Policy benchmark
Rwanda Plastic Waste Recovery Infrastructure & Recycling Data (2026)
The strictest single-use plastic regime on the continent, useful as a control case for how much leakage regulation alone removes.
Model updated 2026
Country totals across profiled cities
- Cities profiled
- 1Urban agglomerations modelled in this directory
- Population covered
- 1.8million
- Unmanaged plastic
- 19t / day
- Informal collectors
- 700Estimated workforce already handling this material
Policy context: Single-use plastics banned (2019) with import controls and enforcement; high municipal collection coverage.
City profiles
| City | Population | Unmanaged plastic (t/day) | PET (t/day) | LDPE film (t/day) | Hub target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kigali | 1.75M | 19.3 | 6.9 | 4.2 | 70 |
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.
Working on plastic recovery in Rwanda?
We share the full assumption set, source list and pilot design framework with municipal, donor and corporate partners.