Why is WasteAid here?
South Sudan is one of the world’s most fragile settings, with protracted conflict, flooding and displacement spanning many years. Across Bentiu and Malakal, over 1,800 cubic metres of waste is collected each month in camps and humanitarian hubs – much of it biodegradable or recyclable – yet limited infrastructure and resources mean waste often accumulates, posing health and environmental risks.
Without sustainable solutions, waste management remains a major challenge for displaced and host communities alike. WasteAid’s work aims to address this by pioneering circular economy approaches that create locally led enterprises, improve sanitation, reduce pollution and offer livelihood opportunities.
Our Approach in South Sudan
Collaborative Waste Assessment
In late 2024, WasteAid, funded by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), conducted a comprehensive waste assessment – WasteAid’s first in a humanitarian context – to understand the volume, composition and potential reuse opportunities of waste in Bentiu and Malakal. The findings highlighted both challenges and opportunities for sustainable waste action.
Waste-to-Use Pilot
Building on this assessment, WasteAid and IOM have launched a ground-breaking waste-to-use pilot project funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. To date, this initiative has:
• Trained 27 deeply engaged participants in waste value skills, enterprise development and circular business models.
• Prioritised inclusion by ensuring women, young people and people with disabilities play a leading role – 70% of participants are women.
• Explored practical reuse solutions by setting up and testing organic waste collection and processing, for eventual use in bio-briquette making to reduce reliance on wood and charcoal.
• Increased confidence and communication skills, supported participants to change their own waste practices and created a sense of responsibility and leadership among participants.
Through hands-on training and enterprise testing, participants – motivated by a desire to contribute to community improvement and interest in waste enterprises – are gaining real experience in techniques that can drive sanitation improvements while generating sustainable income.
Partners Group is generously funding the next phase of this pilot which runs over the course of 2026 and seeks to strengthen the pilot’s operations, business model, market linkages and impact.
What This Means for Local Communities
By linking environmental recovery with skills and enterprise, the pilot project is:
- Reducing health and environmental risks from unmanaged waste.
- Supporting community recovery and resilience, especially for displaced populations.
- Testing circular economy models that can be scaled and replicated across other fragile and humanitarian settings.
As WasteAid and IOM progress from research to implementation, this effort sets an important precedent – showing how even in complex contexts like South Sudan, waste can be transformed into opportunity for cleaner, stronger, more resilient communities.