Systematising UNHCR sustainable waste management
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Challenge
UNHCR’s humanitarian response generates an estimated 750+ kilo-tonnes of waste per year, with more generated across settlements. Limited resources and lack of sustainable approaches mean waste is not safely reused, repurposed, and disposed of, causing significant challenges for communities.
Solution
A systematic and collaborative exploration of waste streams in settlements and supply chains to design and test a more efficient, localised, and community-based circular waste management system that turns hazards into opportunities.
Impact
Develop tested tools and approaches that operations can replicate to develop locally appropriate and sustainable waste management systems in collaboration with communities, response actors, local municipalities, and the private sector.
More information
In October 2026, findings from the project's Phase One assessment – conducted in Ethiopia, Mauritania, and Chad – were finalized and published.
The assessment found that, in the three pilot countries, local solutions work best when built on existing waste-management actors, recycling ecosystems, and market opportunities rather than introducing entirely new solutions.
These findings have been published in a report, which also identifies opportunities to strengthen value chains and test new models that can attract private-sector expertise, technology, and investment, while improving waste management outcomes for both displaced people and host communities.
Read a two-pager on the report here. Access the full report and executive summary here.