Waste Wise Cities Tool

Many of worlds’ cities, especially in emerging countries, do not have data on municipal solid waste. Their data is not well-collected or monitored, sometimes not updated or have never been assessed. Lack of waste data and their monitoring can lead municipalities to implement inappropriate waste management interventions that might worsen the waste status. To overcome this issue, waste data and waste flow in the cities should be collected and analyzed. Therefore, UN-Habitat has developed a methodology to measure and monitor the municipal solid waste flow in cities.

To address this challenge, the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) developed the “Waste Wise Cities Tool” under the African Clean Cities Platform (ACCP) and Waste Wise Cities (WWC). The Waste Wise Cities Tool is based on the monitoring methodology for waste SDG indicator 11.6.1 and provides an information on waste flows and the amounts in the city. Key data include the amount of waste generated, collected, and managed in controlled facilities. Based on the data assessment and in close coordination with all relevant stakeholders, key interventions areas are identified, and bankable projects are developed. This ensures long-term sustainability of the interventions.

The methodology enabled cities to obtain information on the existing waste management system and to establish strategy, reduce pollution to the urban environment, protect public health and tackle marine litter by knowing the leakages.

The tool was successfully piloted for collecting data in Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya. The data collected in the year 2019 revealed that in Nairobi, 65% Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was collected out of which only 15% of MSW was managed in controlled facility. 1072 tons/day remained uncollected. Similarly, the statistics for Mombasa showed that, 56% of MSW was collected of which only 5% is managed in controlled facilities and 309 tons/day of waste remained uncollected.

These tangible datasets on waste SDGs helped inform the intervention to accelerate the actions on the ground, contributing towards the circular economy. As a result, waste management action plan for Nairobi was prepared and submitted to Executive Office of President. The National Waste Management Bill was also drafted and an Inter-agency task team to tackle municipal solid waste management formed. For Mombasa, a feasibility study for Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) facilities was identified as a key intervention to reduce marine litter. The tool assisted in supporting cities to determine the key areas of intervention, through a participatory approach involving stakeholders in the waste management chain, to identify and develop feasible/ bankable projects.

Currently, the methodology is being implemented in 35 member cities of WWC. Member cities receive the training and remote support to implement it, process and analyze the data. They will also be supported in the organization of a stakeholders’ workshop to present and discuss the results. In parallel, UN-Habitat has developed an online course titled “From data to tangible impact: achieving waste SDGs by 2030”. It includes a step-by-step guide to the WaCT tool and explains how we can use the data collected to plan waste management while engaging local actors or stakeholders throughout the planning process. The course is already available in English and in French and can be accessed through this link.