{"id":17404,"date":"2026-06-03T04:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyapak.com\/?page_id=9101"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:57:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T06:57:57","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hyapak.com\/es\/","title":{"rendered":"Inicio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n <\/span>\n Hyacinth + Packaging<\/span>\n HYAPAK \u00b7 KE<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

\n Packaging,<\/span>\n re<\/em>grown.<\/span><\/span>\n <\/h1>\n

At HyaPak, we use one environmental problem to solve another. We turn water hyacinth, the world’s most invasive aquatic weed, into biodegradable packaging that looks, feels, and performs like plastic, then quietly returns to soil (or water).<\/p>\n

\n \n See how it works<\/span>\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/a>\n Talk to us<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
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\n Hyacinth + Packaging<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Biodegrades in 3\u201312 months<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Made at Egerton University, Kenya<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Seedling bags \u00b7 plates \u00b7 tumblers \u00b7 wrappers<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Green jobs for lakeside communities<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Climate action, grown from a weed<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n A freshwater blue-economy venture<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n As seen on CNN \u00b7 BBC \u00b7 AP<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Hyacinth + Packaging<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Biodegrades in 3\u201312 months<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Made at Egerton University, Kenya<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Seedling bags \u00b7 plates \u00b7 tumblers \u00b7 wrappers<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Green jobs for lakeside communities<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n Climate action, grown from a weed<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n A freshwater blue-economy venture<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n As seen on CNN \u00b7 BBC \u00b7 AP<\/span>\u00b7<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n \n Scroll<\/span>\n <\/path><\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/section>\n\n \n
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01<\/span>The unlikely pair<\/span><\/div>\n

\n Two of the world’s
\n worst pollution problems.
\n One unlikely solution.<\/em>\n <\/h2>\n <\/div>\n\n
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A<\/span>Plastic waste<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n tonnes \/ day in Nairobi alone<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

Only 45% of it is recycled (World Bank). Single-use plastics are responsible for roughly 1.5% of all global greenhouse-gas emissions, a quiet driver of climate change, and they outlast the bottle, the bag, the wrapper by centuries.<\/p>\n

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B<\/span>Water hyacinth<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n countries affected globally<\/span>\n <\/div>\n

\n The world’s most problematic aquatic weed. It floats on water and blocks navigation\n and fishing, chokes drainage and hydropower, starves the water of oxygen until fish\n and biodiversity collapse, and breeds mosquitoes in fresh water bodies globally.\n <\/p>\n

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\n [A] + [B]<\/span> What if one mess could clean up the other?\n <\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n \n

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\n One mess<\/span>\n solves<\/em><\/span>\n the other.<\/span>\n <\/h2>\n

\n Harvest the weed. Extract its cellulose. Mold the future of packaging.\n <\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n \n

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02<\/span>Our story<\/span><\/div>\n

Why we do this.<\/em><\/h3>\n
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FIG.01 \u00b7 Lake Naivasha \u00b7 HyaPak field team<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n
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HyaPak started, quite literally, by getting stuck. A group of Egerton University students trapped for five hours in a dense mat of water hyacinth on Lake Naivasha.<\/p>\n

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 out of curiosity; WHAT IF one problem could one solve the other?<\/p>\n

What began as a final-year project is now a team of engineers, designers, community members and lab researchers building packaging that looks, feels and performs like plastic, grown from the very weed clogging the lake.<\/p>\n

\n \u2014 The HyaPak team<\/span>\n Egerton University \u00b7 Nakuru, Kenya<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n \n
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03<\/span>How it works<\/span><\/div>\n

From lake to shelf,
in four steps.<\/em><\/h2>\n <\/div>\n\n
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\n 01<\/span>\n Harvest<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
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  1. \n
    01 \/ 04<\/div>\n

    Harvest from the lake.<\/h3>\n

    Fishermen and fisherwomen and lakeside communities around the affected waterbodies pull the hyacinth weeds from the water. This creates additional income for them, green jobs, and a real economic incentive to keep the lake clear.<\/p>\n

    \n \u00b7 Lake Naivasha & Victoria<\/span>\u00b7 Community-led<\/span>\u00b7 Green jobs<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n
  2. \n
    02 \/ 04<\/div>\n

    Sun-dry and mill.<\/h3>\n

    The biomass is laid out to dry in the equatorial sun, then mechanically crushed into a fine, fibrous flour. No heat-intensive industrial drying, just sunlight, air and a low-energy mill.<\/p>\n

    \n \u00b7 Sun-powered<\/span>\u00b7 Low-energy mill<\/span>\u00b7 Zero waste<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n
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    03 \/ 04<\/div>\n

    Extract the cellulose.<\/h3>\n

    Inside our workshops, cellulose is extracted from the fibre and blended with our proprietary plant-based binders and additives. The recipe tunes for rigidity, flex, moisture and heat depending on the end use.<\/p>\n

    \n \u00b7 Proprietary binders<\/span>\u00b7 Tunable<\/span>\u00b7 Plant-only inputs<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n
  4. \n
    04 \/ 04<\/div>\n

    Mould the new plastic.<\/h3>\n

    The composite is moulded into seedling bags, plates, tumblers, wrappers and custom packaging that are drop-in replacements for fossil-fuel plastics. At end of life, it biodegrades back to soil in custom time, between 3 to 12 months.<\/p>\n

    \n \u00b7 Drop-in shape<\/span>\u00b7 3\u201312 month biodegrade<\/span>\u00b7 Soil-safe<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/li>\n <\/ol>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n \n
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    04<\/span>Use cases<\/span><\/div>\n

    Looks like plastic.
    Behaves like compost.<\/em><\/h2>\n

    We mould to spec. Drop-in replacements for the everyday plastics in food, beauty, e-commerce and retail, without the centuries of afterlife.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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    \n P-01 \u00b7 Flagship<\/span>\n

    Seedling bags & wrappers<\/h4>\n

    Planted with the seedling, no unwrapping. Decomposes in ~6 months, releases nutrients, and lifts seedling growth rates by 21\u201323%. Used in Kenya’s Jaza Miti<\/em> reforestation drive.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n

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    \n P-02<\/span>\n

    Parcel packaging<\/h4>\n

    Courier-grade mailers and parcel wraps for e-commerce and logistics.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n

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    \n P-03 \u00b7 Cold-chain<\/span>\n

    Carton linings & sheets<\/h4>\n

    Goes inside food cartons to keep produce fresh over long-haul transport, without refrigeration. Cuts cold-chain emissions, extends shelf-life.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n

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    \n P-04 \u00b7 Floral<\/span>\n

    Flower & gift wrap<\/h4>\n

    Decorative biodegradable sheets for florists, gifting and retail. Performs like cellophane and returns to soil instead of landfill.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n

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    \n P-05 \u00b7 Bespoke<\/span>\n

    Custom builds<\/h4>\n

    Bring us your existing plastic part or CAD. We’ll come back with a tooling plan, a sample, and a price per unit. Tunable fiber-to-binder ratios for rigid or flexible end use.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n \n

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    05<\/span>Made in Kenya<\/span><\/div>\n

    Green jobs.
    Clean water.<\/em>
    Less plastic.<\/h2>\n

    A circular, community-led model that joins the blue economy to climate action \u2014 cleaner lakes, restored biodiversity, durable livelihoods, and measurable progress against several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

    \n
    \n
    0<\/span>+ ac<\/span><\/div>\n
    of water hyacinth cleared from Lake Naivasha<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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    0<\/span>+<\/span><\/div>\n
    fishing-economy families benefitting<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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    0<\/span>kg<\/span><\/div>\n
    CO\u2082 offset per seedling wrapper compared to regular plastics<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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    0<\/span>mo<\/span><\/div>\n
    average time for the bag to fully decompose into soil<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
    FOR PEOPLE AND FOR PLANET<\/div>\n\n \n
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    06<\/span>At the highest level<\/span><\/p>\n

    From the lake to State House.<\/em><\/h3>\n

    HyaPak’s biodegradable seedling bag presented to Kenya’s Head of State, H.E. President William Ruto by founder Joseph Nguthiru, and the team from Egerton University as part of Kenya’s Jaza Miti reforestation programme to plant 15 billion trees by 2032.<\/p>\n

    PHOTO \u00a9 STATE HOUSE KENYA<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n \n \n

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    07<\/span>Partners & pilots<\/span><\/div>\n

    Shaping and shipping\nhow packaging looks like.<\/h2>\n

    Our material is already being harvested, planted and shipped alongside the organisations rethinking how landscapes are restored and how goods are packed in forestry and agriculture, FMCG, and logistic services. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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    Kenya Defence Forces<\/span><\/div>\n
    Kenya Forest Service<\/span><\/div>\n
    KEFRI<\/span><\/div>\n
    Jaza Miti<\/span><\/div>\n
    One Tree Planted<\/span><\/div>\n
    Greens for Africa<\/span><\/div>\n
    Plant Village<\/span><\/div>\n
    Katush<\/span><\/div>\n
    Egerton University<\/span><\/div>\n
    Kenya Defence Forces<\/span><\/div>\n
    Kenya Forest Service<\/span><\/div>\n
    KEFRI<\/span><\/div>\n
    Jaza Miti<\/span><\/div>\n
    One Tree Planted<\/span><\/div>\n
    One Acre Fund<\/span><\/div>\n
    Plant Village<\/span><\/div>\n
    DHL Kenya<\/span><\/div>\n
    Egerton University<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n \n
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    08<\/span>Awards & recognition<\/span><\/div>\n

    A small lab
    with a long shelf.<\/em><\/h2>\n

    HyaPak is recognized and trusted in sustainability, manufacturing and innovation around the world, from Nairobi to Dubai and the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n