Assessing the conditions for circularity and entrepreneurship for urban sanitation and waste management in Basrah City

The report finds that Basrah City's sanitation and waste systems suffer from critical infrastructure gaps, with minimal resource recovery despite high potential. While over 90% of solid waste is recyclable or compostable, most is landfilled or dumped. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is rated as having 'medium maturity' nationally but remains underdeveloped in Basrah, particularly regarding finance and specialized support. Opportunities for circularity exist in planned infrastructure upgrades, such as the Hamdan Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Al-Nakheila waste complex, and in the emerging demand for treated wastewater in agriculture.

• Basrah City's sanitation and waste management systems face critical service delivery gaps, with most wastewater inadequately treated and the vast majority of solid waste landfilled, burned, or disposed of in open dumps despite high recyclability.
• Wastewater management in Basrah City is insufficient; approximately 32,000 m3/day remains untreated, and only 31% of residents are connected to a sewer network linked to a treatment plant.
• Solid waste generation in Basrah City is estimated at approximately 2,400 metric tons per day, with food waste comprising 54.8–66.6% of the total volume.
• Resource recovery for solid waste is largely informal and underdeveloped; formalized recycling infrastructure is absent, and composting is virtually nonexistent except for a small-scale initiative by the Directorate of Agriculture processing roughly 10 tons of plant-based waste annually.
• The entrepreneurial ecosystem for environmental ventures in Iraq is assessed as having 'medium maturity' overall, but Basrah City specifically faces severe limitations in access to finance, investment readiness support, and sector-specific talent.
• There is a significant institutional gap in the regulation of non-sewered sanitation systems, such as septic tanks and faecal sludge management, which currently operate without formal policies or designated treatment sites.
• Planned infrastructure projects, including the rehabilitation of the Hamdan Wastewater Treatment Plant (expected completion in 2026) and the 36-ha integrated waste management complex at Al-Nakheila, provide strategic entry points for embedding circular economy principles.
• Market demand for resource recovery products is currently low, but there is emerging interest in wastewater reuse for agriculture due to the arid climate and potential for landfill gas-to-energy projects.

APA

Trujillo, A. S., Ddiba, D., Neama, M., & Dhahir, N. (2025). Assessing the conditions for circularity and entrepreneurship for urban sanitation and waste management in Basrah City. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/circularity-entrepreneurship-sanitation-waste-basrah-sei2025-050.pdf

Chicago

Trujillo, Adriana Soto, Daniel Ddiba, Mounes Neama, and Nashwan Dhahir. Assessing the conditions for circularity and entrepreneurship for urban sanitation and waste management in Basrah City. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2025. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/circularity-entrepreneurship-sanitation-waste-basrah-sei2025-050.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Trujillo |first1=Adriana Soto |last2=Ddiba |first2=Daniel |last3=Neama |first3=Mounes |last4=Dhahir |first4=Nashwan |title=Assessing the conditions for circularity and entrepreneurship for urban sanitation and waste management in Basrah City |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/circularity-entrepreneurship-sanitation-waste-basrah-sei2025-050.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{trujillo2025assessing, author = {Trujillo, Adriana Soto and Ddiba, Daniel and Neama, Mounes and Dhahir, Nashwan}, title = {{Assessing the conditions for circularity and entrepreneurship for urban sanitation and waste management in Basrah City}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/circularity-entrepreneurship-sanitation-waste-basrah-sei2025-050.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }