Development of a National Circular Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (CESIP) for Kenya - Sitra

Background and objective of the procurement Kenya has a rapidly developing economy with high potential for growth in the coming decades. The economy is predominantly linear with a high dependence on both extraction and imports for many key commodities. Much of the value of products, components and materials is only to a limited degree retained across lifecycles with much of the resources ending up as waste after a short use phase, with pollution and other adverse environmental impacts as a consequence. Many countries have turned to the circular economy as a solutions framework for driving growth and tackling environmental challenges – largely by consolidating and operationalising existing policies and catalysing industry action. Although the implementation of these plans in practice has been limited, falling short of the ambitions, many African countries have developed national CE roadmaps and strategies, and in 2025, the African Union published a Continental Circular Economy Action Plan, which calls for all African countries to consolidate national CE strategies. While Kenya lacks a national CE (circular economy) roadmap, it already has a comprehensive policy framework related to CE, including the: • Environment Management and Coordination Act (1999) • National Environment Policy (2013) • Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (2016-2030) • Updated Nationally Determined Contribution (2020–2030) • National Sustainable Waste Management Policy (2021) • The Sustainable Waste Management Act (2022) • Environmental Management and Co-ordination (Controlled Substances) Regulations • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations (2024) • Many related policies are under development, including an emerging bioeconomy framework. A National Circular Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (CESIP), hereafter referred to as CESIP or ’roadmap’ could consolidate as well as help operationalise many existing Kenyan policies across priority sectors and align them with broader national goals in industry development, trade, climate action, and supply security. A wide range of stakeholders drawn from government agencies, businesses, eco-industrial parks, academia, civil society, and regional and international partners like the African Union, African Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union (EU), and Member States are already actively engaged in CE initiatives, and it is essential that CESIP is backed by a comprehensive and inclusive stakeholder process that embodies an all-of-society approach, which consolidates, activates and builds on existing activities and provides both a baseline through a co-created vision and a clear action-oriented framework for implementation. 2b) Governance and implementing team The process to develop CESIP is led by the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Forestry (hereafter the “ministry”). The roadmap consolidation process is guided by a national Steering Committee led by the ministry, and supported by Sitra through the EU CERC, with additional budget support earmarked by Team Denmark. Additional experts will also provide feedback to the roadmap process after the public consultation without formal decision-making power. To support the analysis, technical consultation and consolidation process of CESIP, Sitra seeks an experienced and diverse ‘implementing team’ that through their combined expertise and organisational profiles, possibly representing multiple service providers (e.g. through a consortium or sub-contracting), can perform the assignment (chapter 3) and the associated objectives and activities tasks outlined with steering from the ministry and the ‘working group’ in the spirit of a multi-stakeholder, all-of-society approach. The ‘working group’ is intended to serve a slimmer, operations-focused unit compared to the broader Steering Committee, including as members the ministry, National Environment Management Authority, Sitra, Team Denmark and the implementing team. The ‘working group’ can be expanded with other members from the Steering Committee or reduced at the ministry’s discretion. The implementing team is responsible for delivering the predefined objectives and activities and reporting to Sitra. The ministry will convene the predefined working group together with the implementing team. Sitra is responsible for defining the requests of the working group and possible changes to the contract and to a designated person communicate these to the implementing team in the form of a lead expert who assumes the overall responsibility for delivering the objectives of the project. 2c) Priority sectors The following five priority sectors have been identified for a focused baseline analysis, material flow assessment, stakeholder roundtables, target-setting, sector-specific strategies, and action planning in this CESIP process: 1. Plastics 2. Agriculture and food systems (organic waste) 3. Textiles, Apparel, and Fashion 4. Electrical and Electronic Equipment 5. Mining, Quarrying, and Construction These sectors were identified based on the following criteria: 1. Environmental and Health Impact 2. Job creation potential 3. Economic growth potential 4. Alignment with National Goals Moreover, these sectors align closely with the National Environment Management Authority’s modelling priorities, which are agri-food, plastics, construction, Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) waste, and general waste, as well as being consistent with the ongoing national CE initiatives, with textiles treated as an emerging/high-potential area. Possible refinements may be confirmed by the Kenyan Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change during the inception phase. The value of the Procurement The value of the procurement is €100,000 (excluding VAT). The procurement includes the tasks required for the implementation of the assignment and possible travel expenses

3 Assignment The implementing team is responsible for ensuring the delivery of 4 objectives and associated activities based on Sitra’s 9-step roadmap approach (adapted to the Kenyan context based on Kenyan characteristics and the ministry’s preferences): • Objective 1 (3.1) (Steps 1-3): Situational analysis and stakeholder mapping: Provide an overview of the state of play of the circular economy landscape in Kenya as a baseline for the project to be kickstarted, building on existing efforts and by activating the relevant stakeholders o Activity 1 (3.1.1): Conduct a comprehensive desk review of existing policies, strategies, ongoing CE initiatives (national, regional, and global, including relevant EU initiatives such as those under the EU Global Gateway that offer synergies for integration in the roadmap process, defined in dialogue with the EU CERC throughout the project with an eye to making use of EU know-how), material flows in the identified priority sectors, and relevant trade provisions, as well as leading practices, including from other countries, building on the CESIP pre-analysis already conducted (to be shared with the implementing team at the outset). o Activity 2 (3.1.2): Establish baseline data and material flow insights for the identified priority sectors through a literature review and validation of key information. o Activity 3 (3.1.3): Propose aligned CE strategic objectives and identify key gaps and barriers. o Activity 4 (3.1.4): Prepare a status quo analysis report (including concise opportunities and gaps in the identified sectors). o Activity 5 (3.1.5): Develop a clear, inclusive, and gender-responsive stakeholder participation methodology. • Objective 2 (3.2) (Steps 1-6): Stakeholder Engagement and Public Consultation for CESIP: Facilitate a stakeholder process with key stakeholders to validate the outputs of the situational analysis (i.e. objective 1, activities 1-4), co-create a vision, define the gaps and associated targets, and a pathway for implementation with the roadmap the centre. o Activity 2 (3.2.1): Facilitate a stakeholder process and public consultation with the identified stakeholder groups, to validate the situational analysis, co-create a vision for CESIP, define the gaps and associated targets, and a pathway for implementation with the roadmap at the centre, with: 3.2.1.1: at least 110 stakeholders across 8-10 focus cohorts convened through thematic roundtables (including the 5 focus sectors listed under 2c, as well as a set of policy priorities including e.g. EPR and product policy, lifestyles, waste management and involvement of counties, industry, training and capacity building, financial incentives, public procurement, trade and financing, per the ministry’s guidance), focused around how value can be created and draft goals (with possible timelines and responsibilities) formulated in the respective focus areas in response to the baseline analysis first presented to the stakeholders, with an eye to how ownership for subsequent targets can be established by the different cohorts. 3.2.1.2: Conduct national public consultation forums. 3.2.1.3: Conduct 15 additional key informant interviews for stakeholders not able to join the cohort roundtables (or where individual meetings are deemed more appropriate). 3.2.1.4: Organise 1 national multi-stakeholder validation workshop to co-create the vision, validate the analysis, define the gaps, set quantified targets and outline implementation pathways, bringing together the cohorts, key informant interviewees as well as other high-level stakeholders. 3.2.1.5: Synthesise the input provided from the stakeholder consultation into a first draft of the CESIP, outlining the necessary regulatory reform and delegated acts, with possible targets for the focus sectors and responsible expert organisations and circulate for one round of comments, and finalise revisions. • Objective 3 (3.3) (Step 7) Production and Launch of the National Circular Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (CESIP): Produce a national CE roadmap with a built-in action plan (including clear targets, monitoring and evaluation, cost estimates with input from finance experts, timelines, and responsible actors for each action). o Activity 1 (3.3.1): consolidate inputs into a complete draft of CESIP, including action plan, quantified targets and baselines, timelines, responsible actors, cost estimates, financing options, and M&E framework, and submit to the working group for review. o Activity 2 (3.3.2.): Convene a group of Kenyan and international CE experts to review and validate the draft, incorporating one integrated round of comments. o Activity 3 (3.3.3): 3.3. Incorporate the working group’s revision and experts’ comments and finalise the CESIP Document, with quantified targets (including a clearly defined baseline), timelines, budget estimates and responsible parties for implementation defined for the cohort focus areas as pre-selected by the ministry. o Activity 4 (3.3.4): Support the ministry in organising a national launch event and publication of the CESIP document, in Nairobi, convening the stakeholders that have participated in the consultation, as well as possible additional stakeholders per the ministry’s guidance, to share information about, create interest in and a sense of involvement in implementing the roadmap. • Objective 4 (3.4) (Steps 8-9): Establishment of a sustainable governance structure for the Implementation of CESIP: Set up a sustainable governance structure with a remit for ensuring effective execution and implementation of the roadmap, by facilitating effective and ongoing coordination, managing monitoring and evaluation (and if necessary, revision), exchange with regional and international partners (e.g. the AU and EAC, and the EU Delegation in Kenya), and capacity building, mobilisation of resources, and working for continuous optimisation of the Kenyan policy framework. • Activity 1 (3.4.1): Recommend and develop an institutional governance framework with clearly defined roles, coordination mechanisms, M&E system, capacity-building plan, and resource mobilisation strategy to facilitate the implementation of the CESIP. • Activity 2 (3.4.2): Coordinate the convening of the first meeting of the recommended governance structure within three months after the publication of the Circular Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (CESIP) 4 Project organisation Reporting requirements Besides the aforementioned outputs and activities, the implementing team is responsible for: • convening online coordination meetings on a bi-weekly basis separately with Sitra and the working group (unless deemed unnecessary by Sitra). • collecting notes during the activities related to the outputs and activities, as well as for the coordination meetings • follow the (digital) publication guidelines selected by the ministry. Work schedule and location Indicative timeline: • 15 April 2026: The project starts, and the implementing team meets with and presents an updated second version of the project plan to the working group, building on the high-level findings of the CESIP pre-analysis). • 20 May 2026: The implementing team presents a third version of the project plan to the Steering Committee with a detailed analysis of how the objectives of the CESIP can be delivered in practice, as well as the results of objective 1, including the status quo analysis report and stakeholder participation methodology. • 27 May 2026: The stakeholder process starts. • 28 July 2026: The stakeholder process ends and the drafting of the roadmap begins. • 20 August 2026: A first draft is shared with the Steering Committee. • 3 September 2026: A draft is shared with the Ministry and the CESIP Expert Group. • 14 September 2026: Roadmap expert group is convened (objective 3, activity 2). • 7 October 2026: CESIP is ready for publication. • October/November (date TBD) 2026: National launch event. • 9 November 2026: The first meeting of the governance structure that spearheads CESIP implementation. The timeline is indicative and subject to changes besides the finishing date (9 November), in line with the criteria listed in chapter 8. The implementing team must lead the work from Kenya but enable participation online with Sitra and the working group for the coordination and if possible additional ad hoc meetings with local stakeholders.