1. TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT FOR GREEN JOBS, WEALTH CREATION AND IMPROVED LIVELIHOODS
Nature Uganda, Public Lecture
7th December 2017, Uganda Museum, Kampala

2. Key issues, questions and concerns
This presentation attempts to answer the following questions:
What is the current orientation of waste management in the country?
What are they key drivers of the changing waste profile and its implications?
What is sustainable waste management and the opportunities it presents for Uganda’s social economic transformation?
What needs to be done to tap these opportunities?
What are the best local and international experiences to learn from?

3. Understanding the Orientation of Waste Management
Waste is a complex phenomenon with no universally agreed definition
Waste is regarded as a source of pollution justifying international and national laws for regulating its disposal rather than addressing and preventing its generation
NEA’s approach to waste is skewed towards pollution mitigation focused on disposal rather than viewing it as an asset or resource for production and wealth creation
Traditionally waste management has not been holistic and is more inclined to the “end of pipe” solutions concentrating at the last stage of disposal.
There is a gradual shift from 'end-of pipe' solutions that focus on waste disposal, to a source based approach that is aimed at 'life-cycle' analysis.

4. Understanding the Orientation of Waste Management
Efforts in managing waste in Uganda have been skewed towards solid waste management at the expense of other types of wastes notably;
Waste water or liquid waste and Gaseous waste that require equal attention as well
NWSC systems and connections in Kampala serves approximately only 6% of the households i.e. estimate 10,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day.
The current waste water treatment processes do not integrate pollution reduction, energy and nutrient recovery from agro- process waste waters.

5. The Changing Waste profile and its Implications
The composition and volume of waste in Uganda is changing rapidly driven by:
a rapid urbanization rate estimated at 6% p.a.
a high population growth rate (3.2% p.a.)
the changing structure of the Ugandan economy characterized by the increasing levels of industrialization,
rapid technological advancement,
infrastructural development (housing, roads, energy and telecommunications)
increasing volumes of trade
the changing production and consumption patterns and lifestyles that generate vast quantities of waste

6. The Changing Waste profile and its Implications
Type of Waste
1990
2001
2006
2014
Organics (green waste/food waste)
88.5
83.5
73.1
72.0
Plastics
1.6
11.8
12.4
Glass
0.9
1.8
2.0
Metal
3.1
2.6
0.4
Textiles
0.5
1.0
1.5
Paper & board
4.0
8.0
10.6
10.2
Tree cuttings
2.9
1.3
Total
100

7. The Problem

8. The Changing Waste profile and its Implications
In view of the on-going social-economic transformation the new waste profile includes:
Electronic waste and chemical waste,
Oil and gas waste,
Nuclear waste and plastic waste,
Paper waste and industrial waste,
Metallic waste and waste water,
Construction debris,
Medical and health care waste
Organic waste

9. The Changing Waste profile and its Implications
The increasingly complex and hazardous waste profile is unfolding against;
Limited institutional, financial and technical capacity to effectively and efficiently manage the increasing volumes of waste being generated.
Only approx. 28,000 tons (40%) of the waste generated in Kampala is collected and delivered to the landfill per month. What happens to the 60%?
High social, health, environment, economic and political costs to mostly the urban poor
Lack of urban physical planning
Low prioritization of waste management during planning and budgeting processes

10. The Changing Waste profile and its Implications
Rising costs of waste management especially to urban authorities
Poor waste disposal culture and lack of sorting at source without colour coding of garbage containers to differentiate types of wastes
Rising trend of plastic waste generation e.g. from 1.6% in 1990 to 12.4% in 2014
Dominance of organic waste, though falling in percentage terms it is still very high in quantitative terms
Increasingly dynamic and complex waste profile now includes e- waste

11. Rethinking the Waste Concept: From Waste to Wealth
Traditionally, waste is viewed as an environment and health problem and therefore a cost to society
Waste management in Uganda tend towards traditional than innovative
emphasize the end of the pipe approach (disposal) rather than life cycle and waste value chain management approaches including waste recycling or waste minimization.
The dynamics driving waste generation are set to continue as the country moves towards middle income status
Increasing per capita waste generation rates (estimated at 0.9kgs –1.1kgs per day in Kampala)
All these demand for a new thinking at what is traditionally regarded as waste,
Is what we call waste indeed waste?

12. Rethinking the Waste Concept: From Waste to Wealth
The rethinking calls for Waste to become Wealth, Refuse to become Resource and Trash to become Cash (UNEP).
the rethinking views waste as opportunities with potential to offer solutions to some of our sustainable development challenges e.g.
the increasing scarcity of raw material inputs
energy to fuel the growing industry and population,
the urgent need to create jobs for the youths
finding new streams of income and wealth.
NB: The new outlook is about eliminating the very concept of ‘waste’ and recognizing that everything has a value

13. Rethinking Waste to Wealth: the Problem
While rethinking the concept of waste is the way to go:
It is yet to be conceptualized at policy and decision making levels
No frameworks, guidelines for the implementation and scaling up of tested and proven waste to wealth creation models.
No apex body to support, coordinate and pilot waste to wealth interventions
No well-organized associations of key actors in waste to wealth ventures to defend and promote their interests.
As a result, waste to wealth projects and initiatives are largely;
informal,
not commercialized,
still small and weak,
prone to many risks
do not have access to favourable financing opportunities and enabling technologies.

14. Waste to Wealth in the National Development Frameworks
In line with Uganda Vision 2040, NDP II theme is about strengthening competitiveness for sustainable wealth creation, employment and inclusive growth.
One of the key interventions towards NDPII targets is Sustainable Waste Management, through:
Promotion of green industry and climate smart industrial initiatives;
Sustainable Consumption and Production patterns
Improvement of urban safety, security and sanitation
Sustainable use and management of electronic and hazardous waste.
The Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy (UGGDS)
NB: for waste to contribute to sustainable wealth creation, it necessitates harnessing the opportunities generated from innovative waste management practices.
Rethinking the Waste Concept: From Waste to Wealth

15. Harnessing Opportunities for Waste to Wealth
Source Separation
Creates employment, generates additional income and provides raw materials to waste traders and reduces wastes collected.
Waste collection
Increasing willingness of individuals, households and businesses to pay waste and refuse collectors.
Increasing private sector investment in waste collection
Waste to Energy
Effluent treatment Plants in Uganda Breweries and Nile Breweries, and Kampala City Abattoir
Kampala City Abattoir generates on average about 10 to 15 cubic metres of biogas daily. 60 cubic metres of biogas can run about 15 security lights, 15 deep freezers and 15 refrigerators at the abattoir
thinking the Waste Concept: From Waste to Wealth

16. Harnessing Opportunities: Waste to Energy
Charcoal Briquettes
Charcoal briquettes can be made from waste materials and burn longer than traditional charcoal. They are easy to make on a small or large scale, can be a source of income generation for the family

17. Harnessing Opportunities for Waste to Wealth
The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Compositing project by NEMA
The MSW plants have created employment for average of 22 but with capacity of 40 workers per site directly employed by the plants (each earning Ugx120, ,000 per month),
More employment is created indirectly such as in organic farming, and generate over an average of 2,220 Kgs of compost manure per day per CDM plant (about 26 metric tons per day from the 12 sites).Rethinking the Waste Concept: From Waste to Wealth

18. Status of Municipal Solid Waste Compositing ProjectNo
Municipality
Waste generated
(kgs)/day
Waste collected (kgs)/day
Compost
Revenue
Ugx /month
Number employed 1.
Mukono
270, ,000
65,000-45,000
1,500
300, ,000 32 2.
Jinja
250, ,000
50,000-80,000
2,000-3,000
300, ,000 20 3
Mbale
150, ,000
70,000-55,000
3,000-5,000 18 4.
Soroti
100,000-90,000
45,000-40,000
1,000
100,000
21  5.
Lira
42,000-40,000 17 6.
Fort Portal
130, ,000
40,000-60,000
1,500-2,000
250, ,000 30 7.
Kasese
110, ,000
35,000-40,000
1,000-1,300 8.
Mbarara
200, ,000
50,000-60,000
1,000-1,500
200, ,000 9.
Kabale
120, ,000
45,000-50,000
4,000-5,000
10.
Arua 25
11.
Hoima
12.
Masindi

19. CDM Project Activities
Sieving and
Bagging Compost
Sorting onsite
Demo-Garden
Harvest
Composting Operations

20. Harnessing Opportunities: Recovery and Recycling
The Recovery and Recycling model
creates production and consumption systems in which everything that used to be considered waste is revived for other uses.
Companies either recover end-of-life products to recapture and reuse valuable material, energy and components or they reclaim waste and by-products from a production process.
Desired waste management model should go through hierarchy of processes that result into maximum recovery and minimum disposal wastes of at the landfill or disposal sites.

21. Waste Management Hierarchy
Most preferred; less wastes are disposed- off at the landfill
Rethinking the Waste Concept: From Waste to Wealth
Prevention ( at source sorting (households, industries, farm land, public facilities etc)
Reduction ( within production and consumption processes- Sustainable Consumption and Production-SCP)
Recycling (within production, distribution and consumption processes)
Recovery (within production processes)
Disposal
Least preferred; most wastes are disposed- off at the landfill

22. Lessons from International Experiences
EcoPost, Kenya
Manufactures fencing posts from recycled plastic waste collected from dumpsites and garbage cans.
Produced over 10,000 fencing posts and has created more than 500 jobs (directly and indirectly) and generated more than US$ 150,000 in annual revenues.
This innovative idea of converting plastic waste into fencing posts is estimated to have saved nearly 250 hectares of Kenya’s forests which would have been destroyed to produce timber.

23. Lessons from International Experiences
Repurpose School Bags, South Africa
This green initiative provides recycled low-cost school bags to hundreds of school children in local communities in South Africa.
Collects and recycles plastic waste into school bags for local disadvantaged students.
The “upcycled” plastic bags have a solar panel in the flap, which charges as the children walk to and back from school.
The bags also have strips of reflective material, an added safety design to make the children more visible to traffic in the early hours.
The charged solar panels are used to provide lighting at night. Students can use this light to do their homework and study instead of using candles.

24. Challenges of Waste to Wealth Projects
Limited access to technologies to convert waste into wealth projects e.g.
Gasification technologies
Biogas technologies
Landfill gas recovery technologies
High costs
Commercial viability
Poor waste management practices
Limited segregation of waste at source
Limited technical expertise
Absence of waste to wealth regulatory frameworks
Limited focus on recycling and reuse
Some Waste to wealth are largely informal and illegal business.
Absence of standard operational guidelines and rules to streamline the activities of the various actors

25. Sustainable Waste Management Innovations
Create Partnerships in waste management along the entire waste management vale chain:
Public Private Partnership (PPP),
Local level partnerships
Local firms partnering with international companies.
NGO, Public, Community Partnerships
Financial instruments
Enhance access to affordable funding sources to promote
Concessional Loans for Investment in Waste to Energy Generation Infrastructure and Technologies
Grants
Fiscal instruments
Offer tax incentives on Waste-to-wealth Equipment and Facilities

26. Sustainable Waste Management Innovations
Promote sustainable consumption and production patterns
Restructure the National Environment Fund to accommodate financial demands of prospective investments in waste management
Enhance capacity to engage in public-private partnership (PPP) schemes particularly of the informal sector including strengthening the managerial, technical and organizational abilities of urban authorities
Carry out feasibility studies of the various waste to wealth initiatives and strengthen research

27. Conclusion
A holistic life cycle approach to waste management creates opportunities for employment, income and wealth creation along the entire waste value chain
Innovative waste management practices are green initiatives that optimize resource use efficiency, create green jobs and contribute to inclusive growth
A skilled and effective business sector has emerged  in social enterprises, mainly founded by the poor and increasingly young people in urban communities, that derive wealth from the provision of waste management services. They need our support.

28. THANK YOU!