PROMOTING DECENTRALIZED AND

INTEGRATED RESOURCE RECOVERY CENTERS

IN SECONDARY CITIES AND SMALL TOWNS OF ASIA-PACIFIC

Lorenzo Santucci

Economic Affairs Officer

Sustainable Urban Development Section

Environment and Development Division

ISWA World Congress 2013, Vienna, 7-11 October 2013

UN-ESCAP and the Asia-Pacific region

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• 53 members of UN-ESCAP

• 9 associated members

• 58% percent of world population

• 60% of the world’s poor population

• 40% of the world’s land area territory

• Rapid economic growth

• High population density

• ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations and fosters:

• Cooperation between its 53 members and 9 associate members for social and economic development in Asia-Pacific

• Policy, normative and technical cooperation at the regional level

• Asian cities are home to over half of the world’s urban population, or 1.76 billion people (2010)

• Asia is estimated to reach 50 percent urbanization by 2026

• Two main trends in the urbanization rate of Asian cities:

• The rapid demographic expansion: the Asian urban population is foreseen to almost double from 1.8 billion in 2010 to 3.3 billion by 2050

• Asian urbanization is broad-based rather than concentrated in just a few cities

• 60% of the region’s urban population lives in small and medium-sized cities, and will continue to do so for the next two decades

• Urbanization of poverty: 33% of urban citizens live in slums without proper housing, sanitation, water, electricity, waste collection and other services.

Urbanization in Asia-Pacific

Source: The State of Asian Cities 2010/2011, UN-ESCAP and UN-Habitat 3

Municipal Solid Waste Trends

Source: ESCAP based on data from World Bank (2012), What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management,

The rapid urbanization and economic growth accompanied by high consumption patterns is leading to increased solid waste generation in urban areas of Asia-Pacific.

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Solid waste generation (tons/day) in middle income developing countries in Asia-Pacific

Waste Composition patterns in Asia-Pacific

5Source: ESCAP based on data from World Bank, 2012

The high percentage of organic waste (50-70%) and recyclables (20-35%) in low and middle income countries of Asia-Pacific means that the majority of waste (85-90%) can be converted into valuable resources such as:

• Compost through aerobic treatment• Bio-gas/electricity through anaerobic digestion• Recycled materials

Organic35.9%

Paper24.3%

Plastic10.8%

Glass4.6%

Metal5%

Other19.5%

Organic51.4 %

Paper13.3 %

Plastic11.3 %

Glass4.4%

Metal4.4%

Other15%

Organic65 %

Paper5.8 %

Plastic9 %

Glass6 %

Metal5.3 %

Other11.8 %

High Income countries Low Income countriesMiddle Income countries

Current Solid Waste Management Practices

The current paradigm is not sustainable and overlooks the enormous potential for turning waste into resources

Current approaches to Solid Waste Management (SWM) focus on end-of-pipe solutions, such as open dumping and landfilling, which are not sustainable

Negative Externalities

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Leachate (pollution of water

sources)

More Land Required for

landfilling

Odor Nuisance

Vermin and other disease

vectors

Methane Emissions

(a Greenhouse gas)

Paradigm shift and need for system change

Recover

Reduce

Reuse

Controlled Dump

The Waste Management Hierarchy

Landfill / Incineration

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There is a need to change towards a more systemic approach based on 3R principles, where value can be generated from waste, with potential for co-benefits along the three dimensions of sustainable development

Source: World Bank 2012

Recycle

Energy recovery

Composing / digestion

Least preferred

Most preferred

Waste Diversion

Waste Disposal

The IRRC Approach and Concept

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An Integrated Resource Recovery Center (IRRC) is a facility where asignificant portion (80-90%) of waste can be processed in a cost effectiveway, in proximity to the source of generation, and in a decentralizedmanner. The IRRC concept is based on 3R principles.

Waste IRRC

• Organic Waste

• Inorganic Waste

• Used Cooking Oil

• Others

Compost

Biogas

Recyclables

RDF

Biodiesel

Residues

Cost and Liability Processing Resources1 2 3

90%

10%

The IRRC Approach and Concept

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Design to process between 2-20 tons of organic waste per day and provide handling and storage space for 2-5 tons of recyclables per day

Decentralized and neighborhood based with emphasis on community participation suited for small towns and secondary cities

Use of low-cost and simple technology requiring manual labour, thereby providing jobs

Financially sustainable with potential for limited profits

Relies on effective source separation of waste

Promotes door-to-door collection of waste

Pays close attention to marketing and sale of high-quality compost

Key characteristics of the IRRC

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Replicable and flexibleEasy to replicate as IRRCs are low cost, easy to operate and rely on local materials and labor for construction and operation

Multi-stakeholder approach

Involvement of stakeholders at all levels helps to upscale the IRRC approach city wide and supports all aspects of the waste management process, reducing the burden for local governments.

Strong social pillarInvolving local community changes perceptions and attitudes towards waste and waste workers. Creation of employment opportunities - both for skilled and unskilled labor.

Pro-poor approachProvides livelihoods and social protection to urban poor/waste pickers with increased income, better working conditions through use ofprotective gear and provide services such as health insurance.

Diverse income streamsAn IRRC can process more than one product from waste and charge collection fee for waste collection services, providing a diversity of income sources

Technology transfer and training

Through our partner Waste Concern, ESCAP supports the transfer of technology and provides training to stakeholders at the regional training center in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

What makes our approach unique?

The IRRC Approach and Concept

Benefits and Opportunities

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1 ton of processed waste by an IRRC can deliver the following benefits

Economic

Creates 2-3 new jobs for waste pickers

Directly benefits 2,000-3,000 people

Reduces the spread of diseases and odors

Increases the awareness of the community on 3R principles

Social

Environmental

Avoids 0.2-0.3 m3 of leachate water

Avoids the emission of 0.5 ton of CO2eq

The use of compost enriches soils with nutrients

Produces 0.20 ton of good quality compost;

Produces 40-80 m3 of biogas (240-480 kwh)

Requires 150-200 m2 of land, saving 1.1 m3 of landfill volume

What does an IRRC operation look like?

12Source: UN-ESCAP and Waste Concern

Baseline studies and IRRCs in Asia-Pacific

VIET NAM

CAMBODIASRI LANKA

PAKISTANBANGLADESH

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Islamabad

Karachi

Mardan

Matale

RathnapuraBattambang

KushtiaKampot

Quy Nhon

Kon Tum

Ha Tinh

Hoi An

Baseline study

IRRC

Legend 5 Countries12 cities

Kampot City, Cambodia

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Before projectKampot

All waste collected is disposed at the dumpsite which is soon to reach capacity and is located 11 km away from the city

Lack of community participation and source separation of waste

Growth in tourism puts pressure for solutions to keep the city clean

Population of 40,000 people

18 tons of waste generated per day

12 tons of waste collected per day

65% of the waste generated is organic

IRRC project

A 4-ton IRRC was constructed and began operations in 2013

The IRRC is collecting all organic waste generated in the main market (2 - 2.5 tons) and is now expanding to restaurants, hotels and households to process 4 tons daily

ESCAP has supported the city of Kampot in implementing the first IRRC in Cambodia, where operations started in early 2013

Cambodia

Kampot

IRRC Kampot

IRRC, Kampot

Bio digester and rain water harvesting

Leachate collection tank15

Workers at IRRC

Compost box

Partnership Arrangements for IRRC Implementation

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Municipality

Waste Concern

Technology transfer & training

CSARO(NGO)

GAEA (waste collection

company)Community

Self Help Group(IRRC operations)

Project Implementation

Waste transferAwareness campaigns

Collection fee

Services

Grant

Land and basic infrastructure

UN-ESCAP

The IRRC is implemented through involvement of all stakeholders taking part in all stages of waste management process with clear roles and responsibilities.

Separation of

waste at

source

Results

• About 70% of vendors in the market separate waste as a result of the community mobilization activities carried out

• A Self Help Group has been formed from the waste picker community to carry out IRRC operations with improved working conditions and stable source of income

• Designed and implemented a waste collection system in the market area to recover waste before it enters the mixed waste stream

• 2 – 2.5 tons of waste diverted from the dumpsite on a daily basis and converted to valuable resources such as compost

• Effectively engaged the provincial departments such as Tourism department to extend source separation to restaurants/hotels and Education department to raise awareness through schools and colleges.

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Lessons Learnt

• Consultation and involvement of all stakeholders that participate in all stages of waste management process is crucial for effective implementation and operation of the IRRC

• Regular communication campaigns can achieve positive results in source separation when beneficiaries have a clear understanding of its benefits

• Local / provincial governmental departments can contribute to different aspects of waste management due to shared common goals

• Waste pickers become active collaborators in formal waste management processes when their needs and interests are duly addressed

• Waste collection fees in developing countries are too low: there is a need to raise them in order to improve the business case for sustainable solid waste management practices. Experience shows that households are willing to pay higher fees, provided they get better collection services in return

• Heavy subsidies provided to chemical fertilizers are a barrier to the uptake of composting practices. Government should consider providing a level playing field to compost producers while ensuring its quality.

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Conclusions and key messages

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• Solid waste management has become an issue of increasing global concern, as urban populations continue to rise and consumption patterns change

• Need for paradigm shift and system change, moving from end of pipe approaches to new ways of seeing and valuing waste

• The IRRC approach has proved effective in managing municipal solid waste upstream in a cost effective way and in the process provides green jobs to urban poor

• The decentralized IRRC approach is best suited to small towns and secondary cities and saves costs for local government

• The IRRC model can be replicated and up scaled to treat all MSW generated in the city through multi stakeholder approach

• A conducive policy framework and effective enforcement is required to enable these models to thrive

www.waste2resource.org

http://www.youtube.com/user/Wastetoresource

Thank you for the attention!

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