Circular Economy and Waste Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 16 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Environmental Managers, Sustainability Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-SC-028

Before you join: Participants should have practical familiarity with their organisation's operations, facilities, products, supply chain or environmental responsibilities.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Waste costs, landfill restrictions, packaging obligations, hazardous materials controls and customer scrutiny are forcing organisations to manage materials more deliberately. Many waste programmes remain focused on collection contracts and disposal volumes, missing opportunities to prevent waste, recover value, improve resource productivity and reduce environmental risk. Circular economy work requires teams to understand material flows, product lifecycles, supplier arrangements, legal duties and the financial case for change.

This course develops the practical knowledge needed to design and manage waste prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal programmes. Participants examine the waste hierarchy, material flow analysis, lifecycle thinking, segregation systems, hazardous waste controls, extended producer responsibility, circular procurement and circular business models. They learn to establish reliable waste data, select performance indicators, assess treatment routes, evaluate contractors, calculate costs and benefits, and prepare an implementation plan that can withstand management review.

Across 10 instructor-led days, participants work with realistic cases from manufacturing, construction, healthcare, retail, public services and office-based operations. Short technical briefings are followed by data interpretation, group case work, scenario analysis and structured planning. Participants progressively build a circular economy and waste management plan for a selected organisation, site, product group or service. The final output includes a material baseline, priority waste streams, legal and operational controls, improvement options, business case, targets, governance arrangements and implementation roadmap. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits professionals responsible for environmental performance, facilities, operations, procurement, sustainability, quality, health and safety, or waste contractor management. It is particularly relevant where organisations need to reduce disposal dependence while maintaining compliance, service continuity and cost control.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply the waste hierarchy to prioritise prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal decisions
  • Construct a material flow analysis using purchasing, production, inventory and waste data
  • Classify waste streams and specify segregation, storage, transport and treatment controls
  • Assess lifecycle environmental impacts using ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 principles
  • Develop circular procurement criteria for products, packaging, suppliers and service contracts
  • Calculate waste management costs, savings, avoided disposal costs and payback periods
  • Design waste performance indicators, audit schedules, governance roles and reporting processes
  • Produce and present a circular economy and waste management implementation plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Confidence to challenge disposal-led waste practices using evidence and cost data
  • A practical method for identifying high-value waste prevention opportunities
  • Ability to discuss waste treatment options credibly with contractors and regulators
  • Experience preparing circular procurement requirements and supplier evaluation criteria
  • A completed implementation plan suitable for management or client discussion

For your organisation

  • Lower disposal expenditure through waste prevention, segregation and recovery priorities
  • Better control of hazardous wastes, documentation and contractor responsibilities
  • Clearer material data for resource efficiency, emissions and sustainability reporting
  • Stronger procurement specifications for reusable, repairable and recyclable products
  • A prioritised circular economy roadmap with ownership, milestones and performance measures

Course modules

16 modules over 10 days

Participants can explain circular economy principles and position waste management within resource stewardship.

  • Linear and circular material systems compared through resource value retention
  • Waste hierarchy priorities: prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery, then disposal
  • Biological and technical cycles in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation model
  • Resource productivity, waste intensity and decoupling performance concepts
  • Stakeholder expectations from regulators, customers, investors and local communities
  • Circular economy opportunities identified across product, service and asset lifecycles

Participants can classify waste streams and identify the controls needed for lawful management.

  • Waste stream mapping by source, composition, volume, hazard and destination
  • Hazardous waste characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity and toxicity
  • European Waste Catalogue coding principles and local classification adaptations
  • Duty-of-care records for transfer, transport, treatment and final disposal
  • Storage compatibility controls for chemicals, batteries, oils and contaminated materials
  • Waste contractor permits, licences, insurance and treatment facility verification

Participants can create a defensible waste baseline from operational and financial data.

  • Material flow analysis tracks inputs, stocks, outputs and process losses
  • Mass-balance checks reconcile purchasing, production, inventory and waste records
  • Waste audits quantify composition, contamination, moisture and recoverable materials
  • Invoice data normalisation separates collection, treatment, transport and rental charges
  • Baseline boundaries defined by site, process, product line and reporting period
  • Data-quality scoring identifies gaps, assumptions, estimation methods and verification needs

Participants can identify and prioritise waste prevention measures at source.

  • Root-cause analysis uses five whys and fishbone diagrams
  • Process mapping identifies offcuts, rejects, spoilage, over-ordering and damaged stock
  • Lean waste categories connected to material losses and resource consumption
  • Design specifications reduce material intensity, toxicity and unnecessary packaging
  • Inventory controls prevent expiry, obsolescence, surplus and avoidable disposal
  • Prevention opportunities ranked by material impact, feasibility, cost and ownership

Participants can assess value-retention options before recycling or disposal.

  • Reuse systems require collection, inspection, cleaning, storage and redistribution
  • Repairability criteria include access, fasteners, spare parts and technical information
  • Refurbishment decisions assess condition, safety, warranty and resale channels
  • Remanufacturing restores products through disassembly, replacement, testing and reassembly
  • Reverse logistics design covers returns, consolidation, tracking and handling responsibilities
  • Asset disposition hierarchies prioritise redeployment, donation, resale and recovery

Participants can specify effective recycling systems and assess recovery performance.

  • Segregation point design matches material types, user behaviour and collection frequency
  • Contamination controls use clear signage, bin placement and feedback data
  • Recyclate quality assessed through bale specifications, moisture and contamination thresholds
  • Closed-loop recycling compared with open-loop recycling and downcycling routes
  • Materials recovery facilities sort mixed streams using mechanical and optical methods
  • Recycling market risks include commodity prices, export restrictions and buyer availability

Participants can compare treatment and disposal routes using risk, cost and environmental criteria.

  • Treatment hierarchy considers recycling, anaerobic digestion, composting and energy recovery
  • Anaerobic digestion suitability depends on feedstock quality and contamination levels
  • Composting controls address feedstock balance, pathogens, odour and product quality
  • Incineration assessment considers calorific value, emissions controls and ash residues
  • Landfill acceptance criteria govern prohibited materials, testing and documentation
  • Decision matrices compare route costs, compliance, emissions, capacity and reliability

Participants can establish management controls for higher-risk and regulated waste streams.

  • Hazardous waste inventories record composition, classification, quantities and storage locations
  • Chemical compatibility matrices prevent dangerous reactions during storage and transport
  • Healthcare waste segregation distinguishes infectious, sharps, pharmaceutical and general wastes
  • Electronic waste handling protects data, batteries, components and hazardous substances
  • Spill response procedures address containment, notification, clean-up and waste classification
  • Chain-of-custody records support traceability from generation through final treatment

Participants can use lifecycle thinking to compare material and waste management options.

  • ISO 14040 principles define goal, scope, inventory, assessment and interpretation
  • Functional units enable fair comparison between alternative products and services
  • System boundaries address extraction, production, transport, use and end-of-life
  • Lifecycle inventory data captures energy, materials, emissions and waste flows
  • Impact categories include climate change, toxicity, eutrophication and resource depletion
  • Avoided-burden claims tested against substitution assumptions and allocation choices

Participants can identify design changes that improve material circularity and end-of-use outcomes.

  • Design for disassembly enables repair, component recovery and material separation
  • Material selection considers recyclability, recycled content, toxicity and durability
  • Packaging optimisation reduces weight, empty space, mixed materials and damage
  • Standardisation supports interchangeable parts, repair networks and secondary markets
  • Product passports record material composition, repair information and recovery instructions
  • End-of-use scenarios tested during design reviews and supplier specification stages

Participants can incorporate circular requirements into sourcing and supplier management processes.

  • Circular procurement criteria specify durability, repairability, recycled content and take-back
  • Total cost of ownership includes purchase, maintenance, recovery and disposal costs
  • Supplier questionnaires test material disclosure, packaging controls and recovery arrangements
  • Contract clauses define collection responsibilities, reporting, contamination and service levels
  • Extended producer responsibility schemes allocate financing and collection obligations
  • Supplier scorecards track circular performance, corrective actions and renewal decisions

Participants can assess business model options that retain products and materials in use.

  • Product-as-a-service models shift incentives toward maintenance and long-life design
  • Sharing models increase asset utilisation through booking, access and accountability systems
  • Take-back programmes recover products, packaging and components after customer use
  • Industrial symbiosis matches one organisation's by-products with another's material needs
  • Secondary material markets assessed for quality specifications, traceability and demand
  • Value propositions balance customer convenience, cost, environmental benefit and service risk

Participants can prepare a financial case for circular economy and waste improvement projects.

  • Waste cost trees expose hidden handling, labour, storage and purchasing losses
  • Avoided-cost calculations include disposal fees, transport charges and replacement materials
  • Payback period measures investment recovery from annual net savings
  • Net present value compares multi-year circular investment options and cash flows
  • Sensitivity analysis tests volume, commodity price, participation and contamination assumptions
  • Business cases state benefits, costs, risks, dependencies and approval requirements

Participants can design waste performance measures and reporting processes for management decisions.

  • Key performance indicators measure generation, diversion, contamination and material intensity
  • Absolute and intensity metrics selected for sites, products and service outputs
  • Data collection protocols assign sources, owners, frequency and validation checks
  • Waste reporting dashboards distinguish operational measures from strategic outcome measures
  • Internal audit programmes test records, storage controls, contractor evidence and actions
  • Management reviews evaluate targets, trends, incidents, resources and improvement priorities

Participants can plan implementation arrangements that sustain waste and circular economy improvements.

  • RACI matrices assign accountability for waste generation, segregation and reporting
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence quick wins, pilots, investments and scale-up activities
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies influence, interests, concerns and communication needs
  • Behaviour-change plans address convenience, incentives, training and visible feedback
  • Risk registers cover contamination, supplier failure, compliance gaps and budget constraints
  • Corrective-action logs track owners, due dates, evidence and closure verification

Participants can build, review and present a complete circular economy and waste management plan.

  • Material baseline consolidates waste data, flow analysis and priority streams
  • Legal register identifies applicable duties, permits, records and contractor controls
  • Option appraisal compares prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal measures
  • Financial case quantifies investment, savings, payback, risks and assumptions
  • Implementation roadmap assigns actions, owners, milestones, resources and performance indicators
  • Peer review tests plan logic, evidence quality, feasibility and management presentation

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Waste stream mapping template
  2. Material flow analysis model
  3. Waste audit and segregation checklist
  4. Circular procurement criteria library
  5. Circular economy business case template
  6. Waste management implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • Environmental Managers — responsible for waste compliance, environmental objectives and performance reporting
  • Sustainability Managers — translating circular economy commitments into operational programmes
  • Facilities Managers — managing site services, segregation systems and waste contractors
  • Operations Managers — reducing material losses, process waste and disposal expenditure
  • Procurement Managers — specifying circular products, supplier requirements and take-back arrangements
  • Health and Safety Professionals — controlling hazardous wastes and associated workplace risks

Skills and tools covered

Waste hierarchy applicationMaterial flow analysisCircular procurementWaste compliance controlsLifecycle assessmentImplementation planning

Tools and standards

Waste hierarchy, Material flow analysis, ISO 14040, ISO 14044

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course combines short instructor briefings with worked examples, waste-data reviews, group case work, facilitated discussions and planning simulations. Participants analyse material flows, compare treatment routes, interpret contractor information and assess circular options against cost, compliance and environmental criteria. Cases reflect manufacturing, construction, healthcare, retail and public-sector settings. Individual application planning is built throughout the course, allowing participants to adapt templates and decision methods to a current organisational issue. The final capstone uses peer review and instructor feedback before presentation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with their organisation's operations, facilities, products, supply chain or environmental responsibilities. Experience reading basic waste reports, invoices, purchasing records or operational data is useful. The course assumes an understanding of common workplace materials and routine management processes, but does not require prior specialist knowledge of circular economy, lifecycle assessment, environmental accounting or waste legislation. Participants do not need engineering qualifications, advanced mathematics or prior ISO certification experience. Those with site, operational, procurement or sustainability responsibilities will gain the greatest immediate application value.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand your organisation's operations, facilities, products, purchasing or environmental responsibilities. Prior waste management or lifecycle assessment training is not required, and the course explains the technical methods before applying them.

Bring any available waste reports, contractor invoices, purchasing data, site plans or current sustainability targets if you want to apply the methods to your own setting. Sensitive information can be anonymised, and course cases are available for participants without workplace data.

It is designed for environmental, sustainability, facilities, operations, procurement, health and safety, and quality professionals. It also suits managers who oversee waste contractors, material efficiency projects or circular procurement programmes.

This course concentrates on physical materials, waste streams, treatment routes, circular design and implementation controls. It goes further into waste data, segregation, contractor management, lifecycle comparison, procurement requirements and financial justification than a broad sustainability course.

Participants leave with a structured plan that can be adapted for a site, product category, service or business unit. The templates support immediate work on baseline measurement, priority waste streams, supplier requirements, targets and implementation actions.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours. The first part establishes waste management, data and circular economy methods; the later part develops procurement, finance, performance management and the final plan.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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