WHO Western Pacific Regional
Environmental Health Centre (EHC),
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Note: This paper was presented at
the 7th ISWA International Congress and Exhibition, Parallel Session
7, "International Perspective". The views expressed
are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent
the opinion of the World Health Organization.
In the last 20 years, a number of solid
waste management projects have been carried out in developing
countries, in collaboration with external support agencies. Some
projects were successful in producing lasting impacts on the improvement
of solid waste management in developing countries. However, many
projects could not support themselves or expand further when the
external agencies discontinued their support. A number of technical,
financial, institutional, economic, and social factors contribute
to the failure to sustain the projects, and they vary from project
Often the recipient countries and cities
tend to accept whatever resources are provided to them without
due consideration to subsequent resource requirements. The external
support agencies have limitations in the amount of resources they
can provide and the mandates and modes under which they can operate
projects. Sometimes, projects are initiated with specific aims
and expected outputs, but their scopes are not comprehensive enough
to consider external factors influencing them. The external support
agencies often do not fully understand socio-economic, cultural,
and political factors influencing the selection of appropriate
solid waste management systems. In other cases, very limited follow-up
support, including human resource development activities necessary
to sustain the project implementation, is provided by the external
These problems and constraints associated
with external support agencies' collaboration with developing
countries in solid waste management can be minimized, and the
sustainability of such collaborative projects improved by packaging
efforts of external support agencies; defining clear roles of
relevant agencies and improving their coordination in developing
countries; creating key human resources; supporting strategic
planning and follow-up implementations; developing self-financing
schemes; and raising awareness of the public and decision makers.
As urbanization continues to take place,
the management of solid waste is becoming a major public health
and environmental concern in urban areas of many developing countries.
The concern is serious, particularly in the capital cities, which
are often gateways to the countries for foreign diplomats, businessmen,
and tourists. Poor visual appearance of these cities will have
negative impacts on official and tourist visits and foreign investment.
Recognizing its importance, a number
of developing countries have requested collaboration of external
support agencies, both bilateral and multilateral, in improving
solid waste management in their cities in the last 20 years or
so. Although some projects succeeded in providing lasting positive
impacts on the management of solid waste in the recipient countries
and cities, many failed to continue activities after the external
support agencies ceased their support. This unsustainability of
collaborative projects is due to various technical, financial,
institutional, economic, and social constraints faced by both
the recipient countries/cities and external support agencies.
Such constraints vary from country to
country and from city to city, as developing countries and cities
within them differ in solid waste management problems and they
and external support agencies have different, and often limited,
resources available to resolve the problems. Therefore, in order
to ensure the sustainability of collaborative projects, the various
constraints of both developing countries and external support
agencies should be carefully examined and an approach be developed
to remove such constraints within the context of the collaborative
projects. This paper delineates common such constraints and suggests
possible ways of removing these constraints.
2. PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS IN DEVELOPING
A typical solid waste management system
in a developing country displays an array of problems, including
low collection coverage and irregular collection services, crude
open dumping and burning without air and water pollution control,
the breeding of flies and vermin, and the handling and control
of informal waste picking or scavenging activities. These public
health, environmental, and management problems are caused by various
factors which constrain the development of effective solid waste
management systems. They can be categorized into technical, financial,
institutional, economic, and social constraints. Each of these
constraints is discussed, in relation to the sustainability of
solid waste collaborative projects, below.
(a) Technical Constraints
In most developing countries, there
typically is a lack of human resources at both the national and
local levels with technical expertise necessary for solid waste
management planning and operation. Many officers in charge of
solid waste management, particularly at the local level, have
little or no technical background or training in engineering or
management. Without adequately trained personnel, a project initiated
by external consultants could not be continued. Therefore, the
development of human resources in the recipient country of external
support is essential for the sustainability of the collaborative
Another technical constraint in developing
countries is the lack of overall plans for solid waste management
at the local and national levels. As a result, a solid waste technology
is often selected without due consideration to its appropriateness
in the overall solid waste management system. In some cases, foreign
assistance is given to a component of a solid waste management
system for which the use of resources may not be most cost-effective.
For instance, an external support agency provided its support
to improve a general disposal site. However, the coverage of solid
waste collection service is so low that solid waste generated
is dumped at many undesignated sites (e.g., open areas, water
channels, streets, etc.). As a result, improving the disposal
site, although it may not be a bad project, would have little
impact on the overall solid waste management effectiveness. In
such a case, the low collection coverage is a bottleneck in the
overall solid waste management system in the city, and it would
be most cost-effective to provide resources to upgrade the collection
Research and development activities
in solid waste management are often a low priority in developing
countries. The lack of research and development activities in
developing countries leads to the selection of inappropriate technology
in terms of the local climatic and physical conditions, financial
and human resource capabilities, and social or cultural acceptability.
As a result, the technology selected can never be used, wasting
the resources spent and making the project unsustainable. Several
guides/manuals on appropriate solid waste management technologies
in developing countries are available in the literature, and the
selection of technology could be made sometimes based on these
guides/manuals. However, in most cases, these guides/manuals must
be modified to the local conditions prevailing in the country,
and therefore local studies are normally still needed. Such studies
can be relatively easily incorporated into a collaborative project
and, to the extent possible, should involve local research institutions.
(b) Financial Constraints
In general, solid waste management is
given a very low priority in developing countries, except perhaps
in capital and large cities. As a result, very limited funds are
provided to the solid waste management sector by the governments,
and the levels of services required for protection of public health
and the environment are not attained.
The problem is acute at the local government
level where the local taxation system is inadequately developed
and, therefore, the financial basis for public services, including
solid waste management, is weak. This weak financial basis of
local governments can be supplemented by the collection of user
service charges. However, users' ability to pay for the services
is very limited in poorer developing countries, and their willingness
to pay for the services which are irregular and ineffective is
not high either. An effective strategy for raising funds needs
to be searched in any collaborative project to ensure its sustainability.
In addition to the limited funds, many
local governments in developing countries lack good financial
management and planning. For instance, in a town in a developing
country, over 90% of the annual budget provided for solid waste
management was used up within the first six months. The lack of
financial management and planning, particularly cost accounting,
depletes the limited resources available for the sector even more
quickly, and causes the solid waste management services to halt
for some periods, thus losing the trust of service users.
(c) Institutional Constraints
Several agencies at the national level
are usually involved at least partially in solid waste management.
However, there are often no clear roles/functions of the various
national agencies defined in relation to solid waste management
and also no single agency or committee designated to coordinate
their projects and activities. The lack of coordination among
the relevant agencies often results in different agencies becoming
the national counterpart to different external support agencies
for different solid waste management collaborative projects without
being aware of what other national agencies are doing. This leads
to duplication of efforts, wasting of resources, and unsustainability
of overall solid waste management programmes.
The lack of effective legislation for
solid waste management, which is a norm in most developing countries,
is partially responsible for the roles/functions of the relevant
national agencies not being clearly defined and the lack of coordination
among them. Legislation related to solid waste management in developing
countries is usually fragmented, and several laws (e.g., Public
Health Act, Local Government Act, Environmental Protection Act,
etc.) include some clauses on rules/regulations regarding solid
waste management. The rules and regulations are enforced by the
different agencies. However, there are often duplication of responsibilities
of the agencies involved and gaps/missing elements in the regulatory
provisions for the development of effective solid waste management
systems. It should be also noted that legislation is only effective
if it is enforced. Therefore, comprehensive legislation, which
avoids the duplication of responsibilities, fills in the gaps
of important regulatory functions, and is enforceable is required
for sustainable development of solid waste management systems.
Because of a low priority given to the
sector, the institutional capacity of local government agencies
involved in solid waste management is generally weak, particularly
in small cities and towns. Local ordinance/by-laws on solid waste
management is not also well developed. These weak local government
institutions are not provided with clear mandates and sufficient
resources to fulfill the mandates. In large metropolitan areas
where there are more than one local government, coordination among
the local governments is critical to achieve the most cost-effective
alternatives for solid waste management in the area. For instance,
the siting of a solid waste transfer station or disposal facility
for use by more than one local governments is cost-effective due
to its economy of scale. However, as these facilities are usually
considered unwanted installations and create not-in-my-backyard
(NIMBY) syndromes among the residents, no local government is
willing to locate them within its boundary. The lack of a coordinating
body among the local governments often leads to disintegrated
and unsustainable programmes for solid waste management.
(d) Economic Constraints
Economic and industrial development
play key roles in solid waste management. Obviously, an enhanced
economy enables more funds to be allocated for solid waste management,
providing a more sustainable financial basis. However, by definition,
developing countries have weak economic bases and, hence, insufficient
funds for sustainable development of solid waste management systems.
Local industry which produces relatively
inexpensive solid waste equipment and vehicles will reduce, or
in some cases could eliminate totally, the need for importing
expensive foreign equipment/vehicles and therefore foreign exchange.
Such local industry can also supply associated spare parts, lack
of which is often responsible for irregular and insufficient solid
waste collection and disposal services. However, the lack of industry
manufacturing solid waste equipment and spare parts and a limited
foreign exchange for importing such equipment/spare parts are
the rule rather than exception in developing countries.
Also in small developing countries,
waste recycling activities are affected by the availability of
industry to receive and process recycled materials. For instance,
the recycling of waste paper is possible only when there is a
paper mill within a distance for which the transportation of waste
paper is economical. The weak industry base for recycling activities
is a common constraint for the improvement of solid waste management
in developing countries, such as those in the Pacific region where
a large volume of package waste is generated.
(e) Social Constraints
The social status of solid waste management
workers is generally low in both developed and developing countries,
but more so in developing countries then developed countries.
This owes much to a negative perception of people regarding the
work which involves the handling of waste or unwanted material.
Such people's perception leads to the disrespect for the work
and in turn produces low working ethics of laborers and poor quality
of their work.
Because of insufficient resources available
in the government sector, collaborative projects often have attempted
to mobilize community resources and develop community self-help
activities. Results are a mixture of success and failures. Failed
projects with inactive communities usually did not provide people
in the community with economic as well as social incentives to
participate in activities. The social incentive is based on the
responsibility of individuals as part of the community for the
improvement of the community, and is created by public awareness
and school education programmes. The lack of public awareness
and school education about the importance of proper solid waste
management for health and well-being of people severely restricts
the use of community-based approaches in developing countries.
At dump sites, transfer stations, and
street refuse bins, waste picking or scavenging activities are
common scenes in developing countries. People involved have not
received school education and vocational training to obtain knowledge
and skills required for other jobs. They are also affected by
limited employment opportunity available in the formal sector.
The existence of waste pickers/scavengers creates often an obstacle
to the operation of solid waste collection and disposal services.
However, if organized properly, their activities can be effectively
incorporated into a waste recycling system. Such an opportunistic
approach is required for sustainable development of solid waste
management programmes in developing countries.
3. CONSTRAINTS OF EXTERNAL SUPPORT
External support provided to solid waste
management in developing countries has its own limitations and
constraints. As constraints in developing countries, they can
be divided into technical, financial, institutional, economic,
and social constraints and are discussed below.
(a) Technical Constraints
Industrialized countries, which provide
external support to developing countries, usually have technical
expertise and human resources suitable for solid waste management
in these countries. Their school and university education and
subsequent on-the-job training are targeted for the technologies
of solid waste management applicable to these countries. However,
there is the lack of human resources with sufficient experiences
and knowledge of solid waste management in developing countries.
Opportunities to learn solid waste management problems and practices
in developing countries through regular training programmes and
seminars are rarely provided in industrialized countries.
The lack of knowledge and experience
in solid waste management situations in developing countries leads
to a tendency to support and provide the technologies available
in the donor country regardless of their applicability to the
developing country situation. In some cases, the solid waste management
equipment and facilities, which are obsolete and outdated in the
donor country, are provided as foreign aid to the recipient country.
Communication between consultants provided
by the external support agency and the local counterpart in the
developing country sometimes becomes a constraint in implementing
an effective collaborative project. The communication difficulty
occurs in two different situations: (i) no common spoken language
exists between the external consultants and the local counterpart;
and (ii) the local counterpart does not understand technical terms.
Efforts by both sides to improve communication ability are being
made in a number of countries.
As mentioned earlier, the lack of an
overall plan for solid waste management leads to a solid waste
management system which is not cost-effective. It also encourages
a piece-meal approach by the external support agency. Referring
to the earlier example of support for improvement of a disposal
site, it can be easily seen that the external support agency made
the decision to support without sufficient consideration to other
components of solid waste management. Piece-meal, or not comprehensive
approaches taken by external support agencies, often result in
unsustainable solid waste management projects.
(b) Financial Constraints
Obviously, all donor agencies have their
own upper limits to financial support. Solid waste management
is one of many sectors for which an external agency provides its
resources. For some donor agencies, solid waste management may
not be a priority sector for support. As a result, there is a
finite (and often limited) amount of funds that can be allocated
to the sector.
Because of its inherent nature, solid
waste management does not render itself to an operation which
can easily generate revenues. This is particularly true in developing
countries where the willingness and ability to pay for solid waste
management services are low. For external lending agencies, this
means that the risk of providing a loan to such a project is generally
high. The high risk of loan projects can be lessened by building
into the projects revenue raising systems (e.g., user charges,
sales of recycled materials).
(c) Institutional Constraints
External support agencies have their
own organizational mandates and structure that limit their activities
to certain operations such technical cooperation, loan/lending
of capital funds, training, and so on. Even in the same donor
country, there are usually different external support agencies,
each specializing in one area of support. The extent of their
geographical coverage is also limited to certain countries for
their support. These organizational mandates and operational coverage
of external support agencies determine the levels and types of
resources provided to solid waste management projects in developing
As mentioned above, in many cases their
support is piece-meal and not comprehensive as individual projects
to be effective in introducing substantial and lasting impacts
on solid waste management in the recipient countries. There is
also lack of coordination among the various external support agencies
to complement each other's efforts, although it is gradually improving
recently. With better coordination and communication among them,
the sustainability of solid waste management projects in recipient
countries will be improved.
(d) Economic Constraints
The economic situation of the donor
is a determinant to the amount of funds that can be allocated
for foreign aid to developing countries. Thus, it influences the
levels of resources provided to solid waste collaborative projects.
However, the economic situation of one donor country is not so
critical for the sustainability of solid waste management projects
in developing countries.
External support agencies in industrialized
countries tend to promote solid waste management technologies
developed in their countries and use consultants from their countries.
It is understood and often accepted that there is a bias in the
selection of equipment, facilities, and consultants for solid
waste management collaborative projects. As mentioned earlier,
the provision of solid waste equipment was done from the point
of view of the donor agency, instead of the need of the recipient
country. For instance, two large compactor trucks of 8-tonne capacity
each were provided to the capital town of a small island country
where an estimated 7 tonnes per day of solid waste was generated
and there were many narrow streets. In another developing country
where solid waste is wet and has a low calorific value, the construction
of an incinerator was recommended by a group of consultants from
a developed country where incineration is very common. Often,
the appropriateness of a technology to be used in a developing
country is not fully assessed, and the technology is adopted based
on the norm and experience of the donor country.
(e) Social Constraints
In any country, developed or developing,
there are social or cultural norms accepted only by the society.
Such norms affect designs of solid waste management systems. Where
the society allows only a certain social class or group to deal
with solid waste, the availability of work force for solid waste
collection and disposal becomes constrained by this rule. In some
countries, directly handling human waste is a traditional taboo,
which then prohibits the application of co-composting of refuse
and human waste. The lack of understanding of local cultures and
ways of life by the external support agency is often a cause of
failure of a collaborative project.
Communication difficulty was cited as
a constraint earlier. In addition to the language-related communication
problem, the lack of decent attitude and experience of external
consultants in working with officials of developing countries
results in unnecessary tension between the consultants and local
4. KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL COLLABORATION
The discussions in the preceding sections
indicate that there are various constraints faced by both the
recipient and donor countries in developing and implementing sustainable
solid waste management systems. There is no simple measure to
remove or loosen any of these constraints. Some constraints are
harder to remove than others. A multitude of measures are usually
required to produce a successful outcome of a collaborative project.
A mix of some of the following measures or approaches may lead
to a successful outcome.
(a) Packaging External Support
A number of external support agencies
recognize solid waste management as a priority issue in developing
countries and are interested in supporting to improve the situation.
However, their approaches to solving solid waste management problems
in developing countries have been piece-meal and not well coordinated.
Also, their support has been provided mostly on a short-term basis.
These characteristics of external support are inherent in the
organizational mandates and operational modes of the external
support agency, and therefore they cannot be easily changed.
What can be changed, however, is to
combine support from different international aid agencies to make
a collaborative project more comprehensive and long-term/continuous.
This requires better coordination and communication among the
external support agencies and development of partnership among
them, removing the organizational egos and sharing and contributing
their resources to the benefits of the recipient country. The
collaborative project should be designed to improve the solid
waste management situation gradually over a long period, instead
of attempting a quick fix.
(b) Defining Clear Roles of Relevant
Agencies in Developing Countries
Better coordination for effective implementation
of a solid waste management collaborative project is also required
by the various agencies involved in solid waste management in
the recipient country. However, as mentioned earlier, many solid
waste management projects in developing countries suffer from
the lack of coordination among the relevant agencies, which often
results from the lack of clear roles defined for these agencies
in solid waste management. To ensure effective institutional support
for a collaborative project for solid waste management, the roles
and responsibilities of the various agencies involved should be
defined clearly and a coordination mechanism be established. This
can be done without drafting new legislation or amending the existing
one, which is normally a time-consuming exercise in any country.
A working group involving officials from the various agencies
can be set up to discuss initially the roles and responsibilities
of their respective agencies, and the working group can be later
upgraded to an administrative committee or task force.
(c) Developing Human Resources
For sustainable solid waste management
in developing countries, human resource development should always
be part of the external support package. Without local human resources,
a collaborative project initiated by external support will not
be able to continue. To develop human resources with technical
expertise in solid waste management in developing countries, there
are three strategically important groups for external support,
namely (i) key personnel in the national coordinating unit of
the central government; (ii) operational managers of selected
local governments; and (iii) university and other higher educational
institutions. Among these target groups, the strengthening of
human resources in the national coordinating unit and one or two
selected local governments is the first priority and should be
done in short term while support to higher educational institutions
is a long-term programme.
It is the responsibility of the recipient
country to select these potential target groups and improve their
communication abilities. The donor countries should also improve
their human resources in terms of their communication ability
and knowledge of solid waste situation in developing countries.
(d) Supporting Strategic Planning
and Follow-up Implementation
Overall solid waste management plans
at both the national and local levels are essential for utilizing
limited resources most effectively, and providing a frame of reference
for potential external support. Therefore, the formulation of
national and local strategic plans for solid waste management
should be considered at the initial stage of the external support
Realizing the importance of strategic
planning, many external support agencies have supported or are
beginning to support the preparation of overall national and local
plans before providing equipment and facilities. However, the
operation of such technical assistance is often separated from
that of the provision of loans and grants for facilities and equipment.
As a result, the follow-up action to the planning assistance (i.e.,
provision of grants and loans for facilities and equipment) is
delayed or not given at all. Consequently, there are many plans
produced, but they have not been implemented. For the sustainability
of a solid waste collaborative project, it is crucial to provide
external support to follow up on the implementation of the plan
prepared. Here again, the approach of packaging external support
can play a key role.
(e) Developing Self-financing
The governments of developing countries
have limited funds for solid waste management and must develop
measures to reduce and recover the expenditure and increase revenues
where possible. They need to turn their solid waste management
systems to more self-financing programmes. External support can
be effectively used to develop different alternative cost-cutting,
cost-recovering, and revenue-raising schemes (e.g., waste minimization,
deposit-refund system for recyclable materials, import or sales
tax on certain packaged products, collection of user service charges,
etc.) and implement pilot studies on these economic incentive
Private sector participation in solid
waste management collection and disposal services is also a way
to reduce the financial burden of the government. It can draw
not only investment finance from private companies for solid waste
management equipment and facilities, but also managerial expertise
and technical skills. Experiences in developing countries, which
are reported elsewhere3, indicate that privately operated services
are generally more cost-effective than public sector services.
Therefore, the use of private sector resources through a contractual
arrangement provides a potential alternative towards self-financing
solid waste management.
Effective application of economic incentive
measures and private sector resources in solid waste management
requires human resources to design and manage such schemes. Aside
from human resources development in technical aspects of solid
waste management, human resource development in financial planning
and management is necessary and often a key to the development
of more self-financing schemes.
(f) Raising Awareness of the Public
and Decision Makers
Effective management of solid waste
requires the cooperation of the general public. Lifting the priority
of, and allocating more resources to, the solid waste management
sector needs the support from decision makers. It is, therefore,
important to ensure that public and decision makers' awareness
activities are incorporated into the external support package.
The aim of these activities is normally long term and it takes
some momentum to build up before the effects are realized. But,
once the interests of the public and decision makers in improving
solid waste management are created, the sustainability of solid
waste management projects will be significantly improved.
Enhanced awareness of decision makers
may lead to changing national socio-economic and industrial development
policies and associated government programmes in favor of improving
solid waste management systems in developing countries. For instance,
more financial aid and tax incentives may be introduced to encourage
the development of recycling industry and business, or labourer
protection programmes may be provided to improve wages and working
conditions of laborers, including solid waste management workers.
Changing national policies in donor countries could also improve
ways in which their technologies are transferred to recipient
All of the participants took part in
a long and interesting discussion. A number of issues were brought
about during the meeting, some of which did not deal with the
main topic of the event and consequently are not presented herein.
The main conclusions that evolved from
the Round Table were:
- the traditional hierarchy should not
be emphasized for the management of municipal solid waste under
- the implication of privatization of
solid waste services on the hierarchy should be considered;
- the management of industrial wastes
should include cleaner production;
- scavengers or informal waste pickers
should be incorporated into the formal sector and be provided
with sanitary working conditions; - and in the event that waste
reduction and recycling activities are implemented, they should
be promptly rewarded.
Bartone, C.R. 1995. "The role of
the private sector in developing countries: Keys to success. Paper
presented at ISWA Conference on Waste Management - Role of the
Private Sector, Singapore, 24-25 September 1995.