Lake Naivasha, northwest of Nairobi, Kenya, is becoming increasingly unnavigable. Water hyacinth, the world’s most widespread invasive species, is covering the lake, choking fish and leaving people stranded.
“Sometimes the situation becomes very serious,” says Simon Macharia, a local fisherman, about the weed problem. “There was an incident where fishermen were trapped by hyacinth inside the lake for three days. We had to ask the government for help [que] used a helicopter to save them.”
Macharia says that, on some days, he is unable to fish in the lake because of the plant. When you do this, you may lose your nets under the floating grass, incurring costs, which prevents you from making money that day. Water hyacinths also cover the surface, cutting off sunlight, competing with other plant species and depriving the water of oxygen. This means there are fewer fish for Macharia to catch to begin with.
The problem is so vast that it can be seen from space. It also threatens to wipe out the flower industry in the wetlands surrounding the 150-square-kilometer lake.
What is happening at Lake Naivasha is a story that is being repeated around the world. Water hyacinths are native to South America, but have been introduced as exotic ornamental plants in many other countries. Since then, they have taken over freshwater environments and are considered invasive species on all continents except Antarctica.
In addition to its impact on biodiversity and livelihoods, the floating plant can clog hydroelectric and irrigation systems, meaning you don’t have to live near it to be affected. It is the best-known example of an invasive aquatic plant crisis that has historically cost the global economy tens of billions of euros and currently more than 700 million euros per year.
The water hyacinth problem is particularly serious in Africa. A 2024 report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a body founded by the United Nations Environment Programme, describes the plant’s “exponential expansion” as land use changes and climate conditions to add potential fuel to the fire.
Residents of the Kihoto estate on the shores of Lake Naivasha in Kenya were confronted with water hyacinth on their doorstep after extreme rains raised the lake level in October 2020. (Tony Karumba/AFP/AFP via Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
Working groups from various organizations tried to find solutions. The introduction of weevils that attack the plant can limit its spread and even cause it to lose buoyancy. There are also proposals to harvest water hyacinth and combine it with municipal waste and cow dung to produce biofuel. Now, a Kenyan company is tackling the problem, as well as the country’s plastic pollution issue, by turning the invasive plant into a bioplastic.
HyaPak Ecotech Limited, founded by Joseph Nguthiru, began as a final-year project by the former Egerton University civil and environmental engineering student. Nguthiru and her classmates experienced the water hyacinth problem firsthand on a field trip to Lake Naivasha in 2021, when their boat was stuck for five hours. They came back determined to do something to solve the problem.
Nguthiru’s bioplastic is made from dried water hyacinth combined with binders and additives, which are then mixed and molded.
The product, which biodegrades over a few months, was initially used as an alternative to plastic packaging. In 2017, Kenya introduced a law banning single-use plastic bags, and in 2020 all single-use plastics were banned from protected areas. Results have been mixed; With a ban on domestic manufacturing, there are reports that single-use plastic bags have been smuggled into Kenya from neighboring countries. “The problem behind [da proibição] is that no suitable alternatives were produced”, argues Nguthiru.
His product is “killing two birds with one stone”, he believes. “Most single-use plastic products tend to have a shelf life of around 10 minutes after leaving supermarket shelves. So why not make them biodegradable?”
A 2018 image of a fisherman struggling to navigate the waters of Lake Victoria, another Kenyan lake affected by water hyacinth (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
HyaPak has gained widespread attention, winning the Youth category at the East Africa Climate Action Awards, an award at the UNESCO World Engineering Day Hackathon, and a 2023 Prototype for Humanity Award announced at the COP28 climate conference. Nguthiru was also named the Obama Foundation’s 2023 Africa Leader.
Fishermen like Macharia are now harvesting the invasive plant in Lake Naivasha, drying it and selling it to HyaPak. It’s a useful alternative income, he assures, especially on days when the plant covers his net, preventing him from catching fish.
Macharia hopes that HyaPak can soon increase its activities, allowing the community surrounding the lake to harvest greater quantities of water hyacinth. “If Joseph gets financing, I think he will be able to buy larger amounts and at least many people will have work,” he recalls.
One project that could help HyaPak grow is its partnership with the Kenyan government to use its products as part of a flagship reforestation scheme.
According to Global Forest Watch, Kenya lost 14% of its tree cover between 2001 and 2023. In late 2022, Kenya’s Forest and Land Restoration Acceleration Program committed to planting 15 billion seedlings by 2032 in degraded forests and pastures. By doing so, the country’s tree cover would increase to more than 30%, according to the government.
All of these seedlings need bags to grow and transport, and HyaPak seedling bags are part of the plan, explains Nguthiru.
A plastic seedling bag has a carbon footprint of 1.6 to 1.7 kg, according to Nguthiru, and is discarded when the seedling is planted. HyaPak’s alternative is planted with the seedling and biodegrades, releasing nutrients, including nitrogen. Additionally, during the first few months of the seedling, the bioplastic slows the infiltration of water into the surrounding soil, reducing the amount of watering required.
Joseph Nguthiru, founder of HyaPak Ecotech Limited, with one of the company’s seed packets, created from water hyacinth from Lake Naivasha (CNN)
“It offsets the carbon emissions that will be produced, uses less water, adds more nutrients… it is an advantageous situation for the communities, for the planet and for yourself as a farmer”, argues Nguthiru.
HyaPak already exports to the US and Germany and plans to establish franchises in India and El Salvador – two freshwater countries plagued by water hyacinth.
Nguthiru wants to create the fastest way for the world to benefit from his innovation: “Even if that means opening up access to part of the product, so that the development and advancement of biodegradable plastic can be very fast, so be it.”
In addition to the water hyacinth, he considers that urgent action is needed to face the climate crisis: “Previous generations failed and the following generations are looking up to us. We are the ones who are going to live with a planet that exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius (increase in global temperature)”, he states.
“It’s up to my generation to find solutions to the climate crisis, because if we don’t, we won’t do it at all.”
