Methodology for Inventorization of Non-hazardous Industrial waste: Toolkit for Tanzania

November 14, 2025

As industrialization accelerates across Africa, it brings with it a rising tide of waste generation. Due to absence of proper waste management practices, over 90 per cent of the continent’s waste is currently either burnt in open or dumped in unregulated dumpsites/landfills resulting in 19 of the world’s 50 largest dumpsites to be located in this continent. The majority of this waste however is non-hazardous in nature, but it requires proper management due to its high volume and non-biodegradable nature. Such kind of waste holds significant utilization potential and the ability to play a vital role in advancing circularity principles, however is left unmanaged and underutilized due to the unavailability of the information on the quantum generated.

Unlike hazardous waste, non-hazardous industrial waste often suffers from policy invisibility: no clear inventories, no mandated recovery targets, and little support for circular interventions. The result is that millions of tonnes of reusable material are lost each year, along with the economic and environmental opportunities they could unlock. The toolkit aims to change that.

It offers a practical step-by-step robust methodology to help policymakers, regulators, and industries quantify and map non-hazardous industrial waste, even in data-scarce contexts. It also illustrates how early inventorization can help countries integrate circular economy principles by turning industrial wastes into valuable resources rather than environmental burdens. By enabling data- based waste management, this toolkit aims to support regulators and policymakers in building a foundation for sustainable industrial growth in African countries.

Report: Methodology for Inventorization of Non-hazardous Industrial waste: Toolkit for Uganda