Circular Economy Waste Recovery Infrastructure in Africa
Explore actionable data insights on plastic recycling networks across Africa. Verified municipal metrics, traceable material workflows, and plastic credit solutions for global corporate ESG compliance.
Model updated 2026
Municipal profiles by country
Each profile models daily unmanaged polymer leakage, the informal workforce already handling that material, collection hub targets, and distance to the nearest processing capacity and ocean-bound waterway.
Priority pilot geography
Tanzania
Coastal and lakeside cities with fast urban growth, high sachet and bottle consumption, and formal collection reaching only part of each municipality.
View Tanzania country profileReplication market under evaluation
Kenya
The most developed recycled-material offtake market in East Africa, with mandatory extended producer responsibility creating funded demand for verified collection.
View Kenya country profileUnder evaluation
Uganda
Rapid urbanisation around the Lake Victoria basin with limited downstream processing capacity and high sachet packaging use.
View Uganda country profilePolicy benchmark
Rwanda
The strictest single-use plastic regime on the continent, useful as a control case for how much leakage regulation alone removes.
View Rwanda country profileDesign and research base
Morocco
An industrialised recovery chain with established recyclers, close to European recycled-content demand and reporting standards.
View Morocco country profileDirectory index — modelled daily leakage
| City | Country | Urban population | Unmanaged plastic (t/day) | Informal collectors | Hub target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dar es Salaam | Tanzania | 5.38M | 244.1 | 4,200 | 215 |
| Zanzibar City | Tanzania | 0.71M | 33.7 | 620 | 28 |
| Mwanza | Tanzania | 1.18M | 43.9 | 900 | 47 |
| Nairobi | Kenya | 5.12M | 171.4 | 6,000 | 205 |
| Mombasa | Kenya | 1.30M | 52.7 | 1,500 | 52 |
| Kampala | Uganda | 3.65M | 135.1 | 3,000 | 146 |
| Kigali | Rwanda | 1.75M | 19.3 | 700 | 70 |
| Casablanca | Morocco | 3.95M | 78.2 | 3,500 | 158 |
Methodology
How these figures are produced
- Urban population from national statistics offices and UN-Habitat urban agglomeration estimates.
- Municipal solid waste per capita from World Bank What a Waste 2.0 income-band and country figures.
- Plastic share of the waste stream from national waste characterisation studies where available, otherwise the regional band (8–13%).
- Unmanaged share from UNEP and OECD mismanaged-waste ratios for the country's collection coverage.
- Polymer split from published characterisation of East and North African urban packaging streams.
- Hub targets model one community aggregation point per ~25,000 residents; collector counts follow published informal-sector surveys.
These are transparent desk estimates, not field measurements. AfriloopX is pre-pilot: any figure will be replaced with primary, weighbridge-verified data once collection operates.
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