People’s Republic of China FY 2017 Ex-Post Evaluation of Japanese ODA Loan “Anhui Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Project” External Evaluators: Toshihiro Nishino, Miho Sakuma, International Development Center of Japan Inc. 1. Summary The objective of this project is to promote the proper handling of the household solid waste generated in the regional cities of Anhui Province (7 prefectural cities and counties) by the construction of a solid waste treatment system, thereby contributing to environmental conservation and improvements in the living environments and sanitary conditions of local residents. The project conforms to the policies for household solid waste management of the Chinese Central Government and the Anhui Provincial Government. It is in line with China's developmental needs, such as the construction of an efficient solid waste treatment system and improvements in the sanitary conditions and living environments of regional cities in the province. It has been also relevant to Japan's ODA policy. Therefore, its relevance is high. Evaluation team assess the efficiency of the project as a whole to be fair, since the project cost was reduced commensurate to changes in project outputs, but the project period exceeded the planned duration due to newly required permits resulting from changed national standards for leachate treatment equipment. Additionally, as a result of setting up the basic facilities and equipment needed for municipal solid waste management, the operation and effect indicators (volume of sanitary landfill processed, post-treatment leachate BOD/COD concentration, harmless treatment rate of household solid waste, number of beneficiaries, etc.) at ex-post evaluation all achieved the target values set during the project appraisal. In addition, evaluation team verified a wide range of qualitative effects with respect to "promoting proper handling of the solid waste generated in target areas," such as (1) swift collection of household solid waste, (2) proper final disposal, (3) promoting higher-level treatment of household solid waste, (4) encouraging the management of household solid waste in rural areas, and (5) elevated solid waste management standards. There was also a remarkable impact with regard to "improvements in the living environments and sanitary conditions of residents in the target areas", consisting of (1) improvements in the residential environment and landscape, and (2) improvements in the water quality of rivers and water sources. Evaluation team also observed contributions by this project to the cultivation of industries related to municipal solid waste management, and increased employment opportunities in jobs related to municipal solid waste management. Therefore, Evaluation team believe the project has a high level of effectiveness and impact. Evaluation team also believe it to have high sustainability, given the excellent operation and maintenance of the equipment and 1 facilities, and the absence of problems from institutional, technical or financial aspects. In light of the above, this project is evaluated to be highly satisfactory. 2. Project Description Huaibei Bozhou Suzhou Bengbu Fùyang Huainan Chuzhou Hefei Luan Maanshan Tongling Wuhu Anqing Xuancheng Chizhou Huangshan Project Locations Transfer station set up for the current project (Yè jí ) 2.1 Background In the Tenth National Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection (2001-2005), the Chinese government constructed an efficient waste management system (separated collection, storage/transportation, and treatment), prioritized the reduction and reuse/recycling of solid waste, and promoted the harmless treatment1 of municipal solid waste (MSW) and centralized safe management of hazardous waste. However, the state of China's municipal solid waste was such that the treatment capacity could not keep up with the rate of waste generation. Although there has been growth in harmless treatment facilities such as sanitary landfills and incineration plants, with the number of locations increasing to 471 nationwide and the processing capacity to 256,300 tonnes/day (annual volume of harmless treatment at 80.51 million tonnes), the volume of collected and transported waste reached 156 million tonnes/year in 2005, while the harmless treatment rate for 2005 decreased from the previous year to 51.7%. Given these circumstances, The Outline of the Eleventh National Five-Year Plan for Economic & Social Development aimed to increase the construction of MSW treatment facilities as part of its environmental conservation efforts, and set targets to raise the harmless treatment rate above 60% by 2010. Infrastructural development related to solid waste management in Anhui Province was delayed significantly, as initiatives for solid waste management started relatively late. The municipal solid waste generated in 2005 was 5.02 million tonnes annually. Even in urban 1 Harmless treatment in China refers to the following 3 processes: sanitary landfill, composting, and incineration. 2 areas the harmless treatment rate stagnated at 17.6%, making it the third worst province after Shanxi and Gansu. The common practices in most areas of the province were treatment at simple landfill facilities which did not meet the national standards, open-air dumping and open-air burning among others, causing serious detrimental impacts on the soil, rivers, groundwater, air, etc. Therefore, there was great urgency to the construction of new sanitary landfill facilities and the improvement of sanitary conditions and living environments in the regional provincial cities. 2.2 Project Outline The objective of this project is to promote the proper handling of the household solid waste generated in the regional cities of Anhui Province (7 prefectural cities and counties 2) by constructing a solid waste treatment system, thereby contributing to environmental conservation and improvements in the living environments and sanitary conditions of local residents Loan Approved 6.8 billion yen / 5.188 billion yen Amount/Disbursed Amount Exchange of Notes Date/ December 2007 / December 2007 Loan Agreement Signind Date Terms and Conditions Interest rate 0.65% Repayment period 40 years (Grace period 10 years) Conditions for General Untied procurement Borrower/ Executing Agency The Government of People’s Republic of China / The People’s Government of Anhui Province Project Completion August 2015 Main Contractor - Main Consultant - Related Studies (Feasibility F/S conducted by Shanghai Municipal Engineering Studies, etc.) Design General Institute (March 2007) Related Projects - 2 Lu’an City, Huoshan County, Huo Qiu County, Yè jí Zone (Huoshan County, Huo Qiu County, and Yè jí Zone are administrative districts of the city of Lu’an), Huainan City, Suzhou City, and Tongling City. 3 3. Outline of the Evaluation Study 3.1 External Evaluators Toshihiro Nishino and Miho Sakuma (International Development Center of Japan Inc.) 3.2 Duration of Evaluation Study The ex-post evaluation study was conducted with the following schedule. Duraion of the Study: July, 2017 – March, 2019 Duraion of the Field: October 29, 2017 – November 11, 2017; January 21-25, 2018 3.3 Constraints during the Evaluatiom Study Evaluation team had planned to conduct interviews with beneficiaries of the project as well as residents who had been resettled due to the construction of the sanitary landfills, arbitrarily selecting residents from the directory to ensure objectivity. However, in China even government research institutes have not been able to use this sampling method to solicit opinions from ordinary citizens; neither did the executing agencies in the prefectural cities/counties have any experience implementing this method. Therefore, evaluation team designated place of residence, gender, age, and other requests (for example, ordinary citizens with no governmental affiliation), and allowed the executing agencies in each prefectural city/county to select the subjects.3 Therefore, the interview survey results may not entirely represent the opinions of all beneficiaries. 4. Results of the Evaluation (Overall Rating: A 4) 4.1 Relevance (Rating: ③ 5) 4.1.1 Consistency with the Development Plan of People’s Republic of China As evidenced by the Tenth National Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection (2001–2005) and the Outline of the Eleventh National Five-Year Plan for Economic & Social Development (2006–2010), the Chinese Government’s developmental plans have emphasized environmental issues (including waste management) as a priority policy while this project was at the time of appraisal. Given the shortage in the absolute number of municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment facilities, the plans stressed the increased construction of facilities and the efficient waste management system building (comprised of separated collection, and storage/transportation), and improvements in the harmless treatment rate of municipal solid wast as a result of the efficient waste management system. The subsequent National Five-Year Plans have also consistently 3 Interviews were conducted with about 10 resettled residents (roughly 40% women) in Lu'an City, Huoshan County, and Yè jí Zone. 4 A: Highly satisfactory, B: Satisfactory, C: Partially satisfactory s, D: Unsatisfactory 5 ③: High, ②:Fair, ①: Low 4 focused on the construction of an efficient waste management system and improvements in the harmless treatment rate of municipal solid waste. However, given some progress in the construction of MSW treatment plants, the plans and policies during