About the role
Project Background:
Margins 2 Markets (M2M) is building key components of an effective waste management system in three ecologically valuable coastal regions: Raja Ampat/Sorong (Indonesia), Tamil Nadu (India), and Zanzibar (Tanzania). These regions face similar challenges: remote and growing coastal communities, insufficient waste management infrastructure, limited access to recycling markets, and increasing plastic pollution from tourism and population growth, driving marine litter and threatening biodiversity, fisheries, and local livelihoods.
The project establishes regional collection, pre-processing, and recycling infrastructure, including Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and pre-processing sites, and connects these to national and international recycling markets. It combines this physical infrastructure with digital traceability systems, incentive schemes for waste collectors, training, occupational health and safety measures, and transparent payment systems. The overarching goal is to prevent approximately 40,000 tonnes of plastic waste from entering coastal and marine ecosystems and to develop a replicable model for other coastal regions.
Key infrastructure includes:
A regional MRF in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, cleaning, sorting, and baling fishing nets and marine plastics, alongside collection activities across 14 coastal districts.
Pre-processing facilities near Kendwa and Paje (Zanzibar) plus a central MRF between Zanzibar City and the landfill.
Local collection and pre-processing sites across the Raja Ampat islands, linked to a central facility in Sorong.
What are we looking for:
CleanHub GmbH is looking for a Technical Waste Management Expert to provide continuous, cross-site technical operational and economical support throughout the project. The consultant will help optimize technical operational and economical concepts for collection, pre-processing, and recycling operations, and support the practical implementation and operational ramp-up of the MRFs and pre-processing facilities across the three countries.
Tasks
The consultant is expected to provide ongoing, as-needed support across the following areas, in coordination with the CleanHub project team and local partners:
Technical concept review and optimization
Review and advise on facility layouts, process flows, and equipment specifications for MRFs and pre-processing sites.
Recommend improvements to sorting, baling, and material-densification processes to increase material value and reduce transport costs.
Advise on capacity planning relative to expected waste volumes and collection growth.
Implementation support
Support technical due diligence during facility set-up
Review technical documentation, tenders, or equipment specifications from local contractors/suppliers.
Identify technical risks and propose mitigation measures
Operational ramp-up & Optimization
Support commissioning and start-up of facilities, including workflow design and staff operating procedures.
Advise on occupational health and safety (OHS) standards for waste sorting and processing operations.
Troubleshoot operational bottlenecks as facilities scale up throughput.
Cross-country knowledge transfer
Share good practice and lessons learned across the three country operations (Indonesia, India, Tanzania) to support a replicable, scalable model.
Provide input into internal guidance documents / SOPs as needed.
Ad hoc technical operational and economical advisory
Respond to technical operational and economical queries from the project team and local partners on a rolling basis over the project duration.
Note: Deliverables and exact focus areas per mission/period will be agreed jointly with the project team based on evolving project needs.
Requirements
Degree in environmental engineering, waste management, chemical/process engineering, or a relevant field.
Proven, hands-on experience (minimum >10 years) in the design, technical optimization, and/or operational ramp-up of solid waste management infrastructure, ideally including Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), plastics sorting/baling, or recycling pre-processing operations.
Experience working in low- and middle-income country contexts, ideally including South/Southeast Asia and/or East Africa.
Familiarity with informal and formal waste collection systems, and with occupational health and safety standards in waste operations.
Experience advising on or working with development cooperation, grant-funded, or donor-financed projects is an advantage.
Strong written and spoken English is required
Ability to work independently, communicate clearly with remote teams, and travel internationally if needed.
Total input: 25 expert-days, distributed flexibly across the project duration (2026–2028) according to project needs
Work can be carried out remotely, with the possibility of occasional site visits to Indonesia, India, and/or Tanzania if required.
Interested consultants are invited to submit an offer to