Packaging Producer Responsibility Organisation (PAKPRO)
The Packaging Producer Responsibility Organization Limited (PAKPRO) is Kenya’s producer responsibility organisation for packaging.
PAKPRO: Packaging Producer Responsibility Organisation
The Packaging Producer Responsibility Organization Limited (PAKPRO) is Kenya’s producer responsibility organisation for packaging. It is a not-for-profit business member organisation, industry-driven and financed by its members, that arranges the collection and recycling of post-consumer packaging on their behalf. It began as PETCO Kenya, the Kenya PET Recycling Company, launched in 2018 to recover plastic bottles, and it now covers all non-hazardous packaging.
Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging
Under Kenya’s Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022, producers are responsible for the packaging they place on the market, and mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) began on 1 November 2023. PAKPRO carries out the recovery, collection, sorting and recycling on behalf of its members, so that their packaging does not harm the environment. Its scheme covers all non-hazardous packaging.
- PET plastics
- Rigid and flexible plastics
- Liquid board packaging, such as beverage cartons
- Glass
- Paper and cardboard
- Aluminium, tin and steel
- Composite packaging
Collection, Recycling and Training
- Collection: hubs and aggregator centres that give collectors direct access to the market for what they gather, at a fair price
- Recycling: it builds on the recycling capacity already in Kenya, to make recycling easy and accessible
- Training: instruction and technical support for collectors and community teams on segregation and collection, with public awareness campaigns
- Counties: its County Sustainable Waste Management Implementation Programme aims to set up material transfer stations across all 47 counties
Biz na Taka Mtaani and the Liquid Board Project
Biz na Taka Mtaani was launched in Nairobi on 15 August 2024 with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the community-based organisation Taka ni Pato. It creates collection hubs for recyclable materials that give young people work and income. The hubs are set up across Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, Kajiado and Makueni counties, which together cover the Nairobi River catchment, and 27 aggregator centres are being branded.
With Tetra Pak East Africa, PAKPRO started a project in September 2023 to recover used beverage cartons. It works with two recyclers, Ramani Warehouse Limited in Thika and Ekotech Limited in Nairobi, where collectors and aggregators sell the cartons they gather. The project aims to recover 1,500 tonnes, about 30 per cent of the liquid board packaging produced in Kenya.
A Board of Producers and an Advisory Council
PAKPRO is led by its Chief Executive, Joyce Gachugi-Waweru. Its Board is chaired by Dr Kimani Rugendo, Managing Director of Kevian Ltd, with Susan Maingi of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (Kenya) as Vice Chair. Its directors come from Line Plast Group, Naivas, L’Oréal East Africa, Kenafric Industries, Highlands Drinks and Bio Foods Products, Tetra Pak Kenya, Allpack Industries, Propack Kenya and the Coca-Cola East and Central Africa franchise.
An advisory council, inaugurated in 2024, brings in specialists from the producer responsibility sector, non-governmental organisations, business member organisations, retail and trade, the waste pickers association and technical fields.
Why PAKPRO Is Named Here
Packaging that is collected and recycled does not end up in rivers, on beaches or among mangrove roots. PAKPRO works with producers, collectors and recyclers to keep it in use, and Twende Green Planet names it among its private sector partners.