Deep Dive # 5: Semi-Aerobic Landfills – The Fukuoka Method

Our past Deep Dive webinars highlighted recovery options for different types of waste – e-waste, organic waste and dry recyclables. Although cities should strive to use these technologies as much as possible, there will almost always be a “rest” (residues/rejects) which will have to be disposed off in an environmentally sound way. One possibility to construct a sanitary landfill is the so-called “Fukuoka Method”, a low-cost safe landfill management method born in Fukuoka City in Japan in the 1960s using natural ventilation mechanism to accelerate the decomposition and stabilisation of waste. The ventilation also reduces the pollution
level of the leachate and reduces greenhouse gas emission compared to conventional anaerobic landfills. This webinar described in details this concept and illustrated it through a case study from Ethiopia.

The webinar is part of a series of Deep Dives into selected waste management technologies, organized by UN-Habitat’s Waste Wise Cities initiative, African Clean Cities Platform and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy, under the Urban Pathways Project.

Recording

Presenters & Presentations

Toshikazu Mito

Yewubsira Yeshiwas

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Deep Dive #4: Materials Recovery Facilities

The Urban Pathways project welcomes you to register to our upcoming webinars on Material Recovery Facilities. Two webinars are being offered on the topic.

  • Waste Technology Deep Dive #4: Materials Recovery Facilities – Technologies (see recording below)
  • Waste Technology Deep Dive #4: Materials Recovery Facilities – Design & Management (see recording below)

These webinars dive deep into Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF), also called Integrated Resource Recovery Centres (IRRC) or Multi Re-use Facilities. The first part will look at the different available types of MRFs and will give an overview of which technologies they use, followed by good practices from South Africa. The second webinar will focus on the design and management of MRFs, followed by a study case from Argentina.

The webinars are part of a series of Deep Dives into selected waste management technologies, organized by UN-Habitat’s Waste Wise Cities initiative, African Clean Cities Platform and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy, under the Urban Pathways Project.

 

 

Recording of Part 1: MRF - Technologies

Presenters & Presentations of Part 1

Richard Chester Emery – JG Africa


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Tawfik Elkheshen – Resource and Waste Adivsory Group (RWA)

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Recording of Part 2: MRF - Design & Management

Presenter & Presentations of Part 2

Silvia de Vaan – SweepSmart

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Melisa Wilkinson – Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

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Waste Wise Education: Exploring Effective Approaches & Best Practices

This webinar provided and demonstrated some tips for general and school waste education for all practitioners and people working in waste management and waste education. Also, it focused on not only providing practical information, but also exploring an effective approach that can be applied for business and social sectors, as well as a theory of the environmental education through the guidebook provided by African Clean Cities Platform, and good practices through Waste Wise Cities.

Global Launch of Waste Wise Cities Tool

In our rapidly urbanizing world that features mostly unsustainable consumption and production patterns, addressing solid waste management and plastic pollution is becoming more pressing than ever before. However, reliable data and information on municipal solid waste generation and management is lacking globally, especially in cities in low- and middle-income countries. This lack of data hinders the development of sustainable solid waste management strategies and constrains investment in infrastructure and service expansion, leading in many countries to insufficient or absent municipal solid waste management services.
As a reply, UN-Habitat with support from the Urban Pathways project has developed the Waste Wise Cities Tool: Step by Step Guide to Assess City Municipal Solid Waste Management Performance through SDG 11.6.1 Indicator Monitoring. SDG indicator 11.6.1 quantifies parameters that will help cities and countries to better manage resources, mitigate and prevent environmental pollution, create business, employment and livelihood opportunities, and shift towards a circular economy.

At this event UN-Habitat, together with our prominent partners, will launched the Waste Wise Cities Tool and discuss how this tool can help tackle the global crisis of waste management and plastic pollution.

Waste Technology Deep Dives

Globally, the solid waste of 3 billion people is not managed in controlled facilities and therefore negatively impacting on the health of the surrounding communities as well as the environment. Assuming an average solid waste generation rate of 0.74 kilogram per person a day, this means that every day 2.2 million tonnes (2,200,000,000 kilograms) of solid waste are either being directly dumped into streets and public spaces, water bodies and forests, or being collected and transported to waste facilities that are not operated or built in an environmentally sound manner. Some of the uncollected or mismanaged waste is finding its way to water bodies, reaching the seas and oceans and contributing to global marine litter pollution. And through fish and similar, they find their way back to our bodies, posing still unknown risks to our health.

In the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the shortcomings of our solid waste management systems become even more apparent, as discarded healthcare waste from households (e.g. used masks and gloves) is mingling with the municipal solid waste stream, and if not properly managed, posing additional health risks. Already before the pandemic it was estimated that in between 400,000 and one million people a year die from diseases caused by mismanaged waste, such as diarrhoea, malaria, heart diseases and cancer. This equals one person dying every 30 to 80 seconds.

In a recent needs assessment study carried out as part of the Waste Wise Cities Programme of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), as well as the African Clean Cities Platform, with officials from local governments and waste management practitioners, the 3rd most cited hindrance for delivering effective solid waste management was “limited knowledge on how to deliver the tasks” (right after lack of financial and human resources respectively). When asked for topics for capacity building, 80% of participating government stakeholders indicated a high interest in waste management operations, and 70% in technologies for waste recovery and recycling.

Therefore, UN-Habitat and the Wuppertal Institute, under the Urban Pathways Project, are diving deep into selected waste management technologies during this webinar series. The presented technologies are supposed to give local and regional government officials, as well as interested stakeholders, an overview of available technology options. However, before implementing technologies, stakeholders should always assess the compatibility with their local situation.

Below you will find information on previous webinars (links open in a new page):

Register below to our upcoming webinar on Material Recovery Facilities – Design and Management, a part of the Waste Technology Deep Dive Series. 

[gotowebinar-reg key=”3195065755241955343″]

Lithium-ion EV battery: e-waste, electric mobility and energy nexus

In observance of International E-Waste Day on 14th October 2020, the Urban Pathways project together with the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative organised the Webinar:

During the webinar four factsheets on lithium-ion batteries identifying synergies between e-waste, electric mobility and energy will be presented. The factsheets cover the four segments of the end-of-life management of electric vehicle batteries: initial battery design, re-purposing in energy storage systems, refurbishing, and recycling. This workshop will be the opportunity to launch the papers and discuss this critical topic. UN-Habitat and UEMI will briefly present the content of the factsheets; stakeholders will then present their activities in the four segments of batteries end-of-life management, finally giving participants the opportunity to exchange, ask questions and give feedback on their experience on the ground.

How to Continue Waste Management Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Webinar Series How to Continue Waste Management Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic While the current COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly spreading in some countries, thus intensifying its impact upon the world’s healthcare systems and economy, it starts to slowly decrease in other countries. During this time, ensuring reliable and safe municipal solid waste management (MSWM) services […]

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