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- Medical waste ignored in Africa’s circular transition
Medical waste ignored in Africa’s circular transition
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 | Egypt is in talks with the UNDP to expand their cooperation to include medical waste management. Central to the discussions is the development of a medical waste treatment complex, in the northeastern region, as the country looks to strengthen its health infrastructure and improve hazardous waste handling. |
According to WHO, medical waste makes up 15% of healthcare waste, a small fraction by volume but highly hazardous if mismanaged, posing serious health and environmental risks.
Despite these risks, most healthcare waste strategies in Africa still focus on disposal rather than prevention, segregation or investment in cleaner circular treatment technologies.
Our take: Treating medical waste as a circular economy challenge, not just a health risk, could turn a public burden into an economic opportunity.… Read more (2 min)
 | The North African nation of Egypt secured the lion’s share of Africa’s circular economy funding in June, receiving $22.6 million, or 91.5% of the continent’s total of $24.7 million. The Circular Rising funding tracker shows that the remaining investments, each valued at $300,000, were distributed across seven countries in West and East Africa. |
The Egyptian deal, the single largest circular economy investment on the continent in June, is a grant from the European Investment Bank to accelerate recycling infrastructure and environmental reform.
Most of the total, $21.5 million, will co-finance recycling and pollution-reduction initiatives, while $1.1 million will be used to digitalise Egypt’s environmental agency to enhance monitoring, enforcement and sustainability oversight.
Our take: Egypt’s ability to secure funding highlights the power of a well-structured national strategy aligned with donor priorities… Read more (2 min)
 | Africa’s circular economy policies are becoming more enforceable and precise, signalling a shift from broad pledges to concrete action. The Circular Rising policy tracker spotlights new laws and regulations that emphasise technical detail, stronger enforcement, and growing accountability across plastic waste and hazardous material management. |
Countries across the continent are moving from general bans to embedding clear technical thresholds, like micron limits and material bans, into laws, making circular rules easier to enforce and monitor at scale.
Enforcement is gaining bite, with individual fines, phased deadlines, licensing, and penalties, including jail terms, signalling a new seriousness in regulatory follow-through.
Our take: Africa’s shift toward enforceable, technically specific circular laws marks a turning point, from symbolic bans to rules that carry real cost for non-compliance…Read more (2 min)
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Community members and other stakeholders clean Nyali Beach, Mombasa
Events
🗓️ Attend the Plastics Recycling Show Middle East & Africa in Dubai (September 15)
🗓️ Take part in the ESG Africa Conference in South Africa (October 15)
🗓️ Learn more about e-waste at the Africa E-Waste Conference (October 16)
🗓️ Participate in the Nature and Circularity Week in South Africa (October 20)
🗓️ Sign up for the Waste Treatment 2025 Conference & Exhibition (October 24)
Jobs
👷 Undertake research on plastic waste pollution at ICUN (Tanzania)
👷 Support the procurement function at PlastiCycle (Malawi)
👷 Apply for Circular Business Advisory Expert role at Bopinc (Kenya)
👷 Be a Senior Finance Advisor for a recycling project at Technoserve (Nigeria)
👷 Work as a Senior Associate Waste at XSML Capital (Kenya)
👷 Help First Quantum Minerals manage waste (Zambia)
👷 Consult for the International Telecommunication Union (Africa)
Various
📲 Circulate Initiative expands Responsible Sourcing Initiative to Africa
🏧 Goodwell Investments and Alitheia Capital invest in Hinckley E-Waste Recycling
🏄 Kenyan designer transforms beach waste to sustainable fashion
🗑️ Durban developing $95 million waste management strategy
💰 Ghana to offer incentives for e-waste collection
🤝 Zoomlion Ghana signs waste management deal for Mombasa, Kenya
Seen on LinkedIn
Prof Linda Godfrey, Principal Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), says, “It may sound counter-intuitive, but if Africa is to realise the full potential of the waste hierarchy, and unlock socio-economic opportunities in reuse, repair, refurbishment and recycling, we must transition from open dumpsites to sanitary, engineered landfills.”