Morocco and Egypt lead Africa’s shift toward waste-to-energy and biogas

Africa’s waste-management challenge is increasingly being linked to the continent’s energy needs, with governments and private operators exploring ways to convert organic waste, landfill gas and other residues into usable energy.

Morocco and Egypt are among the countries highlighted for developments in this field, while South Africa, Kenya and several other African states are strengthening regulations and incentives aimed at expanding biogas, recycling and other forms of waste recovery.

Morocco moves ahead with a major Casablanca project

Morocco is advancing a large-scale waste-to-energy project in Casablanca, where a consortium bringing together Butec and Kanadevia Inova has secured a major engineering, procurement and construction contract, according to the information cited in the source report.

The project places waste recovery within Morocco’s broader efforts to improve waste management and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Beyond electricity generation, such facilities can form part of a wider strategy to reduce the volume of waste requiring disposal while extracting value from materials that would otherwise be discarded.

The Casablanca development also illustrates the growing role of private-sector expertise in building infrastructure capable of linking waste treatment with energy production.

Egypt creates a dedicated framework for waste-based power

Egypt has taken a different route by introducing a specific electricity purchase tariff for power generated from municipal solid waste, landfill biogas and sewage sludge.

Under the framework described in the report, local authorities are responsible for supplying the raw materials needed by projects without imposing an additional cost on operators. The approach is intended to provide greater visibility for investors while encouraging the development of waste-derived electricity.

The Egyptian model demonstrates the importance of regulatory frameworks in making waste-to-energy projects commercially viable, particularly in markets where infrastructure investment remains a major requirement.

Incineration remains a subject of debate

The expansion of waste-to-energy technologies is not without controversy.

A report published by ESI Africa and relayed by Earthlife Africa’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change initiative has raised concerns about the environmental consequences of relying heavily on waste incineration. Critics argue that treating waste primarily as a fuel can reduce incentives to prevent waste generation, improve sorting and expand recycling.

The alternative promoted by the report is a stronger focus on waste reduction and separation before treatment. Anaerobic digestion is highlighted as one option for organic waste because it can generate biogas while also producing an organic residue that can be used as compost.

Under this approach, waste management becomes part of a circular-economy model rather than simply an energy-generation process.

South Africa builds a regulatory foundation for biogas

South Africa has also developed policies aimed at increasing the recovery of energy from organic waste.

Changes to the country’s electricity regulation in 2021 were designed to facilitate the connection of biogas projects to the national grid. Meanwhile, the waste-management strategy adopted in 2020 moved against the direct disposal of organic waste in landfills, creating stronger incentives for alternatives such as anaerobic digestion.

The regulatory framework nevertheless faces a financing challenge. The report notes that South Africa does not yet have support mechanisms comparable to some of the preferential tariffs and fiscal incentives used in countries such as Sweden and Germany.

This gap highlights a broader issue for African energy-transition projects: technological potential alone does not guarantee investment without appropriate market and policy conditions.

Kenya strengthens its waste-management rules

Kenya has also expanded its legislative framework.

A sustainable waste-management law adopted in 2022 was followed in November 2024 by rules concerning extended producer responsibility. The measures place greater emphasis on the design of recyclable products and on the responsibilities of producers throughout the life cycle of goods.

Such policies can influence the amount and type of waste ultimately available for energy recovery. Better sorting and recycling can also determine which materials are suitable for biological treatment, recycling or other forms of recovery.

Elsewhere, the Reppie waste-to-energy facility in Ethiopia has become part of the debate over how organic waste should be treated, with critics questioning the heavy reliance on incineration rather than separation and composting.

The fight against plastic pollution continues

Waste-to-energy policies are developing alongside efforts to reduce plastic pollution.

Rwanda, Nigeria, Guinea and Namibia have introduced or strengthened measures targeting single-use plastics. These initiatives address a different part of the waste problem but share a common objective: reducing the environmental burden created by materials that are difficult to manage after consumption.

For African governments, the challenge is increasingly one of combining several approaches rather than relying on a single technology. Prevention, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion and energy recovery can all play different roles depending on the composition of waste and the infrastructure available.

Bioenergy expands as clean-cooking policies accelerate

The waste-to-energy debate is also connected to Africa’s wider push for cleaner cooking and bioenergy.

The International Energy Agency’s 2026 policy analysis points to a rapid expansion of clean-cooking initiatives and bioenergy projects based on organic waste and methane production. More than 60 new policies were introduced across Africa in 2025, while a large majority of the continent’s population still lacks access to clean cooking solutions.

Governments are consequently using tax and customs measures to encourage alternative fuels and equipment. Kenya has removed value-added tax on bioethanol, Nigeria has granted tax exemptions to biogas and related equipment, while Uganda and Tanzania have removed customs duties on energy-efficient cooking appliances.

These measures show that waste-derived energy is increasingly being considered not only as an environmental solution but also as part of broader energy-access policies.

From waste problem to resource strategy

Africa’s emerging waste-to-energy landscape remains diverse. Morocco is advancing major infrastructure in Casablanca, Egypt is using a dedicated electricity tariff to support waste-derived generation, while South Africa and Kenya are strengthening the regulatory foundations for organic-waste recovery.

At the same time, environmental groups continue to question whether incineration should occupy a central position in future waste strategies. Their concerns underline the importance of reducing waste at source, improving sorting and developing circular-economy systems alongside energy recovery.

The direction of Africa’s waste sector is therefore being shaped by two interconnected pressures: the need to manage rapidly growing volumes of waste and the search for additional sources of energy. How governments balance these objectives — and which technologies they choose to support — will determine how much of the continent’s waste can ultimately become a resource rather than an environmental liability.