The Packaging Producer Responsibility Organisation (PAKPRO) and the Kenya Scouts Association (KSA) have partnered to promote environmental education, waste segregation and packaging recovery in schools across Kenya.
The two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to officially launch the Tuwezeshe programme, an environmental education and awareness initiative aimed at equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and practical tools needed to embrace responsible waste management.
Through the partnership, PAKPRO and KSA will use the Scouts’ extensive youth network to promote environmental stewardship in schools and communities while creating practical opportunities for learners to participate in waste segregation, recycling and packaging recovery.
PAKPRO Chief Executive Officer Joyce Gachugi-Waweru said the programme is designed to influence attitudes towards waste management from an early age.
“Tuwezeshe is about training young minds early to shift behaviour positively within society around waste management,” Gachugi-Waweru said.
She said the partnership with KSA will provide PAKPRO with access to a large network of young people who can play a critical role in changing attitudes towards waste.
Gachugi-Waweru noted that Kenya continues to grapple with a disposal culture, adding that children and young people must be viewed as important contributors to environmental conservation rather than merely consumers.
“People tend to look at young children like others, they are consumers and not net contributors, but in the next 20 years they will determine whether we have a clean country,” she said.
She added that habits developed during childhood can influence behaviour later in life, making schools an important starting point for creating a culture of responsible waste management.
From environmental education to action
A key component of Tuwezeshe will be Adopt-a-Bin, PAKPRO’s packaging recovery initiative that provides dedicated collection points for recyclable materials.
Under the programme, PAKPRO will support the installation of 600 segregated recycling bins in 150 schools across the country, giving learners and school communities infrastructure to separate and recover packaging materials.
The initiative is intended to bridge the gap between environmental education and practical action by allowing learners to apply what they learn about waste management in their daily lives.
The programme will also introduce a quarterly take-back initiative targeting paper and cartons commonly generated in schools, including used exercise books, examination papers and packaging materials.
PAKPRO said the initiative will help schools clear recyclable materials that are often stored in classrooms and offices and channel them through its recovery network for productive reuse.
Rather than treating recycling as an occasional activity, the programme seeks to make waste segregation part of everyday school life.
Scouts to drive behaviour change
The Kenya Scouts Association will play a key role in mobilising young people and supporting environmental activities in schools and communities.
KSA Chief Commissioner Hon. Victor Radido said the partnership would give Scouts an opportunity to take practical action on environmental challenges affecting their communities.
“Scouting has always been about equipping young people with the values, skills and confidence to make a positive contribution to society,” Radido said.
“Through this partnership with PAKPRO, we are giving our young people an opportunity to take practical action on an issue that affects their schools, homes and communities.”
He said Tuwezeshe would provide a platform for Scouts to lead by example and promote responsible waste management.
KSA National Executive Commissioner Moses Danda said the partnership would go beyond teaching environmental protection in classrooms by encouraging young people to influence their homes and communities.
“Through our network of Scouts, we want to put effort into attitude change among young people beyond knowledge on environmental protection, taking lessons beyond the classroom and into homes and communities,” Danda said.
He added that giving young people opportunities to participate in waste separation and recovery would help them understand the value of materials they use every day.
Supporting Kenya’s EPR agenda
The partnership comes as Kenya strengthens implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations, 2024, which place greater responsibility on producers for the management of products and packaging beyond the point of sale.
PAKPRO said environmental education is critical to the success of a sustainable packaging recovery system because consumers and communities need to understand how to properly separate, handle and recover packaging materials.
Through Tuwezeshe, PAKPRO aims to introduce young people to the concept that packaging can be a resource when it is kept clean, separated and recovered.
The launch will also feature the unveiling of the first Adopt-a-Bin recycling station, marking the beginning of a wider programme aimed at transforming schools into centres of environmental learning and practical action.
Call for corporate partnerships
PAKPRO and KSA are also calling on corporates, institutions and other organisations to support the initiative through sponsorships and partnerships.
Such partnerships could support the installation of segregated recycling stations, environmental education activities and material recovery programmes while giving participating organisations an opportunity to demonstrate measurable environmental and social impact.
By combining PAKPRO’s expertise in Extended Producer Responsibility, packaging recovery and the circular economy with KSA’s national youth network, the organisations hope to demonstrate that environmental action can begin in classrooms and extend to homes and communities.
Tuwezeshe is therefore positioned not just as an environmental education programme, but as a practical initiative aimed at turning young people into environmental champions and making waste segregation and recycling part of everyday life in Kenyan schools.
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