kenya will emerge as a regional EPR leader in Africa, demonstrating that extended producer responsibility fosters economic opportunity, sustainability innovation, and environmental resilience.