Flagship project
A Sanitary Landfill and Safer Waste Future for Maputo
Maputo is preparing a sanitary landfill and an orderly closure of the Hulene dump to replace unsafe disposal with a planned long-term waste solution.
Residents can benefit from lower exposure to smoke, unstable waste, contaminated runoff and other hazards associated with unsafe disposal. A sanitary landfill gives the city a more controlled way to manage waste, while an orderly closure can reduce continuing risks at Hulene. Reliable forecasts and designs also help authorities plan investment and operations over the long term. The transition replaces a long-standing environmental liability with a safer, controlled and more dependable waste-disposal system for Maputo.
The challenge
Maputo needs a safe long-term waste-disposal solution and a carefully planned closure of the Hulene dump to reduce environmental and public-health risks. Closing an unsafe disposal site is as complex as opening its replacement, requiring careful design, environmental controls and a transition that protects nearby communities and waste services.
Our goal
Maputo's waste project reduces the risks associated with the Hulene dump and prepares a properly designed facility for future disposal. Decisions on the new landfill and closure plan must reflect site conditions, projected waste volumes, safety requirements and the city's longer-term service needs.
Our approach
The solid-waste master plan is reviewed to confirm the strategic context. Site data are collected and analysed, and waste volumes are forecast to determine future capacity requirements. Alternative landfill options are assessed before preliminary and detailed designs are prepared for both the Maputo sanitary landfill and the controlled closure of Hulene.
Key highlights
- The assignment will deliver an updated planning basis, verified site information, capacity forecasts, comparative landfill options and construction-ready design documentation.
- Closure planning is treated as an engineered project in its own right, ensuring that risks at Hulene are addressed systematically rather than simply transferring disposal activity elsewhere.
Success story
For communities near Hulene, unsafe disposal is not an abstract environmental issue; it affects air, water, safety and everyday wellbeing. Maputo's project creates the technical route towards a different future. Engineers review the city's waste strategy, investigate site conditions and forecast how much waste the system must handle. They compare options and prepare detailed designs for a sanitary landfill, while developing a controlled closure plan for the existing dump. For Mozambique, the change is a managed transition rather than an abrupt relocation of the problem. If the plans are implemented, waste can be disposed of more safely and the persistent risks around Hulene can begin to decline.