On the Road to Zero Waste

7/28/2019 On the Road to Zero Waste

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On The ROadTO ZeRO WasTe

SucceSSeS and LeSSonS

from around the WorLd Global Alliance for

Incinerator Alternatives

Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance


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GaIa scrtritUnit 330, Eagle Cout Condominium26 Matalino SteetBaangay CentalQuezon City, PhilippinesTeleax: +632-436 4733Email: [email protected]

GaIa europEmail: [email protected]

GaIa Lti amricc/o Obsevatoio Latinoameicano deConictos Ambientales (OLCA)Alonso Ovalle 1618 O. A.Santiago, ChileEmail: [email protected]

GaIa U.s. & C1958 Univesity AvenueBeeley, CA 94704USAPhone: +1-510-883-9490Fax: +1-510-883-9493Email: [email protected]

GAIA is a woldwide alliance o moe than 650 gassoots goups, non-govenmental oganizations, andindividuals in ove 90 counties whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-ee wold without incineation.

Global Alliance for

Incinerator Alternatives

Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance

autor Cotributor

Ccili all is a sociologist active in envionmental health and justice oganizations with a paticula inteest in waste management;she was pat o GAIAs coodination team o eight yeas.

Virli Gokl has a bacgound in envionmental science and business management with a ocus on the geen economy; sheadvises social ventues and nonpofts on opeational impovements and gowth o newpogams, poducts, and sevices.

a Lrrc has been with GAIA in the Manila ofce o six yeas. She helps coodinate wo o zeo waste and againstincineation in the Asia-Pacifc egion.

Lli a Miot, GAIAs Development Diecto since 2010, has been undaising since 1996 o intenational, national, and localhuman and civil ights, LGBT, health, envionmental, and youth oganizations and pojects.

Mv Mori, a eseache with expetise in solid waste management, consulted o GAIA in Buenos Aies om May to August in2011.

nil Tgri, a ounding membe o GAIA, wos on GAIAs waste and climate change campaign.

Burr Tylr, a lielong envionmentalist, is GAIAs Publications Coodinato and has a Mastes degee in Education.

Bill Wlkr is a Beeley, Calionia-based wite, edito, and communications stategist who has woed with Geenpeace,Envionmental Woing Goup, Fiends o the Eath and many othe leading NGOs.

www.o-bur.orgJu 2012

COVeR CLOCkWISE FrOM TOP LEFT: Alaminos (Anne Laacas), Buenos Aies (Coopeativa El Ceibo),Henani (Gipuzoa Zeo Zabo), Mumbai (Michael Atin), Flandes (OVAM), San Fancisco (Lay Stong),Pune (Amit Thavaaj), Taiwan (Allianz SE), La Pintana (DIGA)

Design and Layout by Design Action Collective


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On The ROad

TO ZeRO WasTeSucceSSeS and LeSSonS

from around the WorLd


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ackowlgmt

This epot is the wo o many individuals, but we owe a special thans to those who gave sogeneously o thei time, eseach, and mateials: Gaspa Acosta, Michael Atin, Snia Maia

Dias, Manie Dolea, rhonda Douglas, kevin Dew, Exequiel Estay Tapia, Lucia Fenndez, Malati

Gadgil, robet Haley, Helin Hsieh, Jyoti Mhapsea, Maeva Moin, Laxmi Naayan, Paticio

Navaete Benavides, Gace ravaa, Maiteyi Shana, Joan Mac Simon, Amit Thavaaj, Manuel

Valencia Guzmn, Anne Vandeputte, Monica Wilson, OVAM, Pello Zubiia kamino, and the Del

Oeste, El Alamo, El Ceibo, MTE, and recupeadoes Ubanos Del Oeste coopeatives. Most o

all, we owe thans to the many thousands o zeo waste pionees who ae ceating the eality

this epot sees to descibe.

Cck GaIa wbit to r c ty r to t ri:

www.o-bur.org/ZWctui


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Tbl o Cott

Introduction:Stoies Fom the Font Lines o the Zeo Waste Movement ................................. 2

Pune, India: Waste Pices Lead the Way to Zeo Waste .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

San Francisco, USA: Ceating a Cultue o Zeo Waste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Alaminos, Philippines: Zeo Waste, om Deam to reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 2

Hernani, Spain: Doo-to-Doo Collection as a Stategy to reduce Waste Disposal .................... 30

La Pintana, Chile: Pioitizing the recovey o Vegetable Waste .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 8

Mumbai, India: Waste Pice-run Biogas Plants as a Decentalized Solution .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Flanders, Belgium: Euopes Best recycling and Pevention Pogam . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Taiwan: Community Action Leads Govenment towad Zeo Waste .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Buenos Aires City, Argentina: Including Gassoots recycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82


6/882 | ON THE rOAD TO ZErO WASTE: SUCCESSES AND LESSONS FrOM ArOUND THE WOrLD

InTROdUCTIOn

Stoies Fom the Font Lineso the Zeo Waste Movement

Zeo waste is both a goal and a plan o action. The goal isto ensue esouce ecovey and potect scace natual

esouces by ending waste disposal in incineatos,

dumps, and landflls. The plan encompasses waste

eduction, composting, ecycling and euse, changes

in consumption habits, and industial edesign. But

just as impotantly, zeo waste is a evolution in the

elationship between waste and people. It is a new

way o thining that aims to saeguad the health and

impove the lives o eveyone who poduces, handles,wos with, o is aected by wastein othe wods,

all o us.

Zeo waste stategies help societies to poduce and

consume goods while especting ecological limits

and the ights o communities; they ensue that

all discaded mateials ae saely and sustainably

etuned to natue o manuactuing. In a zeo waste

appoach, waste management is not let only to

politicians and technical expets; athe, eveyone

impactedom esidents o wealthy neighbohoods

to the public, pivate, and inomal secto woes who

handle wastehas a voice.

Pacticing zeo waste means moving towad a

wold in which all mateials ae used to thei utmost

potential, and the needs o peoplewoes andcommunitiesae integated into a system that also

potects the envionment while ensuing that nothing

goes to waste. It is much lie establishing zeo deectgoals o manuactuing, o zeo injuy goals in the

woplace. Zeo waste is ambitious, but it is neithe

unachieveable no pat o some a-o utue. In small

towns and big cities, in communities ich and poo, in

the global Noth and South, innovative plans in place

today ae maing eal pogess towad the goal o

zeo waste.

Throughincentivesandextensivepublicout-each, San Fancisco has educed its waste

to landfll by 77 pecentthe highest divesion

ate in the United Statesand is on tac to

each 90 pecent by 2020.

A door-to-door collection service operated

by a coopeative o almost 2,000 gassoots

ecycles in Pune, India, has been integated

into the citys waste management system and

divets enough waste to avoid 640,000 tons

o geenhouse gas emissions annually.

Aggressivestandardsandincentivesforboth

individuals and businesses in the Flandes

egion o Belgium have achieved 73 pecent

divesion o esidential waste, the highest e-

gional ate in Euope.

InTaiwan, community opposition to incinera-


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l l n ti I n ci n r t r l li n c

tion pushed the govenment to adopt goals

and pogams o waste pevention and ecy-

cling that wee so successul that the quantity

o waste deceased signifcantly even as the

population inceased and the economy gew.

Ananti-incineratormovementin theSpanish

povince o Gipuzoa led to the adoption o a

doo-to-doo waste collection sevice in sev-

eal small cities that has educed the amount

o waste going to landflls by 80 pecent.

In Alaminos,Philippines, a participatory, bot-

tom-up appoach poved that communitieshave the ability to solve thei own waste man-

agement poblems.

InMumbai,India,andLaPintana,Chile,afo-

cus on oganics has poduced eal value om

thei lagest and most poblematic potion o

municipal waste.

In Buenos Aires, by organizing into coop-

eatives and taing collective political action,

gassoots ecycles called cartoneros have

gotten the city to adopt sepaation o waste at

souce, an essential step towad its goal o 75

pecent divesion by 2017.

The stoies o these communities and othes ae

detailed in this epot. While ew locations ae bingingtogethe all the elements o a compehensive zeo

waste plan, many have in common a philosophy diven

by ou coe stategies:

sttig nw dirctio awy FromWt dipol

Open dumps, landflls, and incineatos (including

so-called waste-to-enegy schemes) ae pat o ashotsighted and outmoded way o thining that views

waste disposal as cheap because tue costs ae not

taen into account. The costs o pollution, esouce

depletion, climate change, health poblems, and human

sueing ae extenalized onto the envionment and

people, including utue geneations.

Zeo waste moves societies away om waste

disposal by setting goals and taget dates to educe

waste going to landflls, abolishing waste incineation,

establishing o aising landfll ees, shiting subsidies

away om waste disposal and into discad ecovey,

and banning disposable poducts, among othe

inteventions. These policies ae stongest when they

incentivize community paticipation and incopoate

the inteests o waste woes.

supportig Compriv Ru,Rcyclig, Orgic TrtmtProgrm

Zeo waste equies a system o sae and efcient

ecovey o mateials so that the discads that ae

inevitably poduced ae etuned to natue o to

manuactuing. Such a system opeates though

sepaating waste at its souce in ode to euse, epai,

and ecycle inoganic mateials, and compost o digest

oganic mateials.

Oten, sepaate collection and pocessing o oganics

is the ey complement to existing ecycling eots.

Sepaate oganics collection ensues a steam o

clean, high-quality mateial which in tun enables the

ceation o useul poducts (compost and biogas)om the lagest action o municipal waste. It also

impoves the ecycling ate because the mateials

emain ee o contamination.

eggig Commuiti

Zeo waste elies on democacy and stong

community action to detemine the diection o waste

management pogams. Citizens need to be pato the vey design o the plan, and a lengthy initial

consultation pocess can pay o with bette design



and highe paticipation ates. residents must actively

paticipate in the pogams by consuming sustainably,

minimizing waste, sepaating discads, and composting

at home. They should also be active in monitoing the

implementation o the pogams in thei community.

A successul zeo waste pogam must also be an

inclusive one. Inclusive zeo waste systems mae

sue that esouce ecovey pogams include and

espect the community and all social actos involved

in esouce consevation, especially inomal ecycles

whose livelihoods depend on discaded mateials. The

woes who handle waste should be ully integated

into the design, implementation, and monitoingpocesses, as it is the application o thei sills and

eots which ultimately mae the system unction.

A successul zeo waste system will pioitize waste

woes saety and well-being and ensue that thei

inteests ae aligned with pogammatic success. In

some communities, whee waste woes come om

histoically excluded populations, this may equie

ending long-standing disciminatoy pactices.

digig or t Futur

Once communities begin to put zeo waste pactices

in place, new oppotunities emege. The esidual

actionthat which is let ove because it is eithe

too toxic to be saely ecycled o is made out o

non-ecyclable mateialsbecomes evident, and

industial design mistaes and inefciencies can bestudied and coected. Zeo waste institutes can help

businesses and manuactues establish cleane and

moe sustainable poduction pocesses and poducts

even as govenment policies push them to do so. Zeo

waste goes beyond ecycling pogams and pioitizes

the edesign o poducts. I it cannot be eused,

composted, o ecycled, it just should not be poducedin the fst place.

Specifcally, zeo waste emphasizes efcient use

o esouces; sae manuactuing and ecycling

pocesses to potect woes; poduct duability; and

design o disassembly, epai, and ecycling. Extended

Poduce responsibility, clean poduction, educing o

substituting toxic mateials, educing pacaging, and

envionmentally peeable puchasing ae impotantstategies.

The communities discussed in these case studies,

and many othes aound the wold, ae enjoying

signifcant envionmental, climatic, social, economic,

and sanitation benefts om thei adoption o vaious

elements o zeo waste. Evey community is dieent,

and no two zeo waste pogams will be identical.

The vaiety o appoaches pofled is indicative o the

divese appoaches that all lead towads the same

goal. Although some o these systems also cuently

include elements which ae incompatible with zeo

waste, such as incineation, the positive elements

oe a oundation on which to build compehensive

zeo waste systems. Fo now, these communities oe

enlightening examples o how the vaious elements

unction in the eal wold, in a wide vaiety o economic,cultual and political contexts. We can all lean om

thei eots.


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l l n ti I n ci n r t r l li n c



PUne, IndIa

Waste Pices Lead the Wayto Zeo WasteBy Neil Tangri

Ovr t lt 20 yr,Punes waste pickers1 have created

a remarkable transormation in their citys municipal waste

management system and in their own lives. These inormalsector collectors o recyclable materials ormed a union to

protect their rights and bring dignity to their work. The union

has been so successul that it has allowed them to implement

door-to-door collection, source separation, and separate

treatment or organics, all while improving waste picker

livelihoods and working conditions. Now, the waste pickers

own cooperative is pioneering a wider-reaching and morerigorous zero waste program.

Rally or dignity. (photo: Amit Thavaaj kkPkP/SWaCH)

PUne

Maharashtra State, India

Area: 700 km2

Population: 3,115,431

Population density: 4451/km2

Average annual rainall: 2,751 mm

Altitude: 560 meters above sea level

Average temperature range: 11C to 37C

Waste generation: 0.3 kg/capita/day

Avoided costs to city: US $2.8 million per year


11/88PUNE, INDIA | 7

l l n t i In ci n r t r l li n c

Lie most Indian cities, Pune has long had an inomal

waste management system opeating in paallel with

an ovebudened municipal system. residents wee

obliged to place thei waste in oadside containes

made o steel (also called dumpstes o sips)eachcapable o holding seveal cubic metes o waste

which wee supposed to be emptied daily. In pactice,

the city only emptied about 40 pecent o them each

day, tanspoting the waste to the dump. As a esult,

oveowing containes was a common complaint o

esidents.

The containes did povide a livelihood o waste

pices, who would loo though them o ecyclablemateials, which they bundled and sold to middlemen

(kabariwalas). Howeve, some o the moe valuable

mateial neve made it to the oadside bin because

house-maids o secuity guads would lay claim to

it and sell it to itineant scap buyes. Othe waste

pices woed at the landfll. Unde the most noxious

conditions, they ecoveed ecyclables om what the

city dumped thee. All o this mateial was soted,

cleaned, and sold to industy, though a seies o

middlemen, o eventual ecycling.

In Pune, 92 pecent o waste pices ae women,

almost all om the lowest, o Dalit , caste. Thity pecent

ae widowed o deseted, and anothe 50 pecent ae

the pimay beadwinnes o thei amilies. Beoe the

union, they moved mostly on oot, coveing a distance

o up to 12 m pe day with headloads o up to 40g. Some taveled by tain o tuc to the villages and

industial aeas aound the city. They let thei homes

at sunise and etuned at sunset ate woing a 10

hou day. The aveage daily eaning was 60 (US

$1.12).

The occupation was extemely hazadous. Foced to use

bae hands to ummage though puteying gabage

containing glass shads, medical waste, dead animals,

toxic chemicals, and heavy metals, waste pices

collected bits o eusable, epaiable, and maetable

mateials. Many sustained epeated injuies, illnesses,

and diseases as a esult o thei wo. Tubeculosis,

scabies, asthma, espiatoy inections, cuts, animal

bites, and othe injuies wee common.

Othe potential danges in the citys dumps included

injuy om alling itemso even avalanchesin the

mountains o waste, o being hit by moving vehicles

when scambling to get to the mateials being dumped.

In addition, thee wee equent squabbles between

Mangal Gaikwad lives

in a slum in Aundh,

Pune. The dierence

that her involvementin doorstep collection

and in the Union made

to her lie is presented

in her own words. Today I earn 3000 [US

$56]2 rom doorstep collection and the sale o

scrap. The residents in the area who used to

rown at me while I was at the garbage bin, now

know my name and greet me. A resident gave

me a second hand bicycle. I had never ridden

one beore. Today, I ride to work on that cycle.

When I was a child I used to envy the children

who went to school with their bags and water

bottles while I had to go wastepicking. Since

my work day is shorter now I was able to attend

the literacy class in my slum. I am now literate.

I am the Treasurer o the credit cooperative

and the representative or my slum. I used to

be terrifed o my abusive alcoholic husband.

Twice I sent him to a deaddiction centre. He

stopped or a while but continues to drink. I

am no longer terrifed o him. I do not give him

money to drink. I have bought a bigger house

or 65,000 [US $1200] rom my savings and

a loan I took rom the credit cooperative.



waste pices ove teitoy, and they had to compete

om the bottom o a hieachy o domestic woes,

sweepes, and othes who had fst claim to any

mateials o value. Witout rigt to t grbg

ty liv o, t liv livlioo o wtpickr wr vry icur.

As bad as the physical conditions o wo wee the

social conditions. Without any ight to the gabage

they sited, waste pices wee oten accused o

thet. They equently had to pay bibes to police and

municipal woes; they wee vulneable to sexual

assault; they wee viewed with distaste, o wose, by

most o the est o society; thei childen wee eusedadmission in schools; etc. Nevetheless, they peeed

waste picing to constuction o domestic wothe

othe pincipal occupations open to thembecause it

aoded geate independence, exibility, and elative

eedom om the eudal and oten sexually exploitative

elationships pevalent in those felds.

a Wt Pickr Uio

In 1993, with the encouagement o activists

associated with a local univesity, some 800 waste

pices attended a citywide convention to give voice to

thei gievances. They esolved to engage in collective,

nonviolent stuggle to impove thei conditions; thus

was bon kagad kach Pata kashtaai Panchayat

(kkPkP), the fst waste pices union in India. From

t bgiig, t uio w tbli wit

lrgr gol o gtig or ocil jutic,

git ocil, coomic, culturl, politicl

xcluio. In paticula, it has a stong ocus on caste,

class, and gende issues.

kkPkPs membeship apidly gew to include 6,400

o the 7,000 waste pices in Pune as it tacled a

numbe o issues o concen to its membes. One o

thei fst victoies was to conont police ofces who

had taen bibes and sexually popositioned wastepices. Faced with seveal thousand waste pices

who wee stating to gane the suppot o politicians

wanting thei votesthe police baced down and

etuned the money taen. The success o this

expeience encouaged kkPkP to tacle even moe

issues. In 1995-96, they won ofcial ecognition om

city govenment, which issued them identity cads

something that in pactice potected them om police

haassment but was also a tangible epesentation othei impoving status in society.

In 1997, kkPkP ceated a cedit coopeative with

the paticipation o ove 2,000 membes; this eed

the waste pices om thei dependency on usuious

moneylendes. aotr crucil milto w

civ i 2003, w t muiciplity took

t uuul tp o pyig lt iurc

prmium or KKPKP mmbr i rcogitio o

tir cil viromtl cotributio

to t cityt ormr clcult t 3 millio

(Us $3.85 millio) pr yr.

KKPKP meeting. (photo: Amit Thavaaj) kkPkP/SWaCH

Until now we were counted among the animals;

Baba Adhav [one o the KKPKP organizers]

has brought us to sit here as humans. Hirabai Shinde, KKPKP member




kkPkP ealized ealy on that changes in the waste

management system could delive impotant benefts

to waste pices. I esidents sepaated thei waste at

souce and waste pices etieved it om individual

homes though doo-to-doo collection, both wouldbeneft: esidents would have a convenience sevice

while waste pices would spend less time soting waste

and ecove a highe pecentage o saleable mateials

(since coss-contamination educes the quality and

amount o ecyclable mateials). Howeve, getting

esidents to souce sepaate thei waste also ceated

oppotunities o middlemen and pivate companies to

step in and claim those ecyclables. When the Pune

Municipal Copoation (PMC) consideed handingthe entie waste collection pocess ove to a pivate

company, kkPkP was compelled to act to pevent its

membes om being completely displaced.

From scvgr to srvicProvirsWCh Oprtio

Fo seveal yeas, kkPkP encouaged its membes

to establish doo-to-doo collection outines; many

did so, and beneftted om the small sevice ees

esidents would pay as well as access to cleane,

bette-sepaated ecyclables. In 2008, kkPkP omed

a coopeative, Solid Waste Collection and Handling

(SWaCH),3 to egulaize and expand this pactice. Its

aims ae to guaantee membes access to ecyclable

mateial, to impove thei woing conditions and

eanings, and to tansom the status o the occupationom scavenging to sevice povision.

a o My 2012, sWCh pproximtly

2,000 mmbr wr proviig oor-to-oor

collctio or mor t 330,000 ouol,

or 47 prct o t city, i bot ititutiol

cmpu i oriry igboroo, on a

contact basis. Its coveage continues to expand as

moe esidents sign up o its sevices.

The uniomed co-op membes geneally use a

pushcat to collect waste om each house.4 residents

ae supposed to souce sepaate thei waste, but

compliance is modest: about 30 pecent do igoous

wet/dy sepaation, and anothe 60 pecent sot out

some ecyclables but mix othe dy waste with the

oganics. The waste pices do a seconday sot o

dy waste, using the 19 soting sheds povided by

the PMC to pull out ecyclable mateial om the

non-ecyclable. The sheds ae citical o eeping the

women and waste shelteed om the weathe.

The membes then sell thei ecyclables eithe to pivate

scap deales o to one o kkPkPs own scap shops,

whee they ae assued o ai pices. Non-ecyclable

dy waste is put in oadside containes which ae

collected by the municipality; but because o highe

ecovey ates, ewe containes ae needed thanbeoe SWaCHin its fst two yeas, the municipality

was able to tae 64 o them o the steets.

The tansition om waste pice to sevice povide

has not been easy. It has equied new attitudes and

behavios om both waste pices and esidents;

but these changes have been mutually einocing.

The waste pices have had to lean to be punctual,

egula, and codial in thei wo, and to poessionalize

thei appeaance. The esidents have leaned to teat

them as woes and human beings. This change in

SWaCH members collecting waste. (photo: Maiel Vilella)



the waste pices social status and sel-peception is

one o the most damatic esults o thei oganizing.

Tcklig Orgic or tPublic Goo

Taditionally, waste pices have not been inteested in

oganics (i.e., wet waste), as it had little commecial

value. But oganic waste is a majo pollution issue:

when buied in landflls, it geneates toxic leachate,

bad odos, and methanewhich can cause landfll

fes. And since it compises moe than 70 pecent o

Punes waste steam, no waste management system

can claim to be complete without tacling oganic

mateial. SWaCH has begun to pioitize pope

oganics management, but seveal othe entities

public and pivateae also pocessing oganic

waste, and not all the appoaches ae successul o

compatible.

Pune has 15 biogas plants which pocess about 75

tons pe day (tpd) o oganics. The methane poduced

is buned in a geneato to powe steet lights. This

is widely consideed the best teatment o oganic

waste, since it not only avoids the majo poblems

associated with oganics but also poduces enegy,

and has minimal bypoducts; even the sluy is usable

as compost.

But the biogas plants ae vey sensitive to the

intoduction o plastic o had-to-degade waste

(including coconut shells, mango seeds and othe

woody oganic matte), which equently plug up the

plants and tae them out o opeation. So the biogas

plants limit thei intae to mostly souce-sepaated

oganic mateial om estauants, which is elativelyclean. Only one plant accepts oganics om SWaCH,

which stuggles to get esidents to ully souce

sepaate thei waste.

Some o the oganics that SWaCH collects om

households go to centalized composting opeations:

Disha, a local NGO, opeates one lage (100 tpd)

composting plant, and the municipality opeates a

ew smalle ones. Again, contamination is a poblem;although composting can toleate highe levels o

contamination than biogas, the esulting compost is

o poo quality.

Most o the citys oganics ae not eectively sepaated

and end up in mixed waste at a commecial acility

whee they ae pocessed into two dieent poducts:

low-gade compost and euse deived uel (pellets).

Both ae signifcantly contaminated with plastics and

othe toxins lie mecuy om lightbulbs, batteies,

etc. These contaminants ae eleased, and some new

ones ae ceated, when the pellets ae buned.

In some communities, SWaCH oes a moe

envionmentally sound altenative. Its philosophy

is to deal with the oganics as close to the point

o geneation as possible. SWaCH membes, inaddition to poviding doo-to-doo collection, opeate

composting acilities at 40 apatment buildings and

institutional campuses. These oten tae the om o

simple compost pits, but some ae moe elaboate,

with ginding machines and bacteia additives that

speed up the composting pocess. SWaCH membes

only opeate the acility; the esulting compost is

owned and used by the community o institutions that

geneate the oganic waste. sic rit c

wr tir orgic r big compot,

sWCh mmbr clig t

Composting operations on the Pune University campus.(photo: Maiel Vilella)




orgic, ty r r mor rigorou i tir

ourc prtiowic rult i bttr

qulity compot. Apatment buildings opeating

on-site compost pits eceive a fve pecent ebate on

thei eal estate taxes, which a exceeds the cost oemploying SWaCH membes to maintain the compost

pits.

Although on-site composting has the potential to

solve the oganics poblem, the pogam is theatened

by the intoduction o bun technologies. In addition to

the existing euse deived uel plant, the municipality

has signed a contact to delive 700 tpd to a new

gasifcation plant. Since the company building theplant has no tac ecod and Pune does not geneate

sufcient waste to supply the plant, the implications o

this contact ae unclea.

Tbl 1. SWaCH Waste Management (tpd)

dry Wt Totl

SWaCH collects 180 420 600

For recycling 90 90

For compost and biogas 123 123

For disposal 90 297 387

Diversion % 50 29 36

Tbl 2. Oganics Teatment in Pune (tpd)

SWaCH-opeated compost acilities 2.5Disha compost acility 100

Othe composting acilities 5

Biogas 75

reuse-deived uel 1000

Note: Not all o these oganics ae collected by SWaCH.Souce: Pesonal communication, Apana Susala, SWaCH.

sWCh Mmbr Icom Orgiztiol Fic

SWaCH membes ean most o thei income om two

souces: the sale o ecyclables and the sevice ee

paid by esidents. Some may supplement thei income

with othe wo, such as steet sweeping, but waste

wo is geneally peeed as it is moe lucative.Incomes vay signifcantly, depending on the oute,

among othe actos: wealthie neighbohoods tend

to geneate moe saleable ecyclables and also pay

a highe sevice ee; but they ae also moe spead

out, which inceases tanspotation time and costs.

Households pay a monthly ee, between 10 (US

$.19) and 30 (US $.56) (highe in wealthy aeas)o the doo-to-doo collection sevice; those who do

not pay ae cut o. Institutions and housing societies

pay SWaCH, which then passes the money on to

membes. Pivate households oten pay the waste

pices diectly.

SWaCH taes fve pecent o the sevice ees as

an administative ee, which goes into building an

opeational eseve. In addition, SWaCH eceivesfnancial suppot om the PMC, which allows it to

pay poessional salaies and suppot positions that

bing added value to the wo, o example by doing

extensive data collection.

SWaCH membes geneally ean between 4,500 (US

$84) and 6,000 (US $112) pe month, with moe

than hal coming om the sale o thei ecyclables

and the est om collection ees; this is two o thee

times what most waste pices eaned beoe SWaCH.

In addition, they oten get othe pequisites om the

households they sevice: secondhand clothing, ood,

and access to wate and toilets; SWaCH povides

health insuance and some educational benefts, such

as school boos o thei childen.

Wb o accoutbility

SWaCH opeates within, and is successul because

o, a web o elationships that povide accountability

to the majo staeholdes in waste management. As

a mass movement that can bing thousands o waste

pices, and sometimes othe allied goups, into the

steets, kkPkP has the ability to put pessue on local

legislatos who in tun can pessue the PMC. But

SWaCH also has to maintain a egula, dependable

sevice o ace the ie o local esidents, who have thei

own political inuence and ultimately pay the taxes



on which the PMC depends. Ovr t yr, t

wt pickr t muicipl govrmt

v vlop trog workig rltioip;

but it umtlly rt o bot sWCh

proviio o qulity wt collctio rvic

wll KKPKP bility to pply prur

troug lrg trt prott mi

covrg.

The PMC subsidizes SWaCHboth diectly and by

poviding equipmentbut also taes the heat i thee

ae poblems. This system o checs and balances

is not static; it is egulaly tested and constantly

execised. Ultimately, the woing aangement with

the PMC is essential o the unctioning o SWaCHs

entie pogam.

Furtr Growt

SWaCH and kkPkP continue to gow and expeiment

with new appoaches. In May 2012, SWaCH launched

a zeo waste pogam that encompasses seveal

neighbohoods in an attempt to bing disposal ates

as low as possible. The ey will be esidents tuly

complying with souce sepaation mandates. This

will damatically educe the disposal ate by divetingoganics, and will geneate a clean steam o oganic

mateials o composting and biogas. SWaCH

membes will need to educate esidents and enoce

the souce sepaation ules.

Anothe goal is to incease coveage and integation

o waste pices into SWaCH. Cuently, less than athid o the citys waste pices ae SWaCH membes;

some continue to do doo-to-doo collection on thei

own, without the SWaCH umbella, and ae eluctant

to contibute fve pecent o thei income to SWaCH.

And thee ae many neighbohoodswhee neithe

SWaCH no independent collectos opeatethat still

need doo-to-doo collection and souce sepaation.

Towr Icluiv Zro Wt

Ove 20 yeas o oganizing, kkPkP and SWaCH

have achieved emaable accomplishments. Waste

pice incomes have isen om appoximately 60

(US $1.12) to 150 (US $2.80) pe day. One o the

citys most maginalized and vulneable populations

has become integated into society. residents have

benefted om impoved waste management sevices

at lowe costs. The cuent pogam saves the city an

estimated US $2.8 million pe yea.5 Bette teatment o

oganics educes emissions o methane, an impotant

geenhouse gas. Highe ecycling ates tanslate to

enegy savings, educed climate impact, and less

pessue on natual esouces such as oests.

SWaCH representative talking with waste pickers. (photo:Amit Thavaaj) kkPkP/SWaCH

A KKPKP Scrap Shop. (photo: WIEGO)




As SWaCH gows, the quantity o waste needing

disposal will continue to all. This will mean ewe

waste containes in the steets, lowe disposal ees,

and less waste being bunedall o which will add up to

envionmental impovements and lowe expenditues

o the city.

sourc:

Chiamane and Naayan, Oganising the

Unoganised: A Case Study o the kagad kach

Pata kashtaai Panchayat (Tade Union o Waste-

pices), WIEGO 2005.

Chiamane et al., Study O Scap Collectos,

Scap Tades And recycling Entepises In Pune,

Intenational Labou Oganisation, 2001.

Cushing, Waste-to-enegy o Wasted Oppotunity?

Inomal secto ecycling o climate change

mitigation in India, Mastes Thesis, Enegy and

resouces Goup, Univesity o Calionia at

Beeley, 2010.

Inteview, Malati Gadgil, CEO o SWaCH, 29 Apil

2012.

Scheinbeg et al., Economic Aspects o Inomal

Secto Activities In Solid Waste Management, GTZ

2010.

eot:

1 Waste pice is the tem used in English by the

kkPkP to ee to those woes in the inomal

economy who ecove ecyclable mateials omtash. A vaiety o tems ae used in dieent

languages and locations aound the wold.

2 US dolla fgues ae based on exchange ate o

US $1 = 53.635 as o 12 May 2012.

3 SWaCH means clean in Maathi. In addition

to its opeations in Pune, SWaCH has a contact

with the neighboing municipality o Pimpi-

Chinchwad. The opeations ae athe dieent,howeve, and this case study ocuses on

SWaCHs Pune pogam.

4 In neighboing Pimpi-Chinchwad, whee SWaCH

also opeates, the coopeative opeates small

tucs to collect the waste.

5 Scheinbeg estimates avoided collection and

disposal costs at 2.2 million pe yea; PMC

pays SWaCH about 400,000 pe month. Not

included ae additional PMC expenses, such

as the povision o potective gea to SWaCH

membes.



s Frcico tbli itl as a global leade

in waste management. The city has achieved 77 pecent

waste divesion, the highest in the United States, with a thee-

ponged appoach: enacting stong waste eduction legislation,

patneing with a lie-minded waste management company to

innovate new pogams, and woing to ceate a cultue o

ecycling and composting though incentives and outeach.

san FRanCIsCO, Usa

Ceating a Cultue o Zeo WasteBy Virali Gokaldas

Advertisement or composting on a San Francisco bus. (photo: Lay Stong, coutesy recology)

san FRanCIsCO

State o Caliornia

Population: 805,235

Area: 121 km2

Population density: 6,633/km2

Average annual rainall: 518.16 mm


Altitude: 16 meters above sea levelWaste diversion rate: 77%



19/88SAN FrANCISCO, USA | 15

l l n t i In ci n r t r l l i n c

The City and County o San Fancisco is small oa majo metopolitan aea: only 127 m2 houses

805,235 esidents and hosts 1.3 million daytime

woes. The population is highly divese, and 1 in 2

esidents do not spea English at home. About hal

o esidents live in small multi-amily dwellings, with a

thid owning thei homes.

The citys waste is egulated pimaily by the San

Fancisco Depatment o Public Wos and Public

Health. The Depatment o Envionment (SFE) is

esponsible o eaching the citys zeo waste goals.

SFE wos closely with recology, the pivate waste

management patne with a union wooce that

collects, ecycles, and disposes o all commecial and

esidential waste in the city. SFEs Zeo Waste team

ocuses on outeach, implementation o city-mandated

ecycling pogams in sectos, and advancing wasteeduction policy at the local and state level.

Builig upo Lgiltiv succSan Fanciscos zeo waste jouney began with

enactment o a state law in 1989, the Integated

Waste Management Act. The law equied cities and

counties to divet 25 pecent o municipal solid waste

by 1995 and 50 pecent by 2000. Ove the last two

decades, San Fancisco built upon this equiement by

passing seveal successive odinances that tageted

additional aeas o the waste steam.

I 2002, t city t mbitiou gol to

civ zro wt to ipol by 2020. Since

then, legislation has pushed the city, esidents, and

businesses to incease thei ecycling ates. These

waste eduction laws include the Constuction and

Demolition Debis recovey Odinance o 2006 and

the Food Sevice Waste reduction Odinance o

2007, which equies estauants to use compostableo ecyclable tae-out containes. I 2009, tr

rit bui bcm ccutom

Figur 1. San Fancisco Waste Legislation and Divesion rates

Souce: Adapted om San Fancisco Planning and Uban reseach Association, 2010.

2009

SF adoptsmandatoryrecycling andcomposting

2010

Plastic BagReductionOrdiancePassed

2007

Food ServiceWaste ReductionOrdinance Passed

2007

Food ServiceWaste ReductionOrdinance Passed

2006Constructionand DemolitionDebris RecoveryOrdinance Passed

2002SF Board oSupervisorsadopt 75%wastediversiongoal by2012

2001SF adoptscity-widecompostcolection



to volutry compotig, s Frcico p

lmrk lw tt mandated rcyclig

compotig or ll rit bui.

Most ecently, the city passed an odinance equiing

all etail stoes to povide compostable, ecycled,

o ecyclable bags stating Octobe 2012. All o

these laws have been timed so that the necessay

inastuctue is available, and paticipants ae given

suppot, tools, and education. The legislation also

empowes SFE to oll out pogams to evey home

and business and enoce ules as needed.

One eason o the continued engagement on zeo

waste is a citizen base that demands a politicalcommitment to envionmental sustainability. San

Fancisco has activated and empoweed civic leades,

including advocates om the envionmental feld. Fo

example, the Commission on the Envionment, a seven-

membe goup that advises the Boad o Supevisos,

includes an envionmental attoney and eco-educato.

This goup highlights cutting-edge eseach on

envionmental issues, and speaheads esolutions and

odinances that then go on to the mayo and Boad o

Supevisos o a vote. The Boad o Supevisos, in

tun, eects the envionmental ethics o its esidents

and egulaly appoves envionmental legislation.

Anothe dive o passing these waste eduction

laws is the cost associated with landflling at the

Altamont Landfll in Livemoe, 82 m away, wheeSan Fancisco hauls its waste daily. The city, which

does not own its own landfll, contacted with Waste

Management o capacity at Altamont in 1987. The

contact allows o 65 yeas o capacity o 15 million

tons o capacity, whicheve aives fst. At a ate o

1,800 tons daily, the city expects to hit its capacity

limit by 2015 o, based on newe divesion fgues,

by 2016. In anticipation, San Fancisco just awaded

its next waste disposal contact to recology, at a newlandfll in Yuba County, unde simila tems: 10 yeas

o fve million tons o capacity, whicheve comes fst.

Hence, inceased divesion and hitting zeo waste

goals will continue to ceate eal savings in landfll

costs.

Prtrig wit Locl CompyYil Ivtiv Progrm

Along with laws obliging esidents and businesses to

educe thei waste and souce sepaate, San Fancisco

has developed a obust collection and picing

scheme with its waste-hauling patne, recology,

to complement these eots. The elationship with

recology dates bac to the ealy 1900s when waste

collection was an inomal secto activity. Following

the eathquae in 1906, the waste pices ceatedloose edeations to compete bette. Two companies

emeged in the 1920s: Scavenges Potective

Association and Sunset Scavenge Company. At the

same time, the city began egulating the industy

and awaded these two companies exclusive euse

collection licenses in 1932. Each company developed

unique and complementay expetiseone in densely

paced downtown San Fancisco, and the othe

in outlying esidential disticts. These companies

eventually meged to om recology, now the sole

waste collecto in San Fancisco.

San Francisco waste pickers in the early 1900s.(photo: coutesy recology)




Ove time, the city and recology have developed

a symbiotic elationship. San Fancisco conducts

ovesight, policy development, outeach, and eseach

on technology and best pactices, while recology

ceates, tests, and uns inastuctue to collect andpocess tash, ecyclables, and compostables. Even

though the company has an exclusive ight to collect

unde the 1932 Odinance, and thee is no contact,

San Fancisco maintains inuence ove recologys

activities pimaily though a ate-setting pocess

that occus evey fve yeas. The city also meets with

recology weely to discuss any outstanding issues

and next steps o pogams.

One outcome o this collaboation is San Fanciscos

cuent ecycling system, the Fantastic 3. strt

i 1999, t Fttic 3 progrm u blck,

blu, gr crt or tr, rcyclig,

compotig, rpctivly. Fully olled out in 2003,

businesses and esidences segegate waste at the

souce, and double-chambeed bac-loading tucs

pic up the tash and ecycling bins. Smalle side-

loading tucs pic up compostables. The Fantastic 3

pogam was one o the fst in the United States to

scale up collection and composting o biodegadable

waste.

Grbg rcyclig collctio rt

r tructur to ictiviz rcyclig

compotig o both recology and its customes.

All customes pay a minimum collection sevice ee torecology, plus additional ees based on the volume o

gabage they ceate. Fo esidents, recology povides

ecycling and composting sevices at no additional

cost. Fo businesses, these sevices ae discounted

up to 75 pecent o tash sevices to encouage

businesses to cut down on the moe expensive

gabage ee. With this stategy, recology pofts in

two ways: fst it etains the evenue it eceives om

ecycling and composting sevices, as well as fnal

sale o ecyclables and compost; second, it eceives

up to a US $2 million bonus based on exceeding

company-wide divesion goals and educing city-

wide disposal. To help meet goals and incease the

value o diveted mateials, the company has invested

heavily in ecycling inastuctue, including mixed-

ecyclables mateials ecovey acilities (MrF) andseveal egional composting sites. Notably, it has also

developed a maet o compost that goes to local

ams and gadenes, theeby impoving its own etun

and closing the loop.

Also notewothy is that San Fancisco has a thiving

inomal ecycling secto, thans to the statewide

bottle bill that places a 5 o 10 cent value on glass

and plastic bottles and ove 20 ecycling centes in thecity whee esidents o collectos can edeem them.

The city has a small population o people who mae a

living collecting cadboad, metal, and e-waste which

have highe value maets because o envionmentally

peeable puchasing ules o state agencies, state

laws equiing post-consume ecycled content, and

access to obust domestic and intenational maets.

Composting poster or an apartment building.



sitig to Cultur o Zro Wt

T city o s Frcico b xtrmly

uccul i ltrig t mi, bit,

cultur o it citiz to ccpt t gol o zro

wt. In the US, this is no easy eat, especially given

negative peceptions elated to ood scaps and wet

waste in geneal. In Mach 2012, the city maed its

millionth ton o oganic waste tuned into compost.

Milestones and metics lie these have been essential

to ceating the stoy o zeo waste.

The citys Zeo Waste division is compised o 11

employees, assigned to dieent waste segments. The

pogam has one manage, ou expets in commecial

waste, thee in esidential waste, and thee ocused

on the city govenment (see chat below). In addition,

thee ae seveal people ocused on toxics eduction

in a dieent pogam, as well as a sepaate Outeachdivision. These 11 positions ae esponsible o all

stategies, pogams, policies, and incentives to each

zeo waste.

Fo the commecial secto, one position is ocused

on constuction and demolition waste, woing

with buildes and contactos to deconstuct and

ecycle building mateials at recologys MrF in San

Fancisco. Two positions wo to help companies ullyadopt the Fantastic 3 pogam and ensue they ae in

compliance with San Fanciscos mandatoy ecycling

and composting law. Out o 18,000 to 20,000

commrcil ccout, pproximtly 80 prct

o compi wr prtig tir orgic by

2012; SFEs ocus is now the emaining 20 pecent.

The last commecial ole is ocused on policy initiatives

such as Extended Poduce responsibility, statewide

legislation, o ballot measues.

In the esidential secto, all buildings with ewe than

six units sepaate thei oganics o collection, as do

most o the lage-scale multi-amily dwellings (7,200

The blending pad at Jepson Prairie Organics, a moderncompost acility used by San Francisco. (photo: Lay Stong,coutesy o recology)

Another beneft o the longstanding

relationship with Recology is that the city and

company both value local hiring and well-

paying, union jobs. The agreement betweenRecology and the Port o San Francisco or

leasing land at Pier 96 includes a frst-source

hiring provision. This requires Recology to

fll entry-level jobs frst with San Franciscos

Workorce Development System, so that

these jobs go to economically disadvantaged

people rom the city. The jobs are well

paying, with a starting rate o US $20/

hour compared to the city minimum wage

o US $10.24/hour. The city also requires

that Recology provide health benefts or

workers. For its part, Recology prides itsel

on employee well-being and ownership;

employees bought out the company in 1986

and started an employee stock options plan.

Out o 2,500 employees, approximately

80% own shares in the company. Recology

drivers and recycling sorters are represented

by the Teamsters union.




o 9,000). The city is now ocusing on the emaining

1,800 buildings o six o moe units that may not be

composting, estimated to be 20 pecent o buildings

in San Fancisco. This includes public housing, single-

oom occupancy esidences, and ent-subsidized

buildings.

One goal is o city govenment, which poduces 15

pecent o the citys waste steam, to lead by example.

Fo this eason, thee people ae pimaily ocused on

govenment waste eduction and management. To help

educe waste, an online vitual waehouse acilitates

exchange o suplus supplies among city agencies. It

also aids the city in geen puchasing.

In addition to the small Zeo Waste team, thee ae

sepaate outeach pogams within SFE, employing

20 envionmental advocates. Most o these positions

come om Envionment Now, an annual geen job

taining pogam un by SFE. Paticipants in the

Envionment Now pogam come om all ove San

Fancisco, paticulaly undeseved communities o

colo. These city employees conduct outeach activities

on behal o all the pogams at SFE, including Enegy

Efciency, renewables, Toxics reduction, Clean Ai,

and Uban Foesty and Gadening. Because they

hail om these aeas themselves, the advocates ae

able to each taditionally had-to-each audiences

and impove community paticipation in envionmental

initiatives. Fo the Zeo Waste Pogam, outeach

occus ate pogam ollout, to help ceate ecycling

and composting habits once the inastuctue is in

place.

Pat o the success o SFE can be cedited to

consistent undingnot om the city, but diectly

om the ates paid o gabage collection. The oveall

budget o the Zeo Waste Pogam is appoximately

US $7 million annually. These unds come out o

an account recology pays into egulaly om its

collection evenues.

Futur Gol Zro Wt

San Fancisco landflled 15 pecent less in 2010 than

it did in 2009. Moe astounding, its disposal in 2010

was appoximately hal what it was in 2000. In 2010,

San Fanciscans each geneated 1.7 g o waste, 77

pecent o which was ecycled. The city estimates

that o the emaining 23 pecent anothe 75 pecent

is ecyclable, which would bing the ecycling ate

up to 90 pecent. The city is close to ensuing ull

Figur 2. San Fanciscos Depatment o Envionment Zeo Waste Division

Souce: San Fancisco Depatment o the Envionment.



adoption o the Fantastic 3 pogam; it has taen two

decades o a behavioal and cultual shit to occu

acoss the city. While SFE goes ate adoption by

the last 20 pecent o lage multi-amily dwellings

and businesses, it is also setting its sights on a new

plant to sot the gabage itsel. A low tempeatue,

mechanical/biological sepaation plant, possibly with

anaeobic digestion, would allow sotes to pull apat

bags o gabage and ecove smalle pats o the

waste steam. Ideally, this would be in place beoe

the zeo waste deadline o 2020.

Though a unique synthesis o egulation, a long-tem

patneship, and engaged outeach, San Fancisco is

ceating a model zeo waste pogam.

sourc:

Pess elease. City and County o San Fancisco.

August 30, 2010. http://www5.sgov.og/s_

news/2010/08/san-ancisco-achieves-77-landfll-

divesion-ate-the-highest-o-any-us-city.html.

Solid Waste Management in the Wolds Cities

Wate and Sanitation in the Wolds Cities. United

Nations Human Settlements Pogamme. 2010.

http://boos.google.com/boos?id=5BukI8Zeh-

wC&souce=gbs_navlins_s.

recology Websites.

a. www.scollectionates.com/oveview.php.

b. www.scollectionates.com/esidential_ates.php.c. www.ecology.com/pofle/histoy.htm.

d. www.ecologymedia.com/pess_oom/index.php.

San Fancisco Commission on the Envionment

Annual repot. 2011. http://spl.og/pd/libaies/

main/gic/annual-epots/envionment_2011.pd.

EPA 2012. http://zwbaintustdatabeta.wodpess.

com/lessons/san-ancisco/.

Inteview with robet Haley, Zeo Waste Manage at

San Fancisco Depatment o the Envionment. May

3, 2012.

M. Lomele. Lette to Depatment o Labo, Febuay

8, 2011. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pd/1210-AB32-

198.pd.

Ojea, Pauli. The Zeo Waste Economy in SF:

Building a Geene Moe Equitable Futue. SF

Depatment o the Envionment. 2012.

Recology truck with advertising. (photo: recology)




Phelan, Saah. Tash Tal San Fancisco Bay

Guadian. Mach 30, 2010. http://www.sbg.

com/2010/03/30/tash-tal?page=0,0.

No on A Website. http://eepSFgeen.com/?gclid=CIn

D9Pvm8k8CFaUZQgodnyV2Vw.

Phelan, Saah. Tale o Two Landflls. June 15, 2010.

http://www.sbg.com/2010/06/15/tale-two-landflls.

Ebelein, Sven. Whee No City Has Gone Beoe: San

Fancisco Will Be Wolds Fist Zeo-Waste Town by

2020. Altenet. Apil 18, 2012. http://www.altenet.

og/visions/155039/whee_no_city_has_gone_

beoe%3A_san_ancisco_will_be_wolds_fst_zeo-waste_town_by_2020.

Envionment Now website: http://www.senvionment.

og/aticle/building-a-geen-wooce-envionment-

now/about-envionment-now-0.

Tam, Laua. Towad Zeo Waste. San Fancisco

Planning and Uban reseach Association. Febuay

2010. http://www.spu.og/publications/libay/aticle/

towad_zeo_waste.

kielty, Alexa. San Fanciscos Food Composting

Pogam. SF Depatment o the Envionment. 2006.

BArT Ad o Compost. http://www.ic.com/photos/

anthonylibaian/2664296141/in/photosteam/.

Fey, David. The Uban Quest o Zeo Waste. Wall

Steet Jounal. Septembe 12, 2011. http://www.

ecologymedia.com/pess_oom/aticles/pd/2011/Uban_Quest_o_Zeo_Waste.pd.

Julie Byant, kevin Dew, robet Haley, and Jac Macy.

The Stoy o Zeo Waste. resouce recycling. August

2011. http://www.ecologymedia.com/pess_oom/

aticles/pd/2011/Stoy_o_Zeo_Waste.pd.

Calionians Against Waste. http://www.cawecycles.

og/.



almioi t t orrot o implementing the Philippines

decentalized waste management law. Though an NGO

patneship, village leadeship has established compehensivezeo waste stategies, including bacyad and village-level

composting, souce sepaation pogams, and small-scale

soting acilities. As a esult, open buning and dumping have

vitually ended, and inomal secto ecycles ae ecoveing

moe mateials, unde bette conditions, and selling them

o bette pices than beoe. All this was made possible by

a bottom-up planning pocess that bought togethe localofcials and staeholdes to geneate zeo waste plans at the

village level.

aLaMInOs, PhILIPPInes

Zeo Waste, om Deam to realityBy Anne Larracas

Eco-shed, composting garden, and collection vehicle o Barangay Sta. Maria, Alaminos. (photo: Anne Laacas)

aLaMInOs

Pangasinan province

Population: 84,000

Area: 166.23 km2

Population: 84,000

Population density: 505/km2

Average annual rainall: 2,751 mm

Altitude: 0-20 meters above sea level




27/88ALAMINOS, PHILIPPINES | 23

l l n ti I n ci n r t r l l i n c

Alaminos is home to the most popula touist

destination in the povince and the fst national

pa in the county, Hunded Islands National Pa.

Widely nown o its beautiul beaches and abundant

wildlie, the pa attacts moe than 160,000 visitosa yea and geneates hundeds o jobs and millions o

Philippine pesos in evenue o the city.

As with othe local govenment units (LGU) in the

county, Alaminos City is divided into barangays o

villages, o which thee ae 39. Each barangay is

headed by a publicly-elected council led by a Punong

Barangay o village chie. Among many things,

barangay leades paticipate in local planning andgovenance o the city and the barangay, and ae

in chage o passing and enocing laws, especially

those petaining to waste management.

Taditionally, the majoity o the waste poduced

in Alaminos has consisted o biodegadable o

compostable mateials but, as is typical o a ast-

developing city, non-biodegadable pacaging and

poducts have become a pat o eveyday lie. In ecent

yeas, the polieation and disposal o non-ecyclable

poducts have inceasingly become moe poblematic,

especially in Alaminos coastal aeas whee they

theaten maine lie and spoil the natual beauty o the

city. Touists to the Hunded Islands also contibute by

binging in and disposing o plastic pacaging.

Waste management in the Philippines is coveed by

a 2000 law populaly nown as republic Act 9003.

Beoe its passage, waste was managed almost

wholly by municipal govenments that typically would

haul mixed waste to a cental dumpsite. Unde thenew law, the public and all levels o govenment shae

esponsibility o managing waste, with the biggest

tassensuing segegation, composting, pope

collection and stoage, and building inastuctue

esting with barangayofcials.

Specifcally, rA 9003 stipulates that all LGUs

should have and implement a compehensive

solid waste management plan o the sae andsanitay management o solid waste geneated in

aeas unde its geogaphic and political coveage.

It lo mt t cotructio o

mtril rcovry cility i cbarangay,

grgtio t ourc, barangay

muicipl compotig, 100%barangay-

l grgtcollctio. It outlw mix

wt collctio op burig

wll ucotroll mi-cotroll

umpit.

situtio o t Grou

Howeve, by 2009 waste management pogams

at the barangay level in Alaminos, as in most o

the county, wee non-existent. Attempting to mae

the barangays conom to rA 9003, the city fstencouaged and late mandated that the barangays

tae moe esponsibility o waste management.

Neithe appoach was eective. Alaminos was still

maintaining a cental dumpsite; waste was collected

daily by the city, but in only 14 o the 39 barangays. The

emaining villages had to deal with thei own waste,

which led to widespead open buning and dumping.

Households did not pactice waste sepaation, and

mixed waste collection was still commonly pacticed.

The city had built a mateials ecovey acility in 2004,

but o yeas it was unde-utilized due to lac o aBurning o agriculture waste was a common sight in Alaminosduring harvest season. (photo: Anne Laacas)



compehensive waste management plan.

A suvey done by the city classifed the waste into

thee steams: biodegadable, non-biodegadable,

and esidual. Biodegadable waste, oughly two-thids o the total, consisted o itchen and gaden

waste, animal waste, and human waste. A small

non-biodegadable steam was compised o metal,

glass, ubbe, dy papes/catons, cloth, dy leathe/

eathes, and ecyclable plastic. The emaining thid

was esidual waste including sanitay napins, plastic

bags, ceamics, composite pacaging such as Teta

Pas, and candy wappes. The total volume o

waste geneated in the city (25 tons pe day) mostlycame om esidences, as shown in Figue 1, and

was pojected to incease 1% each yea. In ode to

implement rA 9003, clealy the citizens o Alaminos

City would need to be active paticipants.

Figur 1. Souces o Waste Geneated in Alaminos(tons pe day)

Note: Actual 2004 fgues.

Souce: Alaminos 10-yea Solid Waste Management Plan Dat

To addess the gowing volume o waste, the city

planned to tae out a ban loan to invest in a waste

convesion acility that would tansom solid waste

into hollow building blocs and compost. The acility

was pojected to cost 26 million (US $605,000). The

technology was untested howeve, and many believed

that it was unwise o the city to invest a substantial

amount in an unpoven technology, paticulaly one

that pomoted centalized collection.

T Birt o Zro Wt City

In August 2009, the Global Alliance o Incineato

Altenatives (GAIA) poposed a patneship with the

city govenment. The Zeo Waste Alaminos pojectwas bon the ollowing month. GAIA povided one

sta membe o the poject team, as well as taining

in zeo waste in the om o sillshaes, meetings,

technical inomation, assistance in stategic planning,

and suppot to barangayleades as they dated thei

own waste management plans. GAIA also povided

fnancial suppot (o pinting educational mateials,

buying sheddes o oganics and plastics, awading

mini-gants o baangays to build eco-sheds opuchase vehicles, etc.). The city povided two ull-time

employees o the poject team, tanspotation o the

team and taines, logistical suppot o all activities

and tainings, technical assistance, and suppot in

stategic planning o the barangays. A outh team

membe was ecuited om Mothe Eath Foundation

(a GAIA membe) to seve as a consultant o all the

barangaytechnical consultations.

atr two yr, t barangays civ

v wr clo to civig ull complic

wit Ra 9003, my o t otrbarangays

wr wll o tir wy.

Itrvtio strtgi

To begin, a compehensive suvey was administeedto assess and ecod the existing waste management

pactices thoughout Alaminos. Team membes

tavelled to all 39 barangays whee they inteviewed

Punong Barangay (village chies) and documented

what they saw.

Woshops wee held to begin convesations

among leades at the barangay level about waste

segegation and collection, composting, the rA 9003

law, the components o the Zeo Waste Alaminos

poject, planning, etc. Each barangay sent thee




epesentatives; city ofcials, including all depatment

heads, wee also in attendance, as was the poject

team.

Ate the woshops, the barangays held technicalconsultations and assemblies bac in thei villages.

These meetings, held ove a 14-month peiod,

wee the ey to the Alaminos pojects success.

Technical consultations equied the attendance

o the entie barangay council. At the end o the

consultation, a complete waste management plan

including a calenda o activities, investment plans o

inastuctue o equipment, a budget with unding

souces, and tas assignmentswas geneatedand signed by the entie council and all esidents in

attendance. This plan was then used as the bluepint

o the barangays waste management pogam and

was pesented in assemblies to esidents o appoval

and comments beoe it was implemented. While

the poject team was typically vey active in leading

the technical consultations, once the barangays had

omulated thei own waste management pogams,

the paticipating leades too owneship o the

poject in thei barangays and led the assemblies

themselves.

Additional staeholdes om vaious city depatments,

city woes in waste management and collection, and

epesentatives om jun shops, the touism industy,

the boat ownes and opeatos association, hospital

and medical health acilities, academia, business, andvaious eligious sectos wee consulted in sepaate

sessions to expand paticipation in implementing rA

9003.a rult,rort i tbli

compotig ciliti improv wt

grgtio, tourit wr uct

rmi bout t trict o-littrig

wt prtio polici, opitl cliic

trt to implmt wt grgtio,

cool uivriti improv tir wt

grgtio compotig prctic.

At the end o the Zeo Waste Alaminos poject, a

second compehensive suvey was administeed

to evaluate the implementation o the management

pogams developed though the couse o the poject.

Each o the 39 barangayswee visited by poject team

membes who inteviewed esidents and ecoded

all changes elated to waste management that had

occued since the initial suvey was conducted.

The suvey tageted 10 pecent o the population in

Alaminos and evealed both positive and negative

esults. A high pecentage o esidents wee pacticing

waste sepaation (88% o those suveyed) and

composting (53%), and many said they new about

thei villages waste management pogam (56%)and the national law (63%). On the othe hand, some

esidents (58%) said that the inomation they eceived

om baangay ofcials about waste management

was not enough, and thee wee those who wee

not paticipating in the pogam because they elt it

was too cumbesome. Still, the majoity expessed

appeciation o the new waste management pogam

in most o the barangays and wee willing to suppot

and paticipate in the citys pogam.

A team member interviews a Punong Barangayabout thecurrent waste management system in his village. (photo: reiPanaligan)



Lo Lr

The Alaminos poject encounteed multiple

challenges and oadblocs. Initially, political tensions

theatened to pevent the poject om getting o

the gound. An existing ivaly between city andmany barangayofcials made some o the barangay

leades appehensive and even hostile to the idea o

coopeating with the city. a grroot pproc

llow my milto to b civ i

w mot, i cotrt to t top-ow

trtgy mploy by t city govrmt

prviouly. While the citys govenment-oganized

woshops on waste management wee attended byonly a handul o barangayleades, the pojects fst

zeo waste woshop had moe than 100 barangay

ofcial paticipants, and 21 out o 39 barangayleades

attended a second woshop months late.

The poject team woed with all the barangayleades

egadless o thei political afliations. Consequently,

the pojects momentum and the staeholdes

enthusiasm wee easily sustained, and activities atethe elections wee immediately esumed with ew

poblems. GAIAs most impotant ole in Alaminos ove

the two yeas may well have been as liaison between

city and barangayofcials who had not seen eye to

eye about waste management o yeas. The pesence

o a neutal oce acilitated objective discussion and

esolution o impotant issues.

A bochue supplied by GAIA duing and ate thebarangay meetings was vey helpul in einocing

ey messages om the technical consultations and

assemblies. Barangay leades wee able to give

bochues (poste size) out to people when they

visited. The esidents wee ased to sign a log boo

saying that they had eceived the bochue. Late,

when ofcials saw open buning and othe signs o

pohibited activities, the esidents wee no longe able

to use the old excuse that they did not now the law.Open dumping and buning deceased signifcantly. In

2009, almost evey feld had a pile buning; by 2011

thee wee almost none. It also helped temendously

that thee ae no hazadous industies in the city,

and that Alaminos aleady had some geat initiatives

in place, such as the vemicompost pogam and a

pogam to pomote oganic agicultue.

Most impotantly, the city govenment ully committed

to the zeo waste vision, poviding employees to

seve ull-time as membes o the poject, who

wee highly espected by barangayleades.

Rult

The poject gew by leaps and bounds in the span

o two yeas. While in 2009 almost no barangayshad begun implementation o rA 9003, in 2011,

25 had local odinances on waste management that

specifcally banned open buning and dumping and

mandated household segegation and composting.

Bacyad composting has long been common in ual

aeas thoughout the Philippines; many locals have

pacticed open buning o decades and believed

that buning wasteespecially agicultual wasteis

benefcial to the soil, helps plants bloom, and dives

away pests. Beoe the poject, it was not unusual to

Barangay ocials and residents in all 39 barangays oAlaminos were included in discussions about proper wastemanagement. (photo: Anne Laacas)




fnd non-biodegadable waste mixed in with compost.

Fiteen barangays ae now consistently implementing

pue composting. Vemicomposting has also inceased,and the city has povided barangays, as well as

selected schools that stated thei own vemicompost

pogams, with woms and oganic etilize.

svtbarangaysv trt compr-

iv collctio ytmicluig collctio

cul, collctio vicl(), collctor,

workig MRF (mtril rcovry cility),

i om c, collct rom rit

that wee ageed upon by thei village councils and

esidents. Fiteen o these ae also segegating at

souce.

Thity-two barangays have built eco-sheds which

povide tempoay stoage o esidual, hazadous, and

small amounts o ecyclable waste. These mateials

ae then collected by the city and bought to the citymateials ecovey acility o pocessing (esidual

waste) o long-tem stoage (hazadous waste).

In many barangays, thee is ample space o bacyad

composting, so the waste collected and bought to

the mateials ecovey acilities is mostly esidual.Since the waste is typically collected twice a month,

esidents ae eminded to clean and stoe dy esidual

waste so that it will not smell o attact pests.

recently, the city announced a No-segegation, no-

collection policy. residents will eceive a waning i

thei waste is not sepaated. Ate a couple o wanings,

it will not be collected. The city has aleady seen a

noticeable eduction in the volume o oveall waste, as

well as a eduction in oganics and ecyclable matte

in the waste collected, although the changes have not

yet been measued.

The city has consideedbut not yet passeda

ban on plastic bags. Howeve, it has put in place a

esidual waste management pogam to addess

plastics collected om the barangays. Pltic rr, mix wit cocrt i 40/60 rtio,

tur ito pvr tt r u to improv

An eco-shed is checked to make sure it is being used properly by the barangay. (photo: Anne Laacas)



iwlk i t city ctr.The entie sidewal in

ont o City Hall and the Alaminos Cathedal has been

enovated using these bics. Seveal public schools

in the city have also eceived the paves to impove

thei walways. The bics cost about hal as much astaditional paves, and the city plans to commecialize

thei poduction.

I 2010, t city coucil p ito lw t rt

zro wt city oric i t coutry, a local

vesion o rA 9003 that includes a stonge povision

against incineation and specifes how Alaminos will

implement collection and conduct public education,

among othe things. This histoic legislation upholdssegegation at souce, sets a taget o waste divesion,

and einoces the national ban on incineation by

declaing it a pohibited act.

T Iorml sctor

Beoe the Zeo Waste Alaminos poject, appoximately

35 waste pices wee woing in Alaminos City. While

the intention was to integate these individuals into the

poject om the beginning, they unotunately let the

city duing peliminay poject negotiations. Howeve,

in ealy 2012, the cental Alaminos City dumpsite was

suppoting as many as 50 o 60 waste pices.

The numbe is lage because o impoved conditions

and access to new souces o mateials. Fo instance,

beoe the poject, all esidual plastic waste wasbought to the dump, and waste pices wee oced

to ummage though oganics in ode to collect

any salvageable mateials. a rult o t

city no-grgtio, o-collctio policy,

tr r wr orgic mix i wt

pickr c mor ly rcovr rcyclbl

pltic. Futhemoe, waste pices ae able to

collect clean, sepaated plastics om public sevice

buildings (e.g., chuches, schools) and sell them bac

to the city o a set pice o 2.50/ilo (US $.06). In

pe-poject days, the pice o mateials was sometimes

up to the whim o the buyes. Today not only collection

is easie, selling is as well.

In act, the city allots an aveage o 25,000 (aound

US $600) pe month to buy the bul o the plastic

wastes o its sidewal pave pogam om the waste

pices. Even when thee ae ewe ecyclables to

collect, the waste pices still ean eliable income

(700 - 1500 o US $16.50 - $35.50 pe wee)this way.

recyclable waste continues to be diectly sold by

esidents to itineant jun buyes who come to the

villages on a daily basis. The poject has actually

beneftted the itineant buyes as well as the waste

pices. Since waste sepaation is now mandatoy

in many barangays, ecovey o useul mateials

has inceased, so the buyes can buy om moe

households.

Last but not least, barangays v gi

grtr pprcitio or t rvic provi

by t itirt buyrespecially ate leaning

that the barangay leades wee esponsible o

collecting all discads om the households. Because

the wo o the itineant buyes educed the volume tobe collected, the barangays did not need to hie many

new employees o any lage vehicles to accommodate

Pavers made rom concrete and recovered plastic are usedto improve walkways in the city. (photo: Anne Laacas)




all o the discads om the households. In addition,

many barangays wee able to implement a bi-monthly

athe than a moe equent collection schedule,

theeby saving labo costs. In some barangays, the

itineant buyes became the ofcial waste collectoso the village. In othes, the ees nomally chaged

itineant buyes wee eliminated in exchange o thei

collecting ecyclables om all the houses.

T Ro a

Although implementation o waste management

pogams has inceased in the barangays, much moe

needs to be done. Two yeas is suely not long enoughto evese decades o old habits. Ten barangayspassed

evey acet o the fnal evaluation with ying colos,

while nine o those that did not pass wee at least

halway to achieving thei waste management goals.

The emaining villages have much to do, but with the

pope oundation now in place, many ae expected

to pogess with thei pogam implementation in the

coming months.

sourc:

Alaminos 10-yea Solid Waste Management Plan.

Facts And Figues Cy 2010, City o Alaminos,

Pangasinan, Philippines.

Field visits and inteviews by the autho.

republic Act 9003, Chapte II, Section 12.



T rgiol wt mgmt coortium

in Spains Gipuzoa Povince, aced with a nealy ull

landfll in 2002, poposed building two new incineatos.

Citizens stongly opposed the incineatos and pevented

one om being built. Although the second is now unde

constuction, Henani and two othe small cities in theegion have established an ambitious pogam o doo-

to-doo collection o souce-sepaated waste, including

oganics, that has been enthusiastically embaced by

esidents. The amount o waste going to the landfll has

been educed by 80 pecent. With new political leadeship

opposed to incineation, doo-to-doo collection is poised

to expand thoughout the egion.

heRnanI, sPaIn

Doo-to-Doo Collection as aStategy to reduce Waste DisposalBy Cecilia Allen

Protest calling or a moratorium on the construction o the incinerator and in support o a zero waste plan. (photo: GipuzoaZeo Zabo)

heRnanI

Province o Gipuzkoa

Population: 19,300Aea: 40 m2

Population density: 485/m2

Aveage annual ainall: 1,400 mm

Altitude: 44 metes above sea level

Aveage tempeatue ange: 9C to 20C

Waste geneation: 0.86 g/capita/day

Waste divesion ate: 79%*

Waste to landfll eduction ate since the beginningo the pogam: 80%**

Public spending pe capita in solid wastemanagement: US $115 pe yea

* Estimated as resources recovered out o the totalproduced.** Compares waste landflled in April 2010the last month othe ormer systemand amount landflled in April 2011.


35/88HErNANI, SPAIN | 31


Prctic v. Tcology

Henani is a city o ove 19,000 esidents in the

Basque County o Spain. Togethe with nine

othe municipalities, it is pat o the San Maomancomunidad(a ee association o municipalities),

ceated to manage solid waste jointly. At the povincial

level, all the mancomunidades plus the povincial

govenment compise a consotium that pomotes

and manages the Gipuzoa Integated Waste

Management Plan. Henanis ome municipal waste

management system stongly elied on waste disposal

complemented by a limited ecycling system. While

citizens could voluntaily dispose o ecyclables in theou lage containes placed on the steets, most o

the citys waste went to the landfll.

In 2002, when the San Mao landfll was nealy ull,

the povincial govenment pesented a contovesial

plan: the addition o anothe containe o the voluntay

ecycling o oganic mateials and the constuction o

two new incineatos. Citizen opposition to incineation

was immediate. Since then, the egion has been

immesed in a tenacious dispute between those who

want to build the incineatos and those who pomote

waste pevention policies and bette souce sepaation

stategies. Ate yeas o stuggle and mobilization,

the people stopped one incineato om being built,

but the govenment moved owad on the othe one.

Joining the citizens opposition, some municipalities

decided not only to eject the plan to build new

incineatos but also to implement an altenative to

buying o buning. Usubil was the fst municipality to

do so. This town o 6,000 people established a doo-

to-doo collection system o souce-sepaated waste

steams, including oganic mateials. In just six wees,

the amount o collected waste destined o landflls

dopped by 80 pecent. T rourc rcovry rtrgitr i t rt yr w 82 prct. In

2008, beoe doo-to-doo collection stated, Usubil

was taing 175 tons pe month to the landfll. One

yea late, the amount had dopped to 25 tons.

Implmtig Cg

In May 2010, ate two months o dialogue with the

citizens to explain and solicit input on the new system,

Henani ollowed the model o Usubil. The municipality

distibuted two small bins pe household, placed hoos

Note: The doo-to-doo collection stated in May 2010.Souce: Based on data published by the govenment o Henani: http://www.henani.net/es/sevicios/pueta-a-pueta.

Tbl 1. Municipal Solid Waste Landflled in Henani



to hang the bins and bags at the ont o houses and

buildings, emoved the lage containes om the

steets, established waste segegation as mandatoy,

and launched doo-to-doo collection. Citizens began

to place sepaated oganics, light pacaging, papeand cadboad, and esiduals in ont o thei houses.

Each steam has a designated pic-up day: oganics

on Wednesdays, Fidays, and Sundays; light pacaging

on Mondays and Thusdays; pape and cadboad on

Tuesdays; and esiduals on Satudays. Light pacaging

is placed in bags, and the govenment sells eusable

bags o this pupose. Pape and cadboad ae tied

in bundles o placed in boxes o bags. Oganics aeplaced in the bins povided by the govenment, and

the esiduals ae disposed o in bags. The collection is

done by a public company called Gabitania, ceated

by the govenments o Henani, Usubil, and Oiatzun.

Collection is done at night, with a complementay shit

duing the moning. Each bin and each hoo have a

code that identifes the household that uses them.

This allows the govenment to monito sepaation in

each household. I the collecto identifes a steam

that does not coespond to that collection day, s/he

puts a stice with a ed coss on the bin and does

not collect that waste. The inomation is given to the

administation ofce, and the household eceives a

notice explaining why the waste was not collected.

Fo glass, the system o lage containes on the

steets was maintained, and doo-to-doo collectionis done only in the old pat o the city. A non-poft

association ceated by poduces, paces, bottles,

and ecycles handles this steam. The association is

unded by contibutions the pacaging companies pay

o each poduct they put on the maet.

I someone misses the doo-to-doo collection, thee

ae ou emegency centes to dop o waste. Thee is

also a dop-o site that taes buly waste, electic and

electonic devices, and othe waste not coveed by the

doo-to-doo collection ee o chage. Fo businesses,

the collection schedule is the same as o households,

with an exta day o collection o esiduals. In ual

aeas, home composting is mandatoy, and othe

steams ae eithe collected doo-to-doo o taen to

dop-o centes.

Unde the new system, Henani pomotes home

composting thoughout the municipality. People

can sign up o a composting class, equest a home

composting manual, and eceive a compost bin o

ee. Thee is a phone line to get composting advice,

and thee ae compost specialists who can visit

households in need o assistance. Popl wo ig

up to compot t om rciv 40 prct

icout o t muicipl wt mgmt. The ee o businesses vaies accoding to

the collection equency and the amount o waste

poduced, using Pay As You Thow citeia.

The San Mao mancomunidadopeates a mateials

ecovey acility whee light pacaging is soted o

sale. Pape and cadboad ae sold to a ecycling

company neaby. Oganic mateials must be taen 50

m away to a compost plant, opeated by the povincial

consotium. sourc prtio i rfct i t

mtril tt hri tk to t compot

Bins or organics used in Hernani and Usurbil.(photo: Gipuzoa Zeo Zabo)


37/88HErNANI, SPAIN | 33


plt, wic coit oo vrgoly 1.5

prct impuriti (o-orgic otr

pollutt).1

In the fst ull month o the doo-to-doo collection,t riul ropp by 80 prct, t

totl wt mg cr by 27 prct.2

In 2010, the municipality landflled 53.8 pecent less

waste than in 2009(5,219 tons in 2009 and 2,412

tons in 2010), and doo-to-doo collection had only

begun in May.

Our tt-o-t-rt tcology i

t igbor.

Communication and community paticipation have

been ey to the success o the pogam. The conviction

that the use o incineatos was the wost option and

that doo-to-doo collection was easible and the best

solution o Henani suppoted the change. I t two

mot prior to t implmttio o t w

collctio ytm, t govrmt orgiz

mtig to xpli rvi t w

ytm. As the mayo declaed, Ou state-o-the-at

technology is the neighbos. I the neighbos sepaate

well, thee is no need to build an incineato.3

The govenments that have implemented doo-to-doo

collection pogams have pomoted the ceation o

citizens committees to monito thei implementation.

Moeove, local Zero Zabor (zeo waste) goups

have emeged in these cities, building on ealie anti-incineato movements. The dieent local goups

ae woing togethe in Gipuzkoa Zero Zabor. In a

ew yeas, these voluntee activists have advanced

the convesation om opposing incineatos to

pomoting an authentic zeo waste stategy that

ocuses on peventing wastethough changes in

design,

On the Road to Zero Waste

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