Kenya’s manufacturers, importers and brand owners now operate under a legal framework that makes them financially and physically responsible for what happens to their products after a customer is done with them. The Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022 introduced this principle into Kenyan law, and the Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024 set out how it works in practice, from registration and take-back schemes to annual reporting and penalties. For manufacturers already stretched across product standards, tax and licensing obligations, EPR compliance is a further layer carrying real financial exposure if ignored. This guide sets out what producers, manufacturers and importers need to know, including the current state of enforcement, which has faced active litigation through 2025 and 2026.
What Is Extended Producer Responsibility?
Extended Producer Responsibility, commonly shortened to EPR, is a policy approach under which the party that places a product on the market carries responsibility for that product across its full life cycle, including the post-consumer waste stage. In practical terms, this shifts the cost and logistics of collecting, recycling and safely disposing of packaging away from local authorities and the public, and onto the manufacturers, importers and brand owners who benefit from selling those products.
Under Kenyan law, the concept is not limited to plastic packaging, although plastics have been the initial focus of enforcement. The definition of “producer” in the 2024 Regulations is broad, capturing manufacturers, importers, refillers, repackagers, rebranders, brand owners and converters who introduce products or packaging into the Kenyan market. A business does not need to manufacture anything locally to be caught: importing finished goods, rebranding another company’s product, or repackaging bulk goods for retail sale can all trigger producer status.
The Legal Framework: The Act and the 2024 Regulations
The starting point is the Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022 (Act No. 31 of 2022). Section 13 establishes the core obligation: every producer shall bear extended producer responsibility for reducing the pollution and environmental impact of products it introduces into the Kenyan market, discharged individually or collectively through a compliance scheme. Section 13(3) required the Cabinet Secretary to make detailed EPR regulations within two years of the Act’s commencement.
That mandate was fulfilled through the Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024, published as Legal Notice No. 176 of 2024 in the Kenya Gazette Supplement of 4 November 2024. The Regulations flesh out the Act’s general principle with detailed rules on registration, take-back schemes, Producer Responsibility Organisations, and reporting, administered by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).
Implementation has not been straightforward. In May 2025, the High Court issued a conservatory order staying the operation and enforcement of the 2024 Regulations pending a constitutional challenge, shortly before they were due to take effect. NEMA has since proceeded with implementation against producers and importers, including a directive that all importers obtain an EPR Import Certificate through the National Electronic Single Window System from 14 March 2026. Separately, in 2026 retailers challenged NEMA’s practice of requiring supermarkets to verify suppliers’ EPR compliance before stocking goods, and the Environment and Land Court granted interim relief limiting enforcement against retailers pending a full hearing. For manufacturers and importers, the obligations on producers themselves remain live and enforced, even though NEMA’s enforcement powers over third parties elsewhere in the supply chain are still being litigated. Treat the Regulations as in force and monitor developments, since court outcomes can shift compliance timelines with little notice.
Producer Obligations: Registration, Take-Back Schemes and PROs
Regulation 5 of the 2024 Regulations sets out the substantive obligations on producers. A producer must establish a take-back scheme, which may include a deposit refund system, for the products or packaging it places on the market. It must register an individual or collective compliance scheme with NEMA, design products to minimise waste and facilitate recycling, take financial, organisational and physical responsibility for the management, treatment and disposal of the resulting waste, and carry out lifecycle assessments of its products.
Producers wishing to comply individually apply using Form C, together with their certificate of incorporation and the prescribed fee under the Third Schedule to the Regulations, and NEMA must determine the application within a set period after receipt. Most producers, in practice, discharge their obligations collectively through a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), an entity that takes on EPR compliance on behalf of member producers in exchange for a membership fee. A collective compliance scheme must submit a four-year EPR plan, evidence of agreements with waste service providers, and a register of members and their fee structure. Approval runs for a maximum of four years and is renewable.
PROs carry their own obligations: they must deliver on the compliance commitments made on behalf of members, support development of a secondary raw materials market for recovered waste, invest in research with academic institutions, and remit five per cent of collected membership fees to NEMA annually. Existing producers were given six months from commencement to register, a deadline that fell within the period affected by the 2025 court order, so manufacturers who have not yet registered should treat this as an urgent, live obligation rather than one that has lapsed.
Reporting Obligations
Compliance is not a one-off registration exercise. Producers and PROs must file annual reports with NEMA, due by 31 January each year, covering volumes of product and packaging placed on the market and the corresponding volumes collected, recycled or otherwise recovered during the preceding year, along with product traceability and market information. Keeping accurate, auditable records throughout the year, rather than reconstructing figures at year end, is the most practical way to meet this obligation and withstand any NEMA inspection.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
The 2024 Regulations do not set out a bespoke penalty regime specific to EPR breaches. Instead, Regulation 22 ties non-compliance back to the general penalty provision in section 32 of the Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022, which provides that a person who contravenes a provision of the Act for which no other penalty is prescribed is liable, on conviction, to a fine of not less than two million shillings and not more than four million shillings, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years, or to both. Beyond that criminal exposure, non-compliant producers risk practical consequences such as an inability to clear imported goods without a valid EPR import certificate, and reputational exposure once non-compliance becomes public. Any additional administrative penalties NEMA may apply under sector-specific guidelines have not been independently verified against a primary source, so manufacturers should confirm current enforcement practice before relying on any figure beyond the statutory range quoted above.
How We Can Help
Navigating a regime still being tested in the courts takes more than reading the Regulations once and filing a registration form. Clay & Associates Advocates advises manufacturers, importers and brand owners on structuring EPR compliance, whether that means registering individually, negotiating membership terms with a Producer Responsibility Organisation, or reviewing supply agreements to allocate EPR risk between producers, distributors and retailers. We also track the ongoing EPR litigation so clients are not caught out by a sudden shift in enforcement posture. For businesses wanting their broader regulatory position reviewed alongside EPR, our Regulatory & Compliance practice works with manufacturers to build compliance into day-to-day operations rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Sources: Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022 (Kenya Law), Sustainable Waste Management Act, 2022 (NEMA), Sustainable Waste Management (Extended Producer Responsibility) Regulations, 2024, Legal Notice No. 176 (Kenya Law), Legal Notice No. 176 of 2024 (NEMA), Court Stops NEMA from Enforcing 2024 Producer Responsibility Rules (Kenyans.co.ke), Supermarkets Win Court Reprieve From NEMA’s Plastic Rules (Kenyan Wallstreet), Supermarkets locked in a dispute with Nema over pollution rules (Business Daily), NEMA Orders All Importers to Secure EPR Compliance Certificate Starting March 14 (Kenyans.co.ke).
Frequently asked questions
Does EPR only apply to plastic packaging?
No. The definition of producer and the underlying obligation apply to products and packaging generally. Plastics have received the most enforcement attention so far, and NEMA has separately signalled a push on e-waste rules, but any manufacturer or importer whose product generates post-consumer waste should assess whether it falls within scope.
Is an importer of finished goods a “producer” under Kenyan EPR law?
Yes. The Regulations define producer broadly to include importers, refillers, repackagers, rebranders and brand owners, not only local manufacturers. A company importing finished, branded products for sale in Kenya is generally a producer for EPR purposes and must register accordingly, including obtaining the EPR Import Certificate required for goods cleared through the National Electronic Single Window System.
Are the EPR Regulations currently being enforced, given the court cases?
The litigation to date has targeted specific aspects of enforcement, such as NEMA requiring retailers to police their suppliers’ compliance, rather than the core registration and take-back obligations that fall directly on producers and importers. NEMA has continued to register producers and roll out measures such as the mandatory import certificate. Manufacturers and importers should treat their own EPR obligations as live and should not assume that challenges affecting other supply chain parties excuse their own non-compliance.
