Humanitarian Aid Solid Waste Assessment and Improvement (HAWAI) Guidelines

The Humanitarian Aid Solid Waste Assessment and Improvement (HAWAI) Guidelines are designed to support effective Solid Waste Management (SWM) in humanitarian contexts. They provide practical actions and are seen as a complementary resource and companion publication to the Compendium of Solid Waste Management in Humanitarian Contexts (Ewers et al., 2025), which provides essential background on solid waste management, processes and technologies. The Compendium is also available through the online platform. The HAWAI Guidelines focus on assessing and improving key elements of the SWM service chain—such as waste storage, collection, transport, disposal, organic waste management, recycling, and self-management. They emphasise the importance of reliable baseline data as the foundation for planning and implementing improvements and provide step-by-step recommendations for enhancing existing systems, as well as for planning and designing new SWM systems.