Waste Management Companies

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐊 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚. EPR. DRS. Simpler Recycling. Plastic Packaging Tax. Food waste collections. Plastic film collections. All important blocks. But move one without thinking about the others, and the whole tower starts to wobble. That is not an argument against reform. Most of these changes are needed. For too long, the UK has had a recycling and resources system that is too fragmented, too inconsistent, and too dependent on individual parts somehow lining up by themselves. But the next few years are going to be a real test. Because packaging does not move through the economy in neat policy boxes. A drinks bottle does not care whether it sits under EPR, DRS, recycled content targets, local authority collection systems or consumer behaviour campaigns. A flexible plastic pack does not become circular because one part of the system changes. A food waste caddy does not work because the regulation exists. It works when collections, communications, participation, treatment capacity and public trust line up. That, for me, is the real test of the next few years. Not whether each individual policy “lands”. But whether they add up to something coherent. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤: We treat each change as a separate compliance exercise. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲: We line them up properly and use them to build a better resources system. That means asking some awkward but necessary questions: ♻️ Are we designing packaging for the system we actually have, or the one we hope to have? 🏭 Is infrastructure keeping pace with policy ambition? 📊 Is data helping us make better decisions, or just creating more reporting burden? 🧃 Will DRS complement kerbside recycling, or pull against it? 💷 Will EPR genuinely shift design decisions upstream? 🗣️ Are we explaining all of this clearly enough to households and businesses? Circularity is often drawn as a neat loop. But for the sake of an attention grabbing LinkedIn visual, its much more like 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢. Every block matters. But so does how they sit together. 💭What do you think is the wobbliest block in the UK’s current waste and resources reform agenda? 𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. #CircularEconomy #WasteManagement #Resources #Recycling #Packaging #EPR #DRS #SimplerRecycling #UKPolicy #Sustainability

⛈️ A perfect storm is brewing for Scotland’s waste sector and recent reporting has pulled the issue into national view. ⏱️ With the landfill ban on biodegradable municipal waste set for 31 December 2025, the infrastructure needed to manage non-recyclable waste is already showing serious signs of strain. ♻️ As RDF export costs rise and waste is increasingly diverted south to England or sent overseas, the pressure is mounting, economically, environmentally, and operationally. Here’s what we know: ➡️ Estimated 600,000-tonne annual capacity shortfall ➡️ EfW gate fees hitting £150/tonne, with £50+/tonne in haulage ➡️ Scotland has 8 incinerators (now 7, after the Ness facility was taken offline) ➡️ Remote and rural areas face the greatest logistical challenges ➡️ Some waste is being landfilled, despite the upcoming ban ➡️ Significant volumes are being exported, increasing both costs and carbon Why it matters: “It’ll take 80–100 truckloads a day just to move the waste south.” 🚛 For smaller firms, that simply isn’t viable. For Scotland’s circular ambitions, it’s a step backward. 🗺️ Geography plays a key role. Large, centralised infrastructure isn’t practical for a country of remote towns, islands and rural areas. As capacity tightens, these communities are hit first and hardest. 🚧 Meanwhile, no new incinerators are expected to be operational until 2027–28 leaving a multi-year mismatch between policy and on-the-ground readiness. This isn’t just a planning issue, it’s a clear signal that traditional waste systems are under pressure and the countdown is on. Answers on a postcard 🤔 #efw #landfillban #wasteinfrastructure #environmentalpolicy #rdf #wasteexport #wastemanagement #resourcemanagement #sustainability #circulareconomy

With an estimated $100 Billion in material value lost each year in the US alone due to rejected and then landfilled/incinerated recyclables, how can we transform our approach to unlock this immense potential? It was inspiring to hear my colleague Rey Banatao discuss his moonshot for circularity on the latest X Moonshot Podcast, alongside Emily Ma's equally ambitious work tackling food waste. Rey's team is diving deep into the molecular level of materials to build a more effective and economically viable recycling system, starting with challenging plastics where current systems often fall short. The scale of the waste challenge, encompassing both plastics and food, is staggering, but the potential for innovative solutions is clear: 🟢 Globally, plastic production is a ~$600 Billion industry; increasing circularity offers huge economic and environmental opportunities beyond preventing value loss. 🟢 In the US, there are over 9,000 different local recycling systems, highlighting the complexity Rey's data-driven approach aims to navigate. 🟢 Simultaneously, 40% of food goes uneaten in the US, contributing to significant economic loss (estimated $1 Trillion globally from consumer/retail waste alone) and environmental strain. 🟢 Tech can make a difference: Open Product Recovery, inspired by Emily's early work at X, enables partners like FarmLink Project to rescue vast amounts of surplus food – over 300 million pounds moved! Rey's project highlights the power of data, using advanced spectroscopy and AI to identify the precise molecular makeup of plastics in milliseconds. This allows for better sorting (even for hard-to-recycle items like black plastics or clamshells) and unlocks the potential for advanced recycling methods like chemical recycling by creating optimized feedstock from materials previously destined for landfill. This data could also be crucial for informing policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Similarly, Emily's foundational work on creating standardized data and communication protocols for surplus food led to the open-source Open Product Recovery network, demonstrating how technology can optimize logistics and connect supply with need in complex systems like food rescue. Tackling these entrenched global challenges requires moonshot thinking, deep technological innovation, and collaboration. Whether it's turning landfill-bound plastics back into valuable resources or ensuring surplus food nourishes people instead of contributing to methane emissions, the goal is clear: building more sustainable, circular systems for a healthier planet and economy. Check it out here - https://lnkd.in/d8WfjFHR. #Circularity #PlasticWaste #Recycling #Sustainability #TechForGood #Innovation #Moonshot #FoodWaste #CircularEconomy

Matola is one of Mozambique's fastest-growing cities, and its solid waste management system is struggling to keep pace. Residential waste already exceeds 400 tonnes per day, with the vast majority ending up at two non-sanitary dumpsites, or being burnt and buried informally in neighbourhoods that lack reliable collection coverage. The municipal budget amounts to just $5.20 per inhabitant per year for waste services, nowhere near enough to cover the scale of the challenge. But there's another side to this story. A real and active waste value chain already exists in Matola. Informal pickers, local aggregators and small recyclers are already moving plastics, metals, cardboard and glass through to markets in South Africa and beyond. The opportunity isn't to build something from scratch - it's to build on what's already there. A new assessment, commissioned by the Norwegian Embassy in Maputo and led by Pascal Fuchs of Swisscontact, with co-authorship from Cameron Smith of Unwaste.io and me, Zoë Lenkiewicz of Global Waste Lab, evaluated three solution pathways: 🏭 Waste-to-Energy / RDF for cement - significant feasibility risks: waste quantity data is unreliable, capital requirements are high, and the municipal collection system is too limited to guarantee consistent feedstock 🪣 Landfill upgrades - practical, phased improvements at Malhampsene and Patrice (fencing, weighbridges, hygiene facilities, separation areas) that can increase revenue and reduce environmental harm at relatively low cost ♻️ Community transfer, sorting and pre-processing - the most promising near-term model, supporting neighbourhood entrepreneurs to separate, compact and process recyclables and organics close to the source, reducing pressure on municipal collection and creating local livelihoods The decentralised model stands out because it works with existing structures rather than against them. People who are already in the value chain could scale significantly with access to space, simple equipment and a more enabling regulatory environment. The full report is available in English and Portuguese via the link below. A big thank you to the Municipality of Matola, especially Director Joao Agostinho Mucavel and the sanitation team, and to the waste pickers at Malhampsene who gave us their time. If you're working on urban waste management in Africa, or thinking about where development funding in this space has the most impact, I'd love to hear your perspective.

Circularity requires more than targets In discussions about circular economy in waste management, I often hear that better sorting and more advanced recycling technologies will eventually solve the problem. Sorting matters. Technology matters. But system performance depends on more than technical capability alone. Even with high collection rates and improved infrastructure, certain material streams remain structurally difficult to recycle at scale, including: • multilayer and composite materials • contaminated or degraded streams • low-volume, high-complexity fractions • products not designed for disassembly In some cases, technologies to process these materials do exist. But technical feasibility does not automatically translate into stable, large-scale recovery. Markets, cost structures, infrastructure alignment, and regulatory incentives ultimately determine performance in practice. These are not failures of effort. They are design and system constraints. Circularity therefore depends on alignment between product design, material choices, market demand, cost structures, and regulatory frameworks. The forthcoming EU Circular Economy Act aims to strengthen markets for secondary raw materials as part of a broader effort to address these structural challenges. In my work across waste systems, technology assessment, and policy analysis, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: circularity is not primarily a technical challenge. It is a systems design challenge. #CircularEconomy #WasteSystems #SecondaryMaterials #SystemDesign (illustrative image, AI-generated)

I have documented plastic pollution in Kenya for over a decade, and one thing remains constant, single-use plastics dominate the waste I encounter. Between 2013 and 2017, plastic carrier bags were everywhere, littering streets, drains, rivers, and landscapes. After the 2017 ban, their presence reduced drastically. In the years that followed, I saw more plastic drink bottles blocking drains and floating in rivers. But, in the last two years, I’ve observed a significant drop in their numbers, a sign that increased recycling efforts might be making a difference, especially for PET. The prices for PET bottles are also improving. However, new challenges persist. Banned clear plastic bags are still widely used, especially in low income areas. Small shops use them to package anything from cooking oil to milk. Food wrappers or flexibles are another growing problem, they’re hard to collect and even harder to recycle. Another type of plastic waste I have come across is polystyrene foam and Croslite (the material used in Crocs). I believe these are among the worst, as they break down quickly into tiny pieces that can easily spread through wind and water. I have photographed so much waste from these materials. To address plastic pollution; 1.      We need more bans on single-use plastic. 2.      Extended producer responsibility. 3.      Deposit and return schemes. 4.      Refill systems. 5.      Improved designs that support circularity and environmental sustainability. 6.      Improved waste collection and infrastructure. #RethinkPlastics to #BeatplasticPollution

"Not a single landfill site in the Northern Cape meets the environmental, health, and safety requirements for waste management. This is the second consecutive year that landfills in this province have failed to meet the minimum legal requirement of 80% for responsible waste management, as outlined in AfriForum’s annual audit report on this matter. According to the report, the situation is so dire in the Northern Cape that landfills in Britstown, De Aar, Delportshoop, Douglas, Hanover, Keimoes, and Strydenburg meet none of the requirements. Kimberley’s landfill scored 36%, Kathu 24%, Upington 12%, and Warrenton 6%. Only Orania’s landfill nearly passed with 76%. Kuruman fared poorly with 60%. In 25 years, Africa is expected to be overwhelmed by 516 million tons of waste per year. More than 90% of the continent’s waste is disposed of at uncontrolled and unofficial dumping sites, according to the African Union Development Agency (Auda). In many cases across the continent, this waste is set on fire, leading to air pollution and uncontrolled fires. Waste also remains unused on sidewalks and open spaces in cities and towns, on open land outside settlements, and clogs stormwater drains, contaminating water sources. Meanwhile, 70% to 80% of this waste is recyclable. Yet only 4% is recycled, according to Auda. Income and job opportunities in waste recycling are still overlooked. The South African Plastic Recycling Organisation indicates that 58,750 income opportunities were created in 2019 through plastic recycling, and that recycling contributed 2.3% directly to South Africa’s gross domestic product. May governments, including the Northern Cape, realize that waste recycling is essential for a ‘modern, growing, and successful’ system. Without it, progress may be stifled." #EIA #EnvironmentalManagement #SouthAfrica https://lnkd.in/dG9WepGY

We are deluded when it comes to recycling. Only 6% of plastic in the US is recycled. What we think happens: we put our plastic and electronic waste in appropriate bins and they are recycled properly in a factory. What actually happens: our waste takes a carbon-intensive trek across the world to Asia and Africa where it ends up in the oceans, and landfills and even if processed, releases toxins including microplastics into the environment. Recycling can be done right. But we are doing it all wrong. The global north has crafted a deceptively elegant solution: bartering toxic waste and plastic debris for schools and hospitals in the global south. This arrangement conveniently cleanses wealthy nations' consciences while shielding polluting industries from accountability. The human and ecological toll is devastating: from blocked rivers to toxic fumes and neurological damage, plastic pollution in emerging economies claims countless lives annually, with mortality figures now reaching into the hundreds of thousands. Recycling can be done right and it can be done right here at home. It simply needs to be a priority: 1. Minimize single use disposable plastics wherever possible. In the US single use plastics are everywhere, and accounts to about 50% of plastic produced. 2. Mandate use of material that is recyclable (e.g. PET) 3. Build recycling infrastructure -40 million US households lack access to recycling services -Build more recycling plants at home. -Implement a nationwide bottle and deposit scheme similar to Norway for example As the great straw debate of 2025 shows, sometimes we focus on the small things and miss the bigger picture. Let's not get stuck on straws when there's an entire ocean of change to be made. #strawdebate #recycling #climatetech Image from 4ocean PBC.

29 Million South Africans generate waste with little to no formal collection. A recent post of mine blew up. It was about how “recycling more will not solve SA’s waste crisis”, with some facts about the state of our landfill sites in the bigger cities.  A handful of people asked me about the state of waste outside of the big cities. Fair question. WastePlan serves the private sector in the large metros in South Africa, but I have been tracking the state of waste in rural South Africa too. And it’s not looking good. Compared to Gauteng’s 92% coverage, rural collection is 34%. This means ~29 million South Africans generate waste with little to no formal collection. Eastern Cape has 30% rural collection. Northern Cape has 15% rural collection. Limpopo has 25% rural collection. That is 3.67 million tonnes of domestic waste not collected.  Every. Single. Year.  Only 25% of Eastern Cape landfills meet legal requirements. Two sites manage just 2% compliance. Were it not for Informal waste pickers who recover huge amounts of post-consumer packaging in many areas, things would be far worse. But we’re letting them down and shouldn’t self-congratulate just yet. They work without recognition, equipment or fair compensation, yet prevent river contamination and reduce landfill volumes. The reality is that waste collection routes are simply not feasible, given that vast areas are so sparsely populated. On top of that, many areas flood regularly, so the problem compounds with other infrastructure problems. So, nationwide we have an average informal disposal rate of 55.6% with three provinces under 30% rural coverage. What could be done? Bi-weekly collections at central points with regional waste facilities serving multiple municipalities. This would start making a dent at least. Establishing mobile transfer services to support the regional facilities. Developing community composting hubs. There are some successful programs in KZN proving this model. Enhanced skip services for high-demand “clients” like schools, malls, and clinics. Tax incentives for private companies serving rural contracts. There are many more ideas that would have a disproportionate impact, but feel free to leave comments. 

Waste dumping on streets and the open accumulation of uncollected food waste remain major challenges in Indian cities. In many areas, especially low-income neighborhoods, municipal collection systems are inconsistent or absent, and informal waste workers like ragpickers often avoid biodegradable waste due to its low resale value. As a result, large amounts of food waste are left to rot in public spaces. In our study (Nagpure et al., 2015), we estimated that Delhi accumulates approximately 557,000 tonnes of illegally dumped municipal solid waste (MSW) annually, with around 423,000 tonnes consisting of biodegradable material—primarily food waste. The average food waste accumulation is 450 tonnes per square kilometer, but in some low-income wards, this rises dramatically to over 5,300 tonnes/km²—nearly 100 times higher than in affluent areas. These disparities reflect not only infrastructural and governance gaps but also environmental injustice, as the poorest residents are left most exposed to sanitation hazards, pests, and harmful emissions. Our findings underscore the need for inclusive, ward-level waste management strategies that address both formal collection gaps and the limitations of informal recycling systems. Source: https://lnkd.in/eBZv-UQE