Waste Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Environmental Managers, HSE Officers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-EM-067

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation’s operations, materials, waste collection arrangements 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 management is a control issue as much as an environmental issue. Poor classification, mixed storage, weak contractor checks and incomplete records can lead to fires, spills, rejected loads, regulatory action, unnecessary disposal costs and unreliable sustainability reporting. Organisations also miss savings when recoverable materials are treated as general waste or when waste prevention is not connected to purchasing and operational processes.

This course prepares participants to manage waste from the point of generation through segregation, storage, transport, treatment and final recovery or disposal. Participants learn to map waste streams, apply the waste hierarchy, classify hazardous and non-hazardous materials, maintain duty-of-care records, assess treatment routes and control waste contractors. The programme also covers waste data, cost analysis, key performance indicators, waste prevention and site waste management planning. ISO 14001 operational controls and management review requirements are used to connect day-to-day waste controls with environmental management systems.

Instruction combines short technical briefings with sector-based cases from facilities, construction projects, healthcare settings, manufacturing sites and commercial operations. Participants work with waste inventories, classification scenarios, contractor documentation, incident records, treatment options and performance data. They leave with a reusable waste management plan structure, waste-stream inventory template, contractor due-diligence checklist, inspection checklist and 90-day implementation plan. The course is delivered over five days, 08:30-16:30, in a classroom in 50+ cities or live online, with about 6.5 contact hours each day. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits professionals who already have operational, facilities, environmental, safety, procurement or compliance responsibilities and need to improve practical control of waste activities.

What you will be able to do

  • Classify waste streams using physical, chemical and regulatory criteria.
  • Build a waste inventory from generation, handling, transport and treatment data.
  • Apply the waste hierarchy to prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal decisions.
  • Prepare duty-of-care documentation and traceable waste transfer records.
  • Assess hazardous-waste storage, handling and emergency-control requirements.
  • Evaluate treatment providers using permits, performance evidence and downstream checks.
  • Calculate waste KPIs, diversion rates, generation intensity and total management costs.
  • Develop a site waste management plan with targets, responsibilities and review controls.

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make defensible waste classification and treatment decisions
  • Identify avoidable disposal costs and contamination sources
  • Improve confidence when inspecting storage areas and contractor records
  • Contribute credible waste figures to environmental reporting
  • Create a practical workplace waste improvement plan

For your organisation

  • Stronger duty-of-care records and contractor control
  • Lower disposal costs through segregation and prevention
  • Reduced risk of spills, fires and incompatible waste mixing
  • More reliable waste KPIs, invoices and sustainability disclosures
  • Clearer responsibilities for site waste management controls

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can map site waste streams and establish a baseline for control and improvement.

  • Material flow mapping from generation points to final treatment routes
  • Classifying waste streams by physical form, composition, hazard and volume
  • Applying the waste hierarchy to prevention, reuse, recycling and disposal
  • Distinguishing waste, by-products and secondary materials under applicable definitions
  • Source segregation principles that protect material quality and worker safety
  • Baseline waste inventory using weights, volumes, collection frequencies and costs

Participants can establish traceable records and checks throughout the waste duty-of-care chain.

  • Legal duty-of-care chain from producer through carrier to receiving facility
  • Permit, licence and registration checks for sites, carriers and treatment contractors
  • Reading waste codes, classification criteria and prohibited mixing requirements
  • Document control for transfer notes, manifests, consignment notes and certificates
  • Applying Basel Convention controls to transboundary movements of hazardous wastes
  • Audit trails proving authorised transport, recovery and final disposal

Participants can classify waste streams and determine when further analysis is needed.

  • Sampling plans that produce representative waste characterisation data
  • Assigning hazardous properties using safety data, process knowledge and testing
  • European Waste Catalogue coding principles and jurisdiction-specific code verification
  • Compatibility assessment for chemicals, reactive wastes and mixed loads
  • Laboratory analysis selection: pH, flash point, metals, organics and leachability
  • Packaging, labelling and containment matched to hazard classification

Participants can design practical controls for segregating, storing and moving waste safely.

  • Point-of-generation segregation systems using colour coding, signage and container standards
  • Container sizing from generation rates, density, collection frequency and storage limits
  • Designing storage areas for access control, weather protection and spill containment
  • Inspection routines covering container condition, labels, housekeeping and fire risks
  • Applying FIFO principles to time-sensitive, degradable and hazardous waste stocks
  • Collection route planning that reduces handling, vehicle movements and contamination

Participants can assess hazardous-waste risks and specify proportionate operational controls.

  • Risk assessment using source-pathway-receptor analysis for waste handling tasks
  • Hierarchy of controls applied to exposure, ignition, release and manual handling
  • Emergency response arrangements for spills, fires, incompatible mixing and exposure
  • Selecting PPE from hazard data, task analysis and residual risk
  • Incident investigation using five whys, causal factors and corrective actions
  • Contractor control through induction, permits, supervision and performance checks

Participants can evaluate suitable treatment and disposal routes for different waste streams.

  • Comparing recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, recovery and disposal routes
  • Material recovery facility outputs, contamination thresholds and bale quality specifications
  • Evaluating treatment options against waste properties, capacity, cost and emissions
  • Thermal treatment basics: incineration, energy recovery, emissions controls and residues
  • Landfill acceptance criteria, pre-treatment requirements and leachate management
  • Due diligence questions for recyclers, brokers, treatment plants and disposal sites

Participants can specify, assess and monitor waste service providers using objective evidence.

  • Total cost of waste ownership including containers, transport, treatment and administration
  • Request-for-proposal specifications defining streams, service levels, data and compliance evidence
  • Bid evaluation matrix weighting price, capacity, permits, recovery and reporting
  • Contract clauses covering ownership, contamination, liabilities, audits and change control
  • Supplier scorecards using collection reliability, recovery rates, incidents and documentation
  • Verifying downstream facilities through audit evidence and chain-of-custody records

Participants can produce reliable waste measures and use them to guide management decisions.

  • Mass-balance calculations reconciling purchasing, production, inventory, waste and product outputs
  • Key performance indicators: generation intensity, diversion rate, contamination and cost
  • Data quality checks for weighbridge tickets, invoices, estimates and unit conversions
  • GHG Protocol waste data boundaries and treatment-emissions reporting considerations
  • Dashboard design linking operational metrics, compliance status and management decisions
  • Trend analysis separating genuine reduction from production-volume changes

Participants can identify and prioritise waste prevention and resource-recovery opportunities.

  • Root-cause analysis of waste using process mapping and Pareto charts
  • Applying cleaner production principles to material yield, packaging and procurement
  • Circular economy options: reuse systems, take-back schemes, repair and remanufacturing
  • Food waste prevention using measurement, redistribution controls and organics treatment
  • Designing behavioural controls that sustain segregation and contamination reduction
  • Prioritising initiatives with cost-benefit analysis, feasibility and environmental impact

Participants can prepare an implementable waste management plan linked to environmental management controls.

  • Building a site waste management plan with roles, controls and targets
  • Setting SMART objectives, operational controls and monitoring under ISO 14001
  • RACI matrices for waste ownership, escalation, contractor interfaces and reporting
  • Phased implementation schedules with milestones, resources, dependencies and review points
  • Management review packs combining compliance findings, KPIs, risks and decisions
  • Personal 90-day action plan for workplace waste management improvements

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

What you take back to work

  1. Waste stream inventory template
  2. Waste classification decision tree
  3. Duty-of-care document checklist
  4. Waste storage inspection checklist
  5. Contractor due-diligence scorecard
  6. Site waste management plan template

Who should attend

  • Environmental Managers — responsible for waste compliance, performance and environmental management system controls
  • HSE Officers — need practical controls for waste-related hazards, incidents and inspections
  • Facilities Managers — oversee collection services, storage areas, contractors and site standards
  • Operations Managers — can reduce waste generation, contamination and disposal costs at source
  • Procurement Managers — specify, select and manage waste contractors and treatment providers
  • Sustainability Managers — require credible waste data for targets, reporting and reduction programmes

Skills and tools covered

Waste stream classificationDuty-of-care controlHazardous waste handlingContractor due diligenceWaste data analysisWaste prevention planning

Tools and standards

ISO 14001, Waste hierarchy, European Waste Catalogue, Basel Convention

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor briefings to establish legal, technical and operational principles, followed by cases, group analysis and structured decision tasks. Participants examine waste inventories, classify sample streams, review transfer documentation, assess storage controls and compare treatment options. Simulations address contractor selection, incident response and management reporting. Facilitated discussion draws on participants’ own sites and sectors without assuming identical local regulations. The final sessions convert findings into priorities, responsibilities, measures and a 90-day workplace application plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation’s operations, materials, waste collection arrangements or environmental responsibilities. Experience in facilities, HSE, environmental management, operations, procurement or compliance is useful. Participants should be able to read operational procedures, supplier documents and simple performance data. No chemistry qualification, engineering degree, prior ISO 14001 auditor training or specialist hazardous-waste licence is required. The course explains technical terms before applying them. Participants are encouraged to bring examples of their waste streams, current records or recurring waste-control issues.

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 basic workplace operations and have some exposure to facilities, HSE, environmental, procurement or operational responsibilities. You do not need a technical degree, hazardous-waste licence or prior ISO 14001 training.

Bring examples of waste streams, collection problems, contractor documents or reporting issues if you can share them without breaching confidentiality. A laptop is useful for live online delivery and optional for classroom attendance.

It is suited to professionals responsible for waste generation, storage, collection contracts, environmental controls, safety inspections or sustainability reporting. It also suits managers who need to improve waste costs and compliance at site level.

General environmental management courses cover a wider range of environmental aspects, while ISO 14001 courses focus on management-system requirements. This course concentrates on the operational detail of waste classification, storage, records, contractors, treatment routes and performance data.

Participants can use the templates and checklists to map current waste streams, inspect storage controls, assess suppliers and establish practical KPIs. The 90-day action plan helps convert course findings into assigned actions and review points.

The programme runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. Ten modules progress from waste mapping and legal controls to hazardous waste, treatment options, contractor management, data and implementation planning.

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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