UN-HABITAT

As the custodian agency for SDG 11, which includes the waste management target under Indicator 11.6, UN-Habitat is working closely with cities around the world to achieve SDG Indicator 11.6.1: “Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal solid waste generated, by city.” To achieve this, we adopt a “data-to-action” approach that guides cities in improving their waste management systems and overall performance.
 
UN-Habitat has developed a rapid assessment and monitoring methodology for SDG Indicator 11.6.1, as well as other related targets—such as SDG Targets 12.3, 12.5, and 14.1—through the Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT). The data collected through the WaCT application helps cities identify priority areas for policy and investment interventions and provides scientific evidence to support targeted actions for improvement. This data collection includes the use of Waste Flow Diagrams to detect plastic leakage into the environment and estimate the quantity and sources of plastic waste leaking into water bodies. Most of this leakage originates from uncollected waste, inadequate waste collection services, and uncontrolled disposal facilities.
 
In addition, through its waste management programmes, UN-Habitat provides city authorities with training on the proper management of disposal facilities and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and best practices on municipal solid waste management in general, among cities facing similar waste management challenges and living conditions.

The Waste Wise Cities (WWC) programme aims to promote sustainable waste and resource management in cities around the world by supporting the improvement or establishment of effective municipal solid waste management systems and enhancing overall performance. Currently, over 340 cities from across the globe have joined the programme as member cities. In addition, more than 100 affiliated members—including private company, NGO, community organisation, academic institutions—support WWC’s work through their activities and collaborations with these cities.
One of the core activities of WWC is the sharing of knowledge and good practices. Beyond normative and online exchanges, the programme has also facilitated on-the-ground city-to-city technical exchanges. Examples include a technical exchange visit between Praia, Cape Verde, and São Paulo, Brazil, and another between Lima, Peru, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. These activities have helped city delegations identify the challenges and vulnerabilities in their own waste sectors, and learn from successful practices such as the operation of recovery facilities, public education programmes, and improvements in waste management governance systems.
Another key activity of WWC is the “data-to-action” approach through the application of the Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT). Data collected through WWC contributes to the UNEP’s Global Partnership on Marine Litter, helping to identify plastic leakage hotspots around the world.
Furthermore, WWC collaborates with initiatives such as the Zero Waste Initiative and World Clean-up Day, reinforcing efforts on public awareness-raising and community participation. These partnerships enhance the exchange of knowledge and good practices in cities by providing additional insights on affordable technologies and approaches that can be adopted by member cities, with support and guidance from WWC’s and Zero Waste advisory boards’ members.

The African Clean Cities Platform (ACCP) is a platform for knowledge sharing, capacity development, and infrastructure investment, established in 2017 with the aim to realise cleaner and healthier cities in Africa by 2030 urrently, 200 cities from 47 African countries are part of the network. The platform was initiated to promote regional knowledge and good practices sharing to obtain affordable approaches and solutions that can be replicated to one another.
The platform was initiated to promote regional exchange of knowledge and good practices, enabling cities to identify affordable and replicable solutions to their waste management challenges. In addition, similar to the Waste Wise Cities programme, ACCP adopts a “data-to-action” approach to support improvements in municipal solid waste management. Since 2021, ACCP has been collecting baseline waste management data from member cities. This effort—supported by multiple donors—has enabled the collection of critical data and the conduct of policy, operational, and financial analyses.
Two key data points from the WaCT have proven particularly valuable for informing both local and national actions:

1. The percentage of plastic in municipal waste: This indicates the level of plastic consumption in a city. For example, while the global average is around 12%, Lagos has reported nearly 40%, suggesting very high consumption. This insight can guide upstream interventions such as bans on single-use plastics - a step that Lagos has already taken.
2. The city’s existing plastic recycling capacity: This data shows which polymers are currently being recycled. When combined with plastic composition data, it helps identify which types of plastics are leaking into the environment and which ones should be phased out or better managed. It also informs decisions about how much additional recycling capacity is needed and for which types of polymers—facilitating concrete, multi-stakeholder actions.

As of today, 41 cities have applied WaCT, and among them, 25 have taken concrete actions based on the findings, such as development of policy frameworks on plastic waste management, project formulation with UN-Habitat for better waste management including capacity development and infrastructure investment. Through ACCP, we call on all member cities to apply both the WaCT and Waste Flow Diagram (WFD) tools to assess the performance of their municipal solid waste management systems and to identify the extent and sources of plastic pollution in the environment.