Waste streams and integrated resource recovery systems in developing countries

Final PES covers the period 7/81-12/82 and is based on interviews with project participants and a joint AID-World Bank workshop. The project was a success. The contractor produced a state-of-the-art overview of the technical, financial, and institutional aspects of conventional and nonconventional IRR methods and a case study of IRR"s applicability in Tacloban. Results were disseminated via workshops for local officials in Tacloban and for A.I.D. and World Bank staff in Washington. The reports are being distributed to Philippine government agencies and will become part of the development literature available through A.I.D. The change in case study site from Baruch in Gujarat State, India, caused by overlap with a World Bank project there, had varied effects on project management, but did not substantially affect research outcomes. The contractor"s reports have shown that: (1) the IRR approach, while technically feasible, is severely limited in practice due to institutional and financial (e.g., low market prices for IRR products) constraints; (2) medium-sized LDC cities tend to lack the manpower and skills to operate IRR systems and in addition have a strong tradition of sectoral operation that is difficult to overcome; (3) none of the IRR approaches reviewed in the state-of-the-art paper proved feasible in Tacloban, although several sectoral operations recommended by the contractor (use of biogas digesters, oxidation ponds, a landfill, and pushcarts for waste collection) have been introduced into the contractor"s Managing Energy and Resource Efficient Cities (MEREC) program in that city, and other sectoral approaches such as composting or recycling may prove feasible in the future; and (4) the World Bank has decided to employ single sector methods in its resource recovery program. This exploratory project provided A.I.D., at a modest cost, a solid basis for avoiding further investments until improvements are seen in financial and institutional feasibility.