ETCO PARTICIPATES IN THE 2024 ANNUAL CIRCULAR PACKAGING CONFERENCE
The Loresho air smelled of cut grass and diesel from the road outside Shamba Events — the kind of Nairobi morning where you button your jacket and still hope for tea. On 22 October 2024, day one of the Kenya Extended Producer Responsibility Organisation (KEPRO) Annual Circular Packaging Conference, ETCO stepped into a room where packaging was not just “waste” but a design problem the whole country is trying to solve.
The theme hung over every session: Advancing Circularity — Innovating for Sustainable Packaging Solutions. Between panels, people leaned across aisles swapping cards and honest frustrations: thin films that choke recyclers, labels that confuse sorting lines, policies racing behind reality. It is easy to feel small in that conversation; it is also where community organisations belong, because we see the end of the pipe every day.
Day two, 23 October, stretched the learning beyond PowerPoint. KEPRO organised a Circular Tour for stakeholders along the value chain — aggregators, recyclers, and a stop at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI). Watching material move from pile to process makes the jargon evaporate. You stop talking about “circularity” in the abstract and start asking practical questions: who collects, who pays, who gets hurt when the system fails?
We left with notebooks fuller than our pockets — and with a clearer line between conference optimism and the muddy work back in Kibera. If you work in packaging or logistics and want to connect what you design with what we handle on the ground, reach out. The best ideas die without honest feedback from neighbourhoods like ours.
Community Capacity Building Training
We are currently participating in the ongoing PROVE (Public Space Governance Research, Observation, Validation and Experimentation) Pilot Programme, a four-month initiative by Public Space Networks (PSN) bringing together 11 community groups from Kamukunji and Korogocho. The programme focuses on strengthening community organizations’ capacity to manage, protect and improve public spaces as well as restoring rivers and it's ecosystems. The ongoing capacity-building training is helping CBOs and community organizations better understand the connection between public spaces, river restoration and ecosystem conservation, while exploring practical approaches and stronger collaboration among communities, government agencies, development partners and other stakeholders.
🎓 ETCO Education Empowerment Program
📚 Holiday Tuition Classes Now in Progress! Give your child the opportunity to learn, grow, and stay academically active throughout the school holiday. Our experienced teachers provide quality guidance in all subjects, helping learners improve their understanding, confidence, and performance. ✅ All Subjects Available ✅ Supportive Learning Environment ✅ Open to Learners of All *High School* Levels
From Participation to Agency: ETCO at the SAIIA Youth Programming Innovation Lab
Last week, ETCO represented Kibra at the SAIIA Youth Programming Innovation Lab in Nairobi — where the real question wasn't youth participation, but youth agency. Here's what that means for our nine programmes, and an honest look at what it takes to build sustainably as a volunteer-run organisation.