Kolekt launches Waste Simulator for Governments to plan, price and fund waste systems
Do Cities and Governments know what their waste systems really cost? And can they work out what share of that cost could be covered by the companies that put packaging on the market? They told us they couldn’t, so after more than a year of development, the Kolekt Waste Simulator is now available.
This powerful new tool gives governments, municipalities and financiers a common, configurable starting point for estimating what a waste system really costs, and how much of that producers could pay.
The Simulator addresses a critical gap in the waste management sector: the fragmented, sporadic and imperfect public waste data, even from official sources. Developed by Thierry Sanders and Caner Unal of Kolekt, in partnership with BVRio (Brazil), the University of Amsterdam, and Analytics for a Better World, the Simulator provides waste management professionals, policymakers, and municipal authorities with a powerful tool to model policy scenarios and infrastructure investments across a 10-year planning horizon.
"We built the Waste Simulator because we noticed that many governments at the UN Plastic Treaty were missing good waste data, projections and EPR revenue potential. The sector needed it. Waste management practitioners, municipal departments, and collection companies need to make decisions that are more than “directionally correct” and they are the true experts in this field. This tool puts data-driven planning into their hands, enabling them to make informed decisions on infrastructure, policy, and investment." Thierry Sanders, Founder of Kolekt.
Those decisions shape cleaner streets and in many parts of the world, the livelihoods of the estimated 30 million waste pickers working on the front line. They also affect how well waste is recovered as a resource, and how product packaging is designed.
What the simulator does
In just a few minutes users can:
Find waste data for any country in the world and 3,800 cities
See the financials, including operating expenses and the investment needed
Estimate the revenue potential of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for most countries
Compare the recovery cost per kilogram of 14 different materials
Explore the key players, including the top 200 companies producing, collecting and recycling waste, and the top 100 waste-management influencers
The simulator draws on data from the World Bank’s What a Waste 3.0 report (March 2026), WorldPop, the European Space Agency and Eurostat and was built in response to feedback received during EPR consultation work with the following countries; Angola, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kenya, Nepal, Maldives, Mozambique, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Access
The Kolekt Waste Simulator is available for a 1 hour trial, for subscribers or as part of training sessions. Contact us for a free introduction and trial.
Book a demonstration: https://calendly.com/thierry-kolekt/30min