ICTD Working Paper 235
This paper examines how national policy instruments and local service delivery interact to shape outcomes in plastic and solid waste management in Uganda. It situates plastics within the wider municipal waste challenge, and asks what combination of centrally set rules and taxes, together with locally delivered services and charges, can produce practical environmental gains under a decentralised system. The analysis focuses on two national instruments that have dominated the response to plastic waste – a ban on plastic bags, and a plastics excise – alongside the financing and operational constraints facing city authorities responsible for collection, transfer, and disposal.
The study uses a qualitative design that combines a structured review of laws, strategies, and administrative records with published and unpublished budget and performance data. It draws on 40 semi-structured interviews with officials in national ministries and agencies, senior administrators in Kampala, Fort Portal, Gulu, Mbale, and Mbarara, and representatives of traders and industrial associations.
Findings indicate that design changes, exemptions, and uneven implementation have limited the effect of national instruments on plastics use and disposal. At the same time, city authorities face narrow and volatile local revenue, delayed approval of local ordinances, and rising service expectations, which constrain routine collection and credible enforcement. The paper concludes that progress requires clearer and more salient central price signals, timely approval and enforcement of local ordinances calibrated to service technology and affordability, and a defined share of plastics-related receipts directed to city waste functions and recycling infrastructure.
