Garbage is solid waste generated in human daily life and production. Due to its large discharge volume, complex and diverse components, and polluting features, it needs harmless, resourceful, and proper treatment. In urban areas with concentrated populations and large amounts of waste, how to effectively dispose of waste is an unavoidable and essential issue.

To this end, cities are actively exploring cleaner and greener waste disposal methods by improving waste disposal technologies, building waste recycling systems, and establishing "zero waste cities.", etc. In this edition of "IN FOCUS," we have selected five urban innovation cases to show how they deal with waste to restore the ecology, improve the living environment of residents, or realize resource utilization and a circular economy.

Wuhan, China

The "Rebirth" of Urban Waste Dump – Ecological Restoration Bridging the Social Gaps

The Jinkou Landfill was Wuhan's largest waste disposal site, accumulating significant municipal solid waste. In 2005, the Jinkou Landfill was shut down due to strong opposition from nearby residents. However, the emissions, wastewater, and residue produced by the landfill continued to pollute the air, soil, and groundwater. To restore the ecological environment from the source, the Wuhan Municipal Government has promised citizens a plan: to gradually complete the ecological restoration of abandoned garbage dumps and build a safer, inclusive, and sustainable city and living environment.

The initiative adopts the "crowdfunding + co-construction" model to mobilize stakeholders such as the government, experts, and the public to jointly deal with this large-scale environmental challenge and transform social ecology with natural ecology. The project used more than 1.6 million cubic meters of construction waste to build a landscape mountain, drew water from surrounding lakes to create a landscape lake under the mountain, and built the biggest ecological bridge (220 meters wide) in China, turning the land of decaying garbage into a world-class ecological demonstration park. 

Berhampur, India:

Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in Berhampur

Berhampur is an ancient and densely populated city in Odisha province. Before 2017, the city did not have an underground sewer system, and the toilets were connected directly to septic tanks, thus disposal of faecal sludge, creating health and environmental challenges for the city.

In response, Berhampur passed a resolution to adopt the Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) Regulations 2018, making it mandatory for all cesspool emptier vehicles to dispose faecal waste at the treatment plant. Over 700 women Self-Help Groups have been building sanitary toilets to safely contain faecal waste, promoting mechanized emptying of septic tanks, operating and managing septage treatment plants, and reusing treated sludge.

The initiative has enhanced the incomes of the collectives, ensured community participation and ownership for sustainable FSSM, and promoted women’s empowerment.

City of Cape Town, South Africa

Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) delivered by GreenCape

The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program (WISP) has developed a platform that aids with transforming the largely consumptive and wasteful linear economy model into a more circular economy model. The resource exchanges facilitated by WISP divert waste from landfills, generate financial benefits for members, reduce the carbon intensity of production processes, and create job opportunities, ultimately making the manufacturing sector more competitive and resilient to climate change.

Since its establishment in 2013, it has adopted a more progressive approach beyond landfill diversion to conducting material flow analysis (MFA) on industrial areas to determine opportunities for interventions to increase resource efficiency. It has evolved and its efficiency has improved.

WISP has established its credibility by completing resource exchanges and creating case studies. It gains sustainability by being more capable of attracting new members into the network. Also, the program integrates informal businesses from neighboring communities, like waste pickers, to establish businesses for mutual benefit.

Qalyubeya, Egypt

Integrated Community Based Solid Waste Management

Due to the lack of resources and capabilities to manage garbage effectively, Egypt had only relied on private garbage collectors to recycle the resources in the garbage for a long time. However, this work is often performed under extreme poverty and unhealthy working conditions, with high child labor rates. Against this backdrop, community-based integrated solid waste management projects emerged. The project was jointly initiated and implemented by the government of Kohoso and Kanca City, aiming to solve the problem of garbage disposal in the city, and at the same time, improve the living and working conditions of about 20,000 private garbage collectors living in the two cities.

Non-governmental organizations and private-sector companies jointly implement this initiative. It formalizes private garbage collectors and provides them with motorized tricycles to collect garbage and set up garbage transfer stations. The initiative also engages schools to set up environmental protection groups to publicize the importance of participating in environmental activities and to carry out capacity-building seminars, workshops, and various art activities to convey environmental information through art and demonstrate students' creativity.

Tampere, Finland

Model of the Best Regional Circular Economy Concept for Cities, Companies, and Citizens

The municipalities in Tampere Region have decided that one of the main goals in waste management shall be focusing on the recovery state and costs paid by the customers. To achieve these goals, the local government has commissioned a non-profit company named Tampere Region Solid Waste Management to undertake the waste management tasks in the city. The company also actively operates with private enterprises, and new solutions based on the circular economy have been developed.

What is more, the company has introduced the "polluter pays principle"-- The fees paid by customers for waste collection are utilized for waste management expenses and can also be used for new investments. This approach allows the company to acquire operational funds without increasing municipal taxes.

The benefit of the concept is ensuring cost-efficient waste management and circular economy solutions for the region, continuous development, and avoiding overlapping investments. It is important that the processes with strategic value, such as disposal sites, waste-to-heat, and digestion plants, are in charge of a public entity.