About OUR STARTUP JOURNEY · HYAPAK · KE

A small collective
using one mess
to solve another.

HyaPak is a Kenyan circular-economy company. We harvest invasive water hyacinth from Lake Naivasha and Lake Victoria and turn it into biodegradable packaging that looks, feels and performs like plastic, then quietly returns to soil, or water, wherever place it ends up discarded.

01Mission

Our commitment is to tackle both plastic-waste pollution and water-hyacinth infestation through innovation, joining climate action to a healthier blue economy and the biodiversity of our lakes.

Ultimately, we want to change how you interact with conventional packaging plastics in your day-to-day life.

Not just because biodegradable alternatives are eco-friendly, but because ours are affordable, more reliable, and much higher quality.

02Our story

Stuck in a lake.

Lake Naivasha · the lake that started it all

HyaPak started, quite literally, by getting stuck. A group of Egerton University engineering students trapped for several hours in a dense mat of water hyacinth on Lake Naivasha during a class trip.

That afternoon framed two problems in the same body of water: an invasive weed strangling the lake, and the plastic waste piling up on its shore. We started asking a research question; WHAT IF one problem could one solve the other?

What began as a final-year project is now a team of engineers, designers, harvesters and lab researchers building packaging that looks, feels and performs like plastic, grown from the very weed clogging the lake.

— The HyaPak team Egerton University · Nakuru, Kenya
03How we do it

Four steps from
lake to shelf.

  1. 01

    Sourcing

    We harvest water hyacinth with the help of affected fishermen, fisherwomen and community members from Lake Naivasha and Lake Victoria. This contributes to additional income to their daily lives, to help counter the income that their households lose to the same weed through fishing activities.

  2. 02

    Quality control

    The biomass is sun-dried and then mechanically crushed to a fine, fibrous flour. We test every batch for moisture, particle size and fibre length before it enters the line.

  3. 03

    Extraction

    Through a meticulous extraction process, we draw the cellulose from the fibre and blend it with our proprietary binders and additives. Each formulation is tuned for the end product. For example, agricultural applications would have a different recipe to a flexible mailer.

  4. 04

    Conversion

    Using innovative techniques and patented processes, we convert the composite into seedling bags, parcel packaging, carton liners, plates, tumblers, films and custom moulds that are drop-in replacements for fossil-fuel plastics that biodegrade in custom time, between 3 and 12 months.

04What we stand for

Three values
we ship by.

05Team & roots

A small collective
with a long shelf.

HyaPak is a Kenyan-based circular-economy and blue-economy startup. We're a team of engineers, designers and researchers working alongside lakeside fishing communities to change how we treat single-use materials. We exist to make packaging sustainable, affordable and high quality. Our work advances climate action, lake conservation and several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Egerton University provided our first lab space and continues to treat the venture as both research and a teaching tool.

  • Lab & ManufacturingMaterials & cellulose R&D
  • Field WorkHarvest, drying & logistics
  • ProductsMoulding, QC & custom builds
  • Community ServiceAdopt a River & Jaza Miti

Learn more · Join us / partner

06Awards & recognition

From Nairobi
to the UN.

07Be a part of the change

Let's pack the future.

Order, partner, research, visit our lab in Nakuru, or simply say hi. Whatever it is, a real human on our team will read your note and write back.

Get in touch See products
or reach us directly at info@hyapak.com · +254 787 161 524