National Environment (Waste Management) Regulations, 2020 (S.I. No. 49 of 2020).

These Regulations, made of 109 articles divided into 14 Parts plus sixteen Schedules, are made in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Minister by section 179 of the National Environment Act, 2019 and apply, as per Part I, to all waste classified under Schedule 2, Schedule 3 and Schedule 4, to its generation, collection, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal, its transboundary movement. It also applies to all waste management facilities. It does not apply to petroleum waste.
Part II covers General provisions relating to waste management. In particular the environmental principles that a person who generates waste or a waste handler must comply with (prevent harm and ensure safety of human health, prevent pollution, use best available technologies and best environmental practices, ensure resource efficiency). It further regulates the responsibility for waste management (duty of care, secure management of waste; prevent leakage or spillage of waste, protection of employees involved in the waste management, promotion of changes in the management of waste). Littering prohibition (including of wrecked vehicles, aircrafts and other vessels or similar large detached objects) and prevention also makes the object of this Part and so do the establishment of a waste management hierarchy and streams. Also intractable waste and its management are treated here and the management practices for hazardous waste, including the implementation of environment management systems.
Part III describes the procedure to obtain a licence to manage waste (collection, transportation, storing, treating or disposing of waste), from the application to the National Environment Management Authority to the written consent of the local government in which the waste management facility is to be located, to the processing of the application, through consultations by the Authority and the publication of the notice of intention to issue a licence. The grant of a licence also passes through the determination of the financial capacity of the applicant, the provision of a financial security and the subscription of an insurance policy. The Authority may, in granting a licence impose conditions (such as fitness for purpose, qualifications and experience of the personnel etc). A licence has a duration in time and can be varied, suspended, revoked, renewed and transferred.
Part IV focus on the management of domestic and municipal waste: the local government responsibility and the development of a waste management plan (including the management of waste in public places, along public roads and highways and in commercial premises or establishment; the management of waste generated during events or generated from a vessel). This part also concerns the management of industrial waste.
Part V is about the extended producer responsibility and product stewardship (use of best available technology and processes, monitoring the product cycle, take-back of the product). Under this Part is also included the management of plastics and associated waste (including the prohibition of importation, sale and use of plastic bags and other plastics used for packaging as well as the duty to minimize plastic waste) and the management of electrical and electronic waste.
Part VI regulates the management (waste manifest, handling, storage, labelling, collection and transportation) of hazardous waste, its classification, characterization, categorization and the responsibility for its handling. This waste includes healthcare waste and waste containing radioactive material.
Part VII is dedicated to the treatment and disposal of waste (waste management facilities, utilization of waste, handling of contaminated soil, utilization of treated soil) to be done, by the waste handler, in accordance with the treatment or disposal methods and environmental standards approved by the National Environment Management Authority and in compliance with best available technologies and best environmental practices.
Part VIII provides regulations concerning landfills, their classification, the waste which is accepted or prohibited from being landfilled, the protection of soil and water from landfill mass, the prevention of nuisance and hazards from landfills (gases, wind-blown materials, noise and vibrations, birds, vermin and insects).
Part IX, on waste incineration, has the purpose to ensure that, where incineration is approved as the waste disposal method, the waste is incinerated in a sound and controlled manner and does not cause adverse effects on human health or the environment.
Part X regulates the decommissioning of waste management facilities, a plan for which must be presented at least twelve months prior to its commencement. A post decommissioning report, an audit, a site verification must follow a decommissioning.
The transboundary movement of waste is treated by part XI as well as the transit of waste through Uganda.
Part XII covers environmental, health and safety measures (concerning the personnel handling hazardous waste, the control of emissions, discharges and contamination of the environment, the protection against exposure to noxious fumes). The adoption of precautionary actions, an emergency preparedness and response system, the provision of a plan for proper handling of waste in the event of operational shutdowns and emergencies are among those measures.
Part XIII is dedicated to records (in respect of the waste handled, the operations, the incidents), reports (of the type and amount of waste managed, of the emission and discharges from the waste management, of health and safety data) and notifications (to be done to the police, the Authority and relevant lead agency in the event of acute pollution caused by waste).
The final Part treats the offences and penalties as well s general provisions. The Schedules terminate the text.