Solid Waste Management and Treatment
Solid Waste Management and Treatment
Business Model Description
Invest in solid waste collection, sorting, treatment, and recycling, including plastic, metal, paper, and organic waste. Private companies provide bins for triage and schedule collections. Clients include households, commercial companies, and industrial companies. Materials are transformed into secondary products like plastic pellets, furniture, composite aggregate, and compost. Niche products include Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) for coal replacement, a waste-to-energy outcome, and Black Soldier Fly-derived animal feed. Return is generated through collection charges and sales of processed materials.
Expected Impact
Promote environmental sustainability by reducing urban pollution and deforestation. Improve public health and water quality through proper waste management and adequate recycling practices.
How is this information gathered?
Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.
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Country & Regions
- Mali: Countrywide
- Mali: Bamako
- Mali: Ségou
- Mali: Sikasso
Sector Classification
Infrastructure
Development need
Mali ranked 125th out of 130 on the 2022 World Bank's Infrastructure Index. The country faces disruption in major transportation and supply routes due to local conflicts, and limited waste and sanitation management facilities. These bottlenecks limit productivity growth and disrupt food and healthcare supply systems (3, 5).
Policy priority
Cadre stratégique pour la relance économique et le développement durable 2019-2023 identifies i) the upgrade of transport infrastructure including road, rail, waterway, and air, ii) the provision of universal sanitation services, and iii) the promotion efficient waste management as priority initiatives to promote an inclusive growth in Mali (11).
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Poor infrastructure limits women's mobility, economic participation, and healthcare access, while only 17.3% of Malians had access to safely managed sanitation in 2022. Remote regions and conflict-prone regions such as Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal face severe deficits, isolating communities and disrupting supply chains. Poor transport and sanitation further exclude persons with disabilities from education, jobs, and healthcare (14).
Investment opportunities introduction
Mali’s infrastructure sector offers key investment opportunities in roads, sanitation, energy, water, housing, and telecommunications. With rising demand for improved connectivity and urban development, private investors can help bridge infrastructure gaps, driving economic growth and sustainable development (11).
Key bottlenecks introduction
The high infrastructure costs in Mali, reaching up to USD 56 million, deter private investment, particularly in roads and liquid waste management. These projects often rely on subsidies, government-backed risk-sharing agreements, or public debt financing (11, 13).
Waste Management
Development need
Every day, 611,518 m³ of polluted water discharges into the Niger River, Mali’s largest water body. This includes 3,000 m³ of chemically contaminated industrial discharge, with over 1,000 m³ from dyeing industries alone, 89% of untreated household wastewater, and solid waste, particularly plastic, dumped through misused rainwater collectors (6).
Policy priority
Politique Nationale d'Assainissement aims to i) collect household solid waste at least one a week for 80% of urban households and for 50% of semi-urban households, and ii) build adequate transit dump and final discharge sites for all cities of over 50,000 inhabitants and for 25% of cities of over 25,000 inhabitants by 2025 (10).
Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
In Mali, 39.2% of urban households rely on private waste collection services, compared to just 4.4% in rural areas. Within urban areas, only 9.6% of households in Bamako dispose of garbage in heaps or nature, while this figure rises to 53.6% in other urban centers. In Bamako, 1 in 2 households use private collection services, compared to just 26.3% elsewhere (12).
Investment opportunities introduction
Mali's waste sector offers strong investment potential. Bamako generates 1.2 million m³ of waste annually, but lacks a landfill or collection center. In other cities, only 10% of waste reaches transit dumps. With 236 mostly informal dumps and a USD 1.6M annual treatment need, private operators can fill critical gaps in collection and recycling (7, 8, 9).
Key bottlenecks introduction
The quality of road infrastructure, competition from imported goods, and uncertainty about consumer preferences may challenge the efficiency and profitability of private sector investments. However, addressing these barriers presents significant opportunities for growth, especially in improving logistics and market access.
Waste Management
Pipeline Opportunity
Solid Waste Management and Treatment
Invest in solid waste collection, sorting, treatment, and recycling, including plastic, metal, paper, and organic waste. Private companies provide bins for triage and schedule collections. Clients include households, commercial companies, and industrial companies. Materials are transformed into secondary products like plastic pellets, furniture, composite aggregate, and compost. Niche products include Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) for coal replacement, a waste-to-energy outcome, and Black Soldier Fly-derived animal feed. Return is generated through collection charges and sales of processed materials.
Business Case
Market Size and Environment
USD 50 million - USD 100 million
5% - 10%
A minimum of 4.25 million tons of solid waste produced each year, of which 60% are organic.
Mali generates 0.5 to 1 kg of waste per capita daily, totaling up to 8.5 million tons annually. With urbanization growing at 4.57% per year and the population set to double by 2045, municipal solid waste (MSW) pollution is projected to exceed 5%. In Bamako, MSW volume surged by 79.47% annually between 2007 and 2021, highlighting a significant potential for private management (2, 7, 8, 15).
Organic waste accounts for 60% of Mali’s total waste, with fruit and vegetable markets alone generating 25 tons daily per market. In 2023, Mali imported USD 83 million in fertilizers, with a 46.5% annual growth in value from 2019 to 2023. This highlights a significant opportunity to process organic waste into biofertilizers (17, 19).
High-value waste processing techniques like Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and Black Soldier Fly (BSF) are gaining momentum in Mali. RDF produces biochar for clean cooking, while BSF is being developed for aquaculture and fish feed. Globally, the markets for these products are projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% and 20.2% from 2025 to 2035 (17, 20, 21, 22, 23).
Indicative Return
20% - 25%
Consultations with solid waste management operators in Mali, in January 2025, indicate a Gross Profit Margin of 20% based on the recycling of less than 1% of the available organic waste. An increase in the processing capacity could double the sales (17).
An academic study that evaluates the rentability of the production of Black Soldier Fly for animal feed and organic fertilizers in Bamako, Mali, indicates a Gross Profit Margin (GPM) of 102.18% with fly breeding and 51.07% without fly breeding, at a small scale (24).
Investment Timeframe
Short Term (0–5 years)
Loans provided to solid waste management operators in Mali have a tenor of 1 or 2 years (17).
Ticket Size
< USD 500,000
Market Risks & Scale Obstacles
Market - High Level of Competition
Market - Highly Regulated
Impact Case
Sustainable Development Need
In 2020, Mali had only two final landfills, in Bamako and Sikasso, for 21.2 million inhabitants. In Bamako, there are no transit dumps in Commune 1, driving populations to illicitly use public roads and rainwater drains for discharge. The four other communes' overloaded transit dumps remain insufficient for the district's 4.2 million inhabitants (6, 18).
Pollution of the Niger River by municipal solid waste (MSW) threatens the environment and public health, affecting 85% of Mali’s population who rely on its resources for irrigation and fishing. Other inland water bodies and communities face similar risks (6, 9, 16).
The reliance on chemical fertilizers and animal-based feed sources, such as fish meal, in Mali contributes to an unsustainable agricultural system, posing long-term environmental and economic risks (17, 23).
Gender & Marginalisation
In 2022, 92.5% of Mali’s urban population lived in informal settlements—2.2 times higher than in 2020—with limited access to private waste collection services. This heightens their risk of flood damage and waterborne diseases like malaria, especially in Gao, Mopti, Ségou, Tombouctou, and Kayes (25, 26, 27).
In Mali's dumps, women are mostly involved in waste sorting, while men recycle plastic and metals artisanally. A survey in Bamako indicates that 90% of them got involved in these jobs due to poverty. These workers are exposed to injury risks due to illegally discharged hazardous medical waste (39).
Only 1.9% of the population uses clean technologies for cooking, and the remainder relies on wood harvested in forests. Waste-to-energy solutions can provide sustainable alternatives (20).
Expected Development Outcome
Private solid waste collection and recycling improves the public management of municipal solid waste, offering cleaner, safer, and sustainable alternatives to households. This significantly reduces public health risks.
Solid waste collection improves the productivity of fishermen and smallholder farmers located in the Niger River basin by improving water quality, enhancing their income prospects and reduce their poverty risks.
Organic waste recycling offers sustainable input alternatives to fishermen and smallholder farmers, allowing the preservation and regeneration of soil and vegetal and animal biodiversity.
Gender & Marginalisation
The collection of household and municipal solid waste within slum and peri-urban communities improve their life quality and health outcomes, contributing to lower flood and waterborne disease risks.
Formal private solid waste management and recycling companies offer safer and cleaner green job alternatives to poor populations invloved in informal waste sorting and recycling.
Organic waste recycling into biochar and alternative energy sources improves access to cleaner cooking technologies, thereby reducing the pressure on forests and soil quality.
Primary SDGs addressed
11.6.1 Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
57% in 2018 (14).
12.5.1 National recycling rate, tons of material recycled
Data on the national recycling rate is not available. In 2021, Mali stored 1.2 million m³ solid waste in transit dumps, but only 6.7% of this quantity reached final landfills, the remainder being left untreated (17).
8.3.1 Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex
8.5.2 Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
95.4% in 2022, with 94.2% among men and 97.4% among women (30).
5.4% in 2023; 4.2% among men, 7.1% among women, 14.4% among youth aged 15-24, 6.1% among youth aged 25-34, 2.3 among those aged 35-44, and 4% in rural areas (28).
Matrix of Agenda 2063 results at the national level targets 1) a national unemployment rate lower than 6%, 2) a reduction of youth unemployment (aged 15-35) to less than 6%, 3) and a total elimination of unemployment in rural areas by 2063 (28).
Secondary SDGs addressed
Directly impacted stakeholders
People
Gender inequality and/or marginalization
Planet
Corporates
Public sector
Indirectly impacted stakeholders
People
Planet
Public sector
Outcome Risks
If collected waste is not properly processed, and residual waste is dumped or burned outside of dedicated incinerators, it could lead to increased water and air pollution.
Reclycling processes such as platic melting and refuse derived fuel production consume significant energy and emit pollutants. This could increase the carbon footprint of the operations if mitigation strategies are not in place.
Impact Risks
Frequent power outages may disrupt the operations of plastic pelleting and recycled furniture machines, limiting the efficiency and expected income effects of this business model.
If informal waste pickers and recyclers, especially women, are not included in the operations value chain, the expected impact on their health, job security, and income prospects may be limited.
If the private operators concentrate their operations only in large agglomerations and industrial areas, the more vulnerable urban populations may be excluded from this opportunity.
Impact Classification
What
Solid waste management and recycling improves urban life quality by reducing pollution and flooding risks, reduces deforestation and soil degradation, and fosters sustainable farming practices.
Who
Urban populations and slum dwellers, fishermen and smallholder farmers, people involved in informal waste sorting and recycling, and industrial and commercial companies benefit from this IOA.
Risk
Power outages, failure to include informal waste pickers and recyclers in the value chain, and limited integration of less agglomerated and industrial areas could limit the impact of this IOA.
Contribution
Private collection and recycling of municipal solid waste complements the collection efforts from Ozone Mali, Cogiam, indepedent interest economic groups, and unofficial carriers (7).
How Much
Private solid waste management and recycling could reduce the quantity of untreated municipal solid waste, which stood at 1.2 million m³ in transit dumps in 2021 (7).
Impact Thesis
Promote environmental sustainability by reducing urban pollution and deforestation. Improve public health and water quality through proper waste management and adequate recycling practices.
Enabling Environment
Policy Environment
Politique Nationale d'Assainissement, 2009: targets i) waste collection services for 80% of urban households and 50% of semi-urban households, and ii) construction of solid waste treatment sites for all cities of over 50,000 inhabitants and for 25% of cities of over 25,000 inhabitants by 2025 (10).
Cadre stratégique pour la relance économique et le développement durable, 2019-2023: prioritizes the development of wastewater infrastructure and networks, and the structuring of waste management and treatment processes (11).
Contribution Déterminée au Niveau National Révisée, 2021: outlines priority initiatives to mitigate climate change by 2030, including the production of organic manure from agricultural waste (33).
Financial Environment
Financial incentives: Cordaid provides up to USD 411,000 in short term loans per cycle to finance the operations of private solid waste management companies in Mali. The loans have a tenor of 2 years (17).
Financial incentives: Fonds de Garantie pour le Secteur Privé offers 50% to 70% loan guarantees for solid waste management companies in Mali with over a year of operation. It covers loans up to USD 641,225 and provides co-guarantees for loans exceeding USD 1.6 million (17, 31).
Fiscal incentives: New investment projects under USD 500,000 benefit from tax exemptions for the first 5 years. Scale-up investments are exempt from import duties, taxes on equipment, IBIC withholding tax, and VAT on technical assistance for two years (32).
Regulatory Environment
Decree No. 01-394/P-RM on solid waste management, 2001: allows private operators to collect, sort, transport, store or dispose of, and recover solid waste, under Article 27, provided they obtain prior approval from ministère de l'Envrionnement (34).
Law No. 2021-032 on pollution and nuisance, 2022: requires households, agro companies, and industrials to dispose of the waste they produce without polluting the environment (35).
Marketplace Participants
Private Sector
Macrowaste, Sanuva, Damegreen, Green Energy Mali, Ozone Mali, Green Energy Mali, Yirimex SA, Damegreen, Fonds de Garantie pour le Secteur Privé.
Government
Ministère de l'Environnement, Direction Nationale de l'Assainissement, Direction Nationale de l'Assainissement et du Contrôle des Pollutions et des Nuisances, Agence Malienne pour le Développement des Biocarburants.
Multilaterals
Cordaid, World Bank, German Cooperation.
Non-Profit
Collectif des Groupements Intervenants dans l'Assainissement (COGIAM), Groupement d'intérêt économique Koyra Cinaro, Valorization Center of Organic Urban Waste.
Target Locations
Mali: Countrywide
Mali: Bamako
Mali: Ségou
Mali: Sikasso
References
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