KENYA – The Kenya Association of Manufactures (KAM), has launched the Kenya Extended Producer Responsibility Organization (KEPRO) to promote collaboration, seek commitment by waste value chain players and support the achievement of a circular economy.

The organization brings together players in the value chain to help increase awareness and promote sustainable capacity building in Kenya’s recycling and circular economy.

The establishment of KEPRO is timely since it has come at a time when the government is gearing up to implement the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations.

Its launch is also in line with commitments made in the Kenya Plastic Action Plan, which seeks to enable a circular economy for the environmentally sustainable use and recycling of plastics in the country.

KEPRO Chair Mr. Priyen Tanna highlighting the role that KEPRO will play said, “We are confident that a circular economy will redefine the way organizations consider growth and is keen on collaborating with the key stakeholders to reduce waste, drive greater resource productivity, deliver a more competitive economy and reduce the environmental impacts of production and consumption.”

KAM Chair, Mr Mucai Kunyiha reiterated the commitment of local manufacturers to adopting sustainable manufacturing in Kenya saying, “As manufacturers, we must fully embed environmental and social sustainability in the heart of our operations.

“Most importantly, we need to collaborate with other players in the market such as government regulators, waste collectors and recyclers and the public for a successful transition to a circular economy.”

The launch of KEPRO follows the launch of a Strategic Business Plan in 2020 for the establishment of a Plastic Producer Responsibility Organization in the country.

“As manufacturers, we must fully embed environmental and social sustainability in the heart of our operations.”

KAM Chair - Mr Mucai Kunyiha

The plan set out the direction of KAM’s priorities in the waste value chain and key action in effecting the steps toward a clean Kenya.

Principal Secretary for Industrialization at the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, Kirimi Kaberia, highlighted that the government is commitmented to promoting green growth in the manufacturing sector.

“We shall continue to work with manufacturers, through KAM, to ensure the implementation of the 10-year green growth programme, to promote sustainable manufacturing in the country, as envisioned in the Kenya Industrial Transformation Project (KITP) 2015,” said Kirimi Kaberia.

Other than ensuring the industrialists undertake their operations in a sustainable way, the private sector body has recently lent its voice in the quest of reviving the country’s ailing sugar industry, which faces a myriad of challenges, yet exhibits immense development and growth potential.

KAM has launched the KAM Sugar Sub-Sector Strategic Plan, which seeks to guide the industry’s growth, resilience and sustainability.

The five-year strategic plan provides a holistic framework for addressing the long-standing and emerging challenges facing the subsector.

It covers three strategic themes; Sugar Sub-Sector Policy and Advocacy; Research and Innovation and Value Chain; and Sub-Sector Development.

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