Solid Waste Management and Disposal Proclamation No. 1383/2025

This Proclamation establishes a comprehensive national framework for the management and disposal of solid waste in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It is adopted in response to the increasing environmental and public health risks posed by solid waste and aims to develop an efficient, integrated, and sustainable system for collection, transportation, storage, reuse, recycling, and disposal. The Proclamation is grounded in the principles of waste reduction at source, reuse and recycling, proper disposal, public participation, and the polluter-pays principle. It applies to all solid waste nationwide, excluding hazardous waste already regulated under Proclamation No. 1090/2018 and electrical and electronic waste. It also introduces the concept of extended producer responsibility, particularly for plastic products.
The Proclamation sets obligations for plastic product producers to adopt low-impact designs, reduce production waste, and establish systems to collect, reuse, or recycle products at end of life, including covering associated costs. Manufacturers and importers of food, drink, hygiene, and sanitary products in bottles, cans, or plastic containers must implement systems to collect and recycle used containers. The text regulates collection, segregation, temporary storage, transfer, reuse, recycling, and disposal of solid waste, including requirements for competency certificates for transporters and operators of reuse, recycling, and disposal facilities. It prohibits importation of solid waste except approved raw materials and bans disposal outside designated sites or by open burning, subject to limited exceptions using authorized incinerators.Specific regimes are established for different waste streams, including household, service, and industrial waste, construction and demolition debris, bottles and cans, litter, and dead animals. City administrations must provide communal containers, litter bins, transfer stations, and sanitary landfills, ensure timely collection, maintain records on waste quantities and types, and integrate waste infrastructure into urban plans. Rural kebele administrations are assigned analogous responsibilities within their jurisdictions. The Proclamation bans the production, import, marketing, storage, sale, and use of single-use plastics, with a six‑month transitional period for products already in the country, and allows narrowly defined exceptions by directive where substitution is not feasible. A fee-based service system for solid waste management is to be set by Council of Ministers regulation. Administrative measures are foreseen for specified violations, and criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment, are prescribed for offences related to plastic bags. The Council of Ministers and the Federal Environmental Protection Authority are empowered to issue regulations and directives for implementation.