Joseph Nguthiru

Joseph Nguthiru is the founder of HyaPak Ecotech Limited (Hyapak), a start-up transforming the water hyacinth plant, the world’s most problematic aquatic weed, into biodegradable alternatives for single-use plastic products. Since its inception, HyaPak has eliminated over 300 kg of water hyacinth from Lake Naivasha in Kenya. Alongside the HyaPak product, Joseph runs social-environmental projects under the Adopt a River initiative, which has eliminated over three tons of waste from polluted rivers across Kenya through involving communities in environmental education, river cleanups, and restorations. Joseph also invented a solar dryer that is now being used to revive pyrethrum plant farming in Kenya. As a civil and environmental engineer, Joseph is passionate about creating innovative and sustainable technologies to address climate change.