Evaluation Report
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Evaluation Report 1-2-0 Public Participation Model for Waste Management 1 = everyone unites as ONE 2 = TOwards a goal of 0 = ZERO waste Prepared by Dr. Panate Manomaivibool Mae Fah Luang University Commissioned by Ngao Tambon Municipality Mayor, Municipal Clerk and auditing team Executive Summary Everyone generated solid waste every day but traditionally it was left to a municipality’s responsibility to manage it. To handle 10 tons of daily waste was a challenge for Ngao Tambon Municipality (NTM). In the past, waste that was disposed of at 18 local dumpsites creating environmental problems and public nuisances. The situation got worse when waste was burnt to clear the space. But, the municipality had a budget constraint to invest in waste collection and waste disposal that would have to come at the expense of other development projects. 1-2-0 is an inclusive public participation model for sustainable solid waste management. It was based on the observation that from its composition: 60% organic, 14% recyclable, 1% hazardous, and 25% other, waste should not be wasted. And, the municipality should not further waste public money trying to collect all for disposal. It was far better to design a model that could encourage all stakeholders to separate and utilize these resources. The Ngao model consisted of 3 steps to promote source separation. The first step was to have households composting organic waste in their own backyard by introducing simple yet effective equipment. The second step was to support local groups to create jobs and incomes from recycling. The third step was to establish a social norm of source separation in all villages through monitoring. After these three steps, most of waste would be reduced or used in productive activities. When everyone is taking up the responsibility to manage every waste, the municipality could then focus on the management of high-impact items such as hazardous waste and have a complete system despite its limited resources. The initiative has enabled NTM to reduce the amount of solid waste to final disposal by 85% and produced various health and environmental benefits. The initiative has won many awards and recognized as an example of sustainable solid waste management in both local and national levels. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problems ....................................................................................... 2 2. The Initiative ..................................................................................... 4 2.1 Concepts ....................................................................................... 4 2.2 Objectives ..................................................................................... 4 2.3 The Ngao Model ........................................................................... 5 3. Implementation .................................................................................. 8 3.1 Organization ................................................................................. 8 3.2 Roles and Responsibility ............................................................. 10 3.3 Resources ..................................................................................... 12 4. Results .............................................................................................. 14 4.1 Effectiveness ................................................................................ 14 4.2 Benefits ........................................................................................ 16 4.3 Awards and Recognitions ............................................................ 17 4.4 Outreach ....................................................................................... 20 5. Epilogue ............................................................................................ 23 5.1 Sustainability ............................................................................... 23 5.2 Lessons Learned .......................................................................... 24 1. Introduction 1.1 Background Ngao Tambon Municipality (NTM) is a local government in the suburban areas of Thoeng District, Chiang Rai Province in the North of Thailand. It was promoted from a sub-district administrative organization (SAO) into a class-3 municipality1 in 2009. It has the land area of 88.4 km2 and population of 9,597 of which 51% are female. The sub-district consisted of 20 villages and 3,755 households. Moo 7 Moo 1 Moo 19 Moo 11 Moo 8 Moo 1 Moo 13 Moo 18 Moo 4 Moo 2 Moo 14 Moo 12 Moo 3 Moo 15 Moo 20 Moo 9 Moo 17 Moo 6 Moo 5 Moo 16 Moo 10 Mr. Sawart Chaidarun is the present mayor of Ngao. The municipality has in total 46 officers and employees headed by Mr. Tortrakul Wanasorn, the municipal clerk. There are 5 divisions in the municipality: the office of municipal clerk, the division of finance, the division of public works, the division of public health and environment, and the internal control unit. NTM has the annual budget of 50 1 There are three classes of municipalities in Thailand: a nakorn municipality (pop.>50,000 and density 3,000 inh/km2), a muang municipality (pop.>10,000 and density 3,000 inh/km2 or the center of a province that is not a nakorn municipality), and a tambon municipality (pop.>7,000 and density 1,500 inh/km2). 1 million THB (1.6 million USD) of which four fifth are salaries and transfer money by functions from the national government. The effective budget that the municipality can allocate to investment, services and other development projects is around 10 million THB per year. 1.2 Problems Solid waste was an important environmental health problem in Ngao Sub- district. Changes in lifestyle and urbanization had led to a rising in the amount of solid waste. According to the Chiang Rai Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment2, on average everyone in Chiang Rai generated 0.93 kg of solid waste per day in 2013. This was a significant increase from the waste generation rate of 0.62 kg per person per day in 20043. In the past, solid waste was disposed in local dumpsites. The 18 dumpsites in Ngao Sub-district became major sources of pollution. Garbage was also littered along the streets and some found their way into streams and other water bodies. In addition to global impacts like climate change, there were local impacts like a risk of toxic contamination because every waste was mixed together including hazardous items without proper sorting. Insanitation also represented a threat to public health as a pile of waste could be a breeding ground of diseases and vectors. Environmental problems at the local dumpsites in the past 2 Chiang Rai Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment. 2014. Waste Management Master Plan, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Rai: the Chiang Rai Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment (in Thai). 3 Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. 2004. Final Report: Project on the Survey and Composition Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste in Thailand. Pollution Control Department, Bangkok (in Thai). 2 An investment in hard infrastructures for municipal solid waste management (MSWM) would put a heavy burden on NTM. It would need 5 garbage trucks if the 10 tons of solid waste that was generated in the areas must be collected for disposal according to the Public Health Act, B.E. 2535 (1992). The initial investment would cost 28 million THB and the operating costs could be as high as 3.5 million THB per year4. It would not be possible to recover the cost through a monthly waste collection fee which was fixed at maximum at 40 THB per household by the Public Health Act. Besides the high price tag, the siting of a common waste disposal facility was a major issue and likely to encounter fierce opposition from nearby communities. 4 Manomaivibool, P. and Dokmaingam, P. 2017. Final Report: The Review of Solid Waste Management Cost and the Life Cycle Assessment of Solid Waste Management Systems: Principles and Customization for Local Governments in Thailand. Bangkok: Thailand Research Fund (in Thai). 3 2. The Initiative 1-2-0 is a new and inclusive model for MSWM. NTM initiated the program in the fiscal year (FY) 2014. Since then, it has encouraged people’s participation and ensures that everyone makes proper contributions to make the management of every type of waste more sustainable. 2.1 Concepts The initiative is guided by the so-called waste management hierarchy. Waste reduction is given the first priority. Then, methods to turn waste into useful products and materials like reuse, upcycling, recycling and composting are preferred. The remaining waste is then disposed of safely to limit the impacts to the public health and environment. 2.2 Objectives The initiative has 4 main objectives: 1. Reduce the amount of waste for final disposal and close down dumpsites. Dumpsites are important sources of pollution. The diversion of waste will improve the environmental health in the sub-district. 2. Ensure that all villages in the sub-district equally contribute to solving the problem. Everyone generates waste; so, it is fair that all villages must 4 manage their own waste. No party, not even the municipality, will be asked to shoulder all the responsibility. 3. Encourage households to participate in making decisions, taking actions and sharing benefits. The details