Municipal Solid Waste Knowledge Platform

On December 3rd- 5th, 2019, representatives from 13 African, Asian and Latin American cities gathered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to participate in the CCAC-C40 Waste Finance Academy Follow Up Event and 2019 C40-CCAC Sustainable Waste Systems Workshop.The event represented another rare opportunity to bring together decision-makers in the municipal waste sector from the biggest city of the developing world. In addition to the seven cities having previously participated at the Waste Finance Academy (Jun 2019, Accra), other six were invited to join the workshop in order to bring in diversity of regions and ideas. The location of this event served as leverage to increase the network presence in Asia including China, South and Southeast Asia. From the 13 cities attending, 10 were represented by Director-level officials, showing their engagement and reliance on C40-CCAC events.The event aimed at developing in-depth insight and experience sharing on solid waste management topics that are of common interest among participating cities, in view of reducing greenhouse gas emissions linked to this sector. Previous city action plans, elaborated in prior in-person events, were re-evaluated in preparation for the event; at the same time, new knowledge gained through peer to peer collaboration was applied to increment these plans or to develop new ones. Stronger relations were also established between cities and momentum was built to work together on key topics that will support the overarching objective of achieving financially sustainable, universal collection and safe disposal of waste across the regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America.The event was organised around four big topics of common interest among participating cities, and the content of sessions was leveraged from their experiences and lessons learned. Waste & Climate Finance, Waste Segregation at Source, Disposal Site Management, and Waste Recovery were the four topics studied throughout the three days via city presentations, subject matter expert’s inputs and group discussions in varied formats.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), approximately one-third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted (FAO 2011). This adds to existing pressures on land, water, and biodiversity and increases greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, affecting local resources and the global environment. Current estimated food loss and waste result in approximately 28% of the world’s agricultural lands being used to produce food that is never consumed by humans; generating about 8% of global GHG emissions annually; and resulting in roughly US$940 billion in economic losses globally per year (FAO 2015)To increase food availability, food loss and waste reduction is in principle far more efficient than expanding food production. The Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns includes a specific target (12.3) to halve per capita global food waste and reduce food losses by 2030. This target can also contribute to achieving other international aspirations, including the Zero Hunger Challenge and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In this context, the Municipal Solid Waste Initiative of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to reduce short-lived climate pollutants  works with its network members and others in preventing and reducing food loss and waste, including by setting up integrated solid waste management systems oriented towards resource and energy recovery. The Initiative promotes diversion of organic waste from landfills, which includes better food waste management through composting and anaerobic digestion, and adopting measures to capture and use methane from landfills and anaerobic digestion plants. These measures are part of the commitments on waste made by the high-level assembly of the CCAC during COP 23 in Bonn.This interactive session aims to inform stakeholders in government, business, academia and civil society about food loss and food waste prevention policies and practices experienced by select members of the CCAC Waste Initiative network.  The session aims to foster discussion on practical measures and policies cities and countries can adopt to implement a food loss and waste reduction programme in their jurisdiction in partnership with all key stakeholders. 

The Municipal Solid Waste Initiative of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and its partners International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and German Environment Agency (UBA) convene a panel of experts to present on waste management models relevant for cities and the private sector in Africa.Planning and monitoring, feasibility and financing, finding the combination of technologies and actors that works; these key factors for a successful implementation of waste projects were discussed. When the landfilling of waste is reduced, and waste is utilized in a different way, the waste sector has a large potential to contribute to greenhouse gas mitigation goals while mobilizing many co-benefits. The panel highlighted opportunities and tools to explore climate cooperation.

Background:The Climate and Clean Air Coalition Municipal Solid Waste Initiative (Waste Initiative) is an international partnership focused on reducing methane, black carbon, and other pollutants emissions from the municipal solidwaste sector. The Waste Initiative launched a Network of Southeast European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian Cities in March 2018 at a workshop in Novi Sad, Serbia. The network, which is implemented by the Serbian Solid Waste Association (SeSWA), focuses on fostering informational exchange and outreach to municipalities in these regions while responding to the demand for knowledge on improved waste management techniques that reduce short-lived climate pollutants.Objectives:This second workshop will consolidate learning from the first workshop and help move concepts towards implementation. It will do this by connecting representatives from cities participating in the regional network withfinancial institutions, donors, and grant-making institutions in an interactive format, thus enabling cities to: Build on previous discussions about strategies designed to promote uptake of new technologies, updating of existing infrastructure, and modification of existing waste management practices.Share information about barriers and opportunities to use internal revenues to enhance the financial sustainability of waste management systems.Learn about opportunities for improving their readiness to access financing from external sources, and understand the processes involved in working with those sources.Participants:The workshop will include cities that participated in the March workshop, plus a select number of others from the SEE, Middle East, and Central Asia regions. Participants will include representatives of local self-government in charge of waste management, technical staff of waste management units, and landfill managers and operators.The workshop will also include participants from international and regional institutions that offer financial support for the implementation of these projects and associated strategies. A strong emphasis will be placedupon making this a participant-centered activity, one that is designed to impart knowledge while offering a direct exchange between cities and lending institutions.Format:This event will build on the action planning activities that were the focus of the March workshop. City representatives will present action plans to highlight priority areas for waste management investment. Using theplans as a foundation, cities will then interact with financial, donor, and grant-making institutions and technical experts to identify opportunities to advance the projects towards implementation. The workshop will involve acombination of technical presentations, case studies, interactive panel discussions, small group work, and matchmaking sessions to convey concepts and establish connections between workshop participants and financialinstitutions.