Relief waste is all the waste generated by humanitarian organisations and their relief operations. It includes packaging material, end-of-life household and distributed food and non-food items (e.g. tents, tarpaulins, lamps, or mattresses), materials used for humanitarian field activities and waste from facilities such as schools, nutrition centres, health centres, offices, guest houses, warehouses and vehicle workshops X.7. Relief waste here does not refer to waste, such as debris, generated by the disaster itself W.3.

Examples of the waste types produced by an organisation’s relief activities include:

• Construction Waste: shelter materials for facilities and infrastructure, construction materials such as bamboo or wood, old or broken water pipes, scrap metals such as roof panels, broken or damaged water storage containers like bladders, collapsible or rigid tanks.
• Chemicals: water testing chemicals, broken sprayers and water treatment chemicals like chlorine and aluminum sulphate.
• Office and Facilities Waste: e-waste (laptops, radio, fridges, etc.), paper, cardboard, organic waste and old furniture.
• Awareness-Raising Waste: Information, Education and Communication materials such as posters, flyers or tarpaulins. 
• Cash for Work: waste from livelihoods activities such as community clean-up campaigns or cleaning drainage canals. 
• Fleet Waste: used oil, tyres, lubricants, filters, batteries and scrapped vehicles.
• Lighting and Power Source Waste: used oil from generators, scrapped generators, solar panels and batteries.
• Packaging Materials for Relief Items: cardboard boxes, plastic films, plastic bags, plastic strips etc. 
• ·Relief Stocks: damaged, expired, surplus or unwanted donations.

Humanitarian agencies are responsible for minimising their relief waste as much as possible P.1. Unavoidable waste generated by field activities, warehouses, offices and other facilities must be systematically segregated P.2 and collected (section  C ). This enables the proper handling of different waste streams or their safe disposal and avoids ad-hoc solutions such as open dumping U.10 or open burning U.11. 

Recommended steps for establishing waste management systems in relief programs, facilities and premises are: 

1. Know your Waste: understand the type and quantity of waste generated at project locations such as facilities, offices, warehouses, distribution points and fleet workshops. Waste characterisation and estimation exercises P.3 relative to the project’s size help identify the waste streams and quantities to be handled. This enables the planning and resource allocation to, for example, determine the space and volume storage requirements for bins/containers, design take-back and/or reverse logistic schemes or conduct a cost-benefit analysis based on potential revenues. 

2. Explore Local Waste Solutions: use the waste management hierarchy P.1 to choose the best local solutions for each waste stream: reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle, composting, energy recovery or safe disposal. Coordinate with the national WASH sector to assess local waste management services, recycling infrastructure and informal recycling options P.3, ensuring compliance with local environmental regulations X.1.  Check whether suppliers will take back old items, such as used batteries or tyres, when delivering new ones and identify local service providers who can process valuable waste, reducing the amount of waste for disposal. Research locally available treatment for specific waste types that need special management, such as hazardous W.2 and electric and electronic waste (e-waste) W.7. 

3. Describe Procedures and Raise Awareness: document the selected waste management options for each waste stream in simple Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). SOPs provide step-by-step instructions and define roles and responsibilities, ensuring a consistent and effective waste management system, including safety measures for handling hazardous waste. Share the SOPs with the team and seek feedback to enhance the system. Develop and update communications materials to support campaigns, procedures and information briefs (X.6 and X.10).

4. Install Segregated Bins for Different Waste Types and Designate a Storage Area: including space for repairs or repurposing in facilities, office and premises or field areas. Tailor collection methods to serve different approaches such as take-back schemes [PART 1: Waste Prevention], use colour coding or labelled bins to guide staff about where to dispose of each waste type and prevent contamination.  Protect stored, segregated waste from the sun and rain and avoid bins spilling over. Ensure waste handlers wear personal protective equipment, particularly when handling hazardous waste. Provide regular training and raise awareness among colleagues when introducing new waste segregation and handling practices in the organisation X.4.

5. Monitor the System to Ensure Waste is Properly Managed: defining key performance indicators helps measure progress towards achieving specific objectives, monitor waste collection costs and revenue generated by the waste management system and identify issues where actions need to be taken. These indicators should be defined and customised based on the SWM goals.  

Incorporating waste management systems into each sector/cluster-related activity increases the ownership and capacity of organisations to handle their waste effectively and reduce ad-hoc, harmful solutions that have a negative impact on the local environment and communities. Many organisations have signed the Climate and Environment Charter for humanitarian organisations. This global commitment contributes to the environmental sustainability of organisations’ interventions and their reduction of waste and greenhouse gas emissions X.8.