Municipal Solid Waste Knowledge Platform

Mr. Björn Appelqvist, Project Manager at the Sustainability Unit of the Technical and Environmental Administration, Mrs. Merete Kristoffersen, Head of Unit at the Sustainability Unit of the Technical and Environmental Administration and Mr. Jens Purup, Head of Unit, Waste Management Operations and Procurement Unit of the Technical and Environmental Administration from the City of Copenhagen conducted the first exchange visit of the city exchange programme between the City of Sao Paulo and the City of Copenhagen under the CCAC Municipal Solid Waste Initiative, between October 27th – 30th 2015.

The purpose of the visit was to establish contact between the City of Sao Paulo and the City of Copenhagen for the start-up and continuation of the CCAC City Exchange Programme and to provide the delegation from the City of Copenhagen with first-hand information and experiences related to the solid waste management system of the City of Sao Paulo. 

The visit involved meetings with senior city officials to learn about and discuss the framework, organisation and the future plans for the solid waste management system in the City of Sao Paulo. In addition, the visit included site visits to waste management treatment facilities and a landfill site as well as inspection of waste collection in operation. Finally, a cooperative operating a sorting facility for dry municipal waste from the City of Sao Paulo was also visited and a short meeting was held with the Environmental Agency of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB).  

Observations and reflections from the exchange visit were used for identifying the following potential focus issues for the future work of the city exchange between the City of Sao Paulo and the City of Copenhagen:

• Waste management planning and implementation of the master plan, hereunder implementation plans and focus on efficiency of the collection schemes
• Waste management communication, information and focus on user behaviour as strategic and operational means for fulfilling the goals and purposes of the waste management system as well as to improve the efficiency and acceptance of the system
• Contract strategy and contract management, with focus on contract length versus capital investments and development needs as well as on incentive structures and controlling and performance indicators
• Financing of the waste management system, hereunder fee systems
• How the inclusion of the informal sector is affecting the efficiency and economy of the formal waste management system and how such an inclusion can be made in a way that is beneficial to all parts