Municipal partnerships driving progress in waste management

Waste is an everyday – and growing – challenge for all municipalities. Open dumps, inadequate waste collection systems and rising volumes of waste are putting a strain on the environment, public health and the climate in many places. Municipal partnerships are working to counter this through new infrastructure, educational initiatives and the sharing of experiences. Their focus is on ensuring municipalities remain great places to live while being resource-efficient, clean, healthy and sustainable.

According to information from the Federal Environment Agency, around 380 million tonnes of waste were generated in Germany alone in 2023. Globally, the volume of municipal waste could rise to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050 if no effective measures are taken to counter this trend. The challenges are particularly great in places where municipalities have only limited financial resources and where there are no effective collection and recycling systems.

The Climate & Sustainability – Waste Management as a Key Issue for Municipal Partnerships Exchange Forum held online in April 2026 looked at how municipalities can tackle these challenges and the role played by municipal cooperation in this.

How can waste be sorted effectively? Which collection schemes actually work? How can public awareness be raised and informal structures be engaged? Which funding models can work in practice for waste management? All municipalities around the world are having to grapple with these questions. During the Exchange Forum, it became clear that waste management is always a social issue as well. Unregulated waste disposal and fly-tipping are a burden on people and the environment in many places. At the same time, a well-functioning circular economy can change many things by creating jobs, improving living conditions and contributing to a cleaner urban environment.

The keynote speech by Sebastian Frisch, Senior Partner and co-founder of the consultancy firm GreenForest Solutions, illustrated just how great the challenges are in many municipalities across the African continent: “With an annual waste disposal budget of USD 20,000 from public funds, it’s not even possible to cover the cost of fuel for the few refuse collection lorries,” he explained in reference to the city of Chipata in Zambia. The consequences are plain to see: open dumps, environmental pollution and informal waste collection carried out under difficult conditions. “Families try to find things to recycle – in some cases, children work at the rubbish dumps,” said Sebastian Frisch.

At the same time, he emphasised that the situation is not the same in all African municipalities and, above all, that these challenges can be overcome. The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle can play an important role in this regard, requiring companies to take responsibility for their products throughout their entire life cycle – including waste collection, recycling and disposal. “This is not a standard tax that they have to pay, but a service charge earmarked for a specific purpose,” said Sebastian Frisch. In Germany, such an approach would raise billions to fund waste management every year.

National EPR legislation could open up new scope for action for many municipalities. “There’s no logical reason why companies shouldn’t fulfil their responsibilities,” said Sebastian Frisch. EPR schemes could help to establish recycling infrastructure, stimulate investment and create jobs. Municipal partnerships could help facilitate and support this process.

The partnership between the municipality of Furth in Lower Bavaria and the Karagwe District Council in Tanzania illustrates what municipal cooperation can look like in practice. The partner municipalities are working together to develop better waste management infrastructure, while at the same time encouraging waste sorting and strengthening environmental awareness.

Karagwe is situated in north-western Tanzania, near the borders with Rwanda and Uganda. Many people there make a living from growing coffee and bananas. Until now, there has been only a rudimentary system of waste management. Specific measures have therefore been developed as part of the partnership. “We’ve been able to purchase 16 waste containers and are now in the second phase of the project implementation,” said Felix Malango Mganga, environmental manager at the Karagwe District Council. The aim is to introduce waste sorting gradually and to establish central collection points in the long term.

The district is already working with a private company that transports waste to a central landfill site. In the long term, the district plans to further expand the system and collect different types of waste separately, such as organic, garden, plastic and hazardous waste. The intention behind this is to make better use of valuable materials and reduce waste that is harmful to the environment. According to Felix Malango Mganga, that is particularly important for this predominantly agricultural region in order to prevent plastic and other waste contaminating the soil and, consequently, the food grown there.

One of the key areas of focus for the project partnership is educational work, particularly in schools. “We’re raising awareness within schools of how important it is to protect the environment,” said Felix Malango Mganga. Pupils are learning to distinguish between different types of waste and to sort it correctly. The 3Rs principles – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – are also being taught.

Andreas Horsche, Mayor of Furth, emphasised the importance of direct and personal dialogue between the partner municipalities for their collaboration. He considers this the only way to build the perseverance needed on both sides to work together on solutions.

As well as establishing contacts and building a basic infrastructure, the partners are also keen to expand their knowledge. “Up until now, plastic waste has often been incinerated in Karagwe,” said Andreas Horsche. Many people are unaware of the health and environmental consequences of this. The aim is now to change this among the wider population through education and practical examples, including awareness campaigns on the radio and social media.

Organisational challenges such as protracted fund transfers, a heavy administrative burden and a lack of staff resources have hampered the project work between the two municipalities to date. Nevertheless, both sides view the partnership positively. According to those involved, the most significant aspects of the partnership include, above all, getting to know one another personally, the mutual cultural openness and the development of relationships – some of which have become friendships – between the Furth and Karagwe mayors and staff.

The Climate Partnership between the district of Giessen and Mubende in Uganda demonstrates how waste can be put to good use in a climate-friendly way, rather than simply being disposed of. This collaboration does not focus on plastic or packaging waste, but on organic waste – that is, food scraps and plant waste. “We asked ourselves: why don’t we turn it into biogas? That was the basic idea behind the project in Mubende,” said Manfred Felske-Zech, Head of the Office for Economic Development, Tourism and Climate Protection in the district of Giessen.

A biogas plant for converting waste into climate-friendly biogas is under construction in 2026. Among other things, the energy will be used to cook meals for around 2,800 pupils at the local Kasenyi Secondary School and to generate electricity and heat. The municipal partners in the district of Giessen and Mubende are therefore pursuing several objectives: the aim is to recycle waste, prevent deforestation, reduce the use of firewood and, as a result, cut emissions that harm the environment. The project is an example of how the circular economy can work at the municipal level.

The partners regard the project as a model initiative – while municipal partnerships will not solve the challenges of global waste management on their own, they can generate ideas, share knowledge and demonstrate what sustainable solutions look like at a local level. The partners therefore plan to present the project’s findings at conferences, encourage other municipalities to follow suit and attract further partners and investors for similar initiatives.

The two practical examples from Tanzania and Uganda show that sustainable waste management is about more than just applying new technology. Long-term cooperation, political support and the involvement of local people are crucial. Municipal partnerships provide an important framework for this – they facilitate the exchange of knowledge, while helping to foster trust and strengthen personal relationships. Partnership work can therefore lead to solutions that are tailored to the specific local conditions and have a long-term impact. This requires many people and institutions to work together. Or, as Felix Malango Mganga from Karagwe puts it, “In addition to new waste legislation at national level and new infrastructure here locally, it’s also about getting residents on board as we work towards a cleaner city.”