Transcript AGRICULTURAL WASTE MANAGEMENT AND WASTE …

AGRICULTURAL WASTE
MANAGEMENT AND WASTE
MANAGEMENT
ISSUES FOR THE PACIFIC
and its IMPACT ON THEIR
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Information relating to Pacific SIDS
Agricultural Waste programmes has been
documented by a number of agencies
• SPREP Annual Reports and
International Waters Project
• UNEP – Review of Current Waste
Management Practices and Existing
Guidelines
• SOPAC – waste water systems
(South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission)
WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL
WASTE?
• Agricultural waste for Pacific SIDS is
recognized as:
– By product from agriculture produce e.g coconut
husk or coconut shells that can be transformed
into crafts, or charcoal for barbecue fires.
– Using an agricultural product such as Hyacinth for
composting and as a pig food ingredient in Fiji
– Mulching leaves, twigs for composting e.g. Palau,
Fiji and Cook Islands
– Processing the end product of an agricultural
produce e.g. Copra oil
COPRA OIL BIOFUEL
• Pacific Islands are studying bio and locally available alternatives to the
use of fossil fuel (majority of islands use diesel driven electricity
generators)
• The first long-term experiment on biofuel for electricity generation was
done in Ouvéa, New Caledonia, and two pilot plants have been set up
in Fiji recently.
• In the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu, the local oil mills are currently
engaging on testing the viability of using copra oil for power generation
and its use in transportation.
• Kiribati is going to open a new oil mill that it plans to use copra oil for
soap production, cosmetics, etc, and to replace fossil fuel, where
feasible.
• In Vanuatu a hundred public transports including some private vehicles
are running on coconut oil. The concept of using copra oil as bio-fuel is
not new but it has to be continued, making use of the earlier
experiences, and leading to a competitive use of copra oil as compared
with fossil fuel.
COPRA OIL BIOFUEL
• Cook Islands through Tom Wichman conducted tests in 1999.
Although not successfully completed because of high cost, it
demonstrated the fact this would be an alternative energy
source to wind and solar for electricity generation, especially in
the Cook Islands Northern Group islands where there is an
abundance of copra.
• These initiatives and information exchange is via a network of
information with the South Pacific Community who are
promoting and coordinating a Regional Network for research
and development on biofuel energy from coconut oil.
COPRANET
• Copra Oil for Power as a Renewable Alternative NETwork) at
http://www.spc.int/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?join=copranet
Other integrated biosystems
include
• Animal waste from pigs which is gravity fed to a biodigester with wash water and the gas production is used
for cooking e.g. Cook Islands experiment in 1999 and Fiji
Mountfort Boys town by Professor George Chan of Japan
which was very successful
• Samoa since 2000 – there has been a study to use
aquatic plants for the treatment of brewery ‘waste and to
investigate how spent grains and yeast can be used in
poultry feed, in addition to mushroom cultivation. The
project was funded by SIDA and executed by the
Department of Biotechnology, Royal Institute of
Technology (KTH), Stockholm, in co-operation with the
USP-Alafua Campus (scavenger chicken project); and
Vailima Brewery (‘waste’ water treatment project)
Bio Fuel Experiments and
Lessons Learnt for Sustainable
Development
• Lack of structured management in some of the pilot
projects
• Cost of testing and limited ongoing funding
• Technology is still not reliable
• Requires a committed private sector partner or long term
commitment from Governments
• Regional organization support and Donor funding where
possible
• Building capacity in the region
• Supportive institutional arrangements to make them work
• Technical experts to document the tests fully.
Issues about waste in order
to achieve sustainable
development goals
• Waste starts with communities
– It has to be personalised and localised. Waste starts
with people living in communities and the solution will
have to be found there
• Who pays?
– must take into account the likely inability of low income
families to make regular cash contributions which
indicates an economic imperative to develop low cost
options
– Must see any benefits accruing back to the community
directly
Issues about waste in order
to achieve sustainable
development goals
• Who will do the work?
– PIC’s have limited technical staff who have the capacity to carry out
the work necessary
• Who will make the decisions?
– Efficient institutional arrangements to ensure, regular collections
and maintenance with clear roles and functions allocated to the
various agencies – most Governments in PIC’s encourage
coordination and sharing of information
– Lack of coordination can lead to duplication of effort by various
agencies as well as by Donors
– Land issues in PIC’s where land is customary owned therefore there
could be protracted negotiations.
Issues about waste in order
to achieve sustainable
development goals
• What do people think?
– Although PIC’s may be similar in some respects their
communities are unique and diverse –
communicating the issues of waste is an important
aspect of implementing waste management
strategies.
Options for addressing the
waste management problems
In Pacific SIDS
IMPORTANT TO NOTE
• The situation in each country is invariably different
and requires the development of a specific strategy /
plan (solution) to improve the situation.
• Each country is unique
• However waste is a transboundary issue – poor
waste practices on one island will have an impact on
another island.
Options for addressing the
waste management problems
In Pacific SIDS
• Three of the most critical aspects that need to be
addressed to maximise the chances of success of the
plan are
– ownership of the plan through a structured
community awareness and education program
– developing effective institutional arrangements,
sound practical legislation, regulations and
policies
– and developing and implementing a mechanism
for generating sustainable funding for waste
management services and infrastructure
WHERE ARE PACIFIC SIDS
TODAY
• The Pacific SIDS are fortunate in that
waste management issues have been
identified as potentially having major
impacts on the health, the environment
and the economies within the region.
Regional and UN agencies have
responded in developing the following
waste management guidelines for
Pacific SIDS.
WHERE ARE PACIFIC SIDS
TODAY
• This is mainly due to the efforts of SPREP (solid and
hazardous wastes) and SOPAC (sanitation and
wastewater) in identifying waste management as a
potential major problem within the region and developing
guidelines for sound waste management.
• These organizations have developed programmes and
acquired funding to address waste management
problems that could otherwise have severe impacts on
public health, the environment and economic growth.
• The other two regional organizations that play an
important role are:
– South Pacific Community (SPC)
– Forum Secretariat (Leaders of Pacific Countries Forum)
Recycling Activities in
selected Pacific SIDS
Regional Waste Management
Issues for Pacific SIDS
• Insufficient government priority and political
support
• Insufficient practical legislation, regulations,
design standards and guidelines, monitoring
and enforcement
• Insufficient data to allow efficient planning
and management
• Insufficient infrastructure
• Lack of short and long term planning
Regional Waste Management
Issues for Pacific SIDS
• Lack of skilled personnel
• Lack of public awareness of problems caused
by poor waste management and consequent
lack of public education on what they can
easily do to avoid many of the current
problems
• Lack of finance
• A particular lack of guidelines, procedures
and policy for the treatment and disposal of
hazardous wastes.
Regional Waste Management
Issues for Pacific SIDS
• Most of the above issues are cross
cutting and inter related. To implement
any of the above you must have finance
and government support. To get
government support and finance you
need data and skilled personnel to
develop efficient planning and
management strategies.