The Republic of Benin has formalised its Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), a national strategy aimed at integrating circular economy principles into its economic growth model to boost competitiveness, resilience and sustainable development. The plan was launched on 5 February 2026 with support from the African Development Bank Group’s African Circular Economy Facility (ACEF).
Under the CEAP, the government has set targets to be achieved by 2035, including increasing the national recycling rate to 25 percent, ensuring full waste collection in urban areas and up to 60 percent in rural zones, training 15,000 citizens in circular economy skills, and supporting 300 circular enterprises, a substantial rise from the current 19.
Officials said the plan aligns with Benin’s long-term development agenda, Vision Benin 2060 Alafia, and is intended to drive economic transition alongside environmental management. José Didier Tonato, Minister of the Living Environment and Sustainable Development, highlighted existing initiatives such as recycling 70 percent of materials from old roads and reprocessing 90 percent of wastewater from textile factories in the Glo-Djigbe economic zone.
Dr Al Hamndou Dorsouma, Head of the African Development Bank’s Green Growth and Climate Change Division, emphasised the Bank’s commitment to helping translate the Action Plan into implementable outcomes. His remarks followed meetings with young innovators at Impact Hub Cotonou during a mission by the steering committee of the African Circular Economy Fund, which also included representatives from the Government of Finland and the Nordic Development Fund.
Benin faces significant waste management challenges, producing an estimated 50,000 tonnes of plastic annually and around 1,700 tonnes of municipal waste per day, much of which currently goes unrecycled.
Several municipalities are already piloting circular economy solutions. In Avrankou, recycled biomass filters are providing improved access to drinking water for 85 percent of households. In Nikki, cottonseed hulls that were previously burned are now used to generate biogas for hundreds of households. Bassila is converting organic waste into fertiliser through local digesters, and in Abomey-Calavi market waste is being transformed into compost and biogas.
Government and development partners said these initiatives demonstrate early impact on public health, access to water, employment and climate action, and form part of broader structural shifts in local development approaches.
With the adoption of the CEAP, Benin joins 22 other members of the African Circular Economy Alliance, a continent-wide coalition promoting sustainable development models that preserve resources while creating economic and social opportunities.
The African Circular Economy Facility, which funds the plan, is a trust fund dedicated to mainstreaming circular economy strategies as part of inclusive and green growth across Africa.
