Success and Sustainability Indicators: A Tool to Assess Primary Collection Schemes

THE FIRST PART of this book demonstrates briefly how to use success and sustainability indicators, and the second part is a case study of Khulna, Bangladesh.
Low-income countries tend to have under-resourced, under-staffed municipalities which are unable to provide adequate waste disposal systems; this means that waste builds up in local areas and on streets, presenting a hazard to local residents. In response to this problem, primary solid waste schemes have been initiated, often managed by NGOs, community groups, micro-contractors or local politicians. However, there are very few tools available for assessing the performance of these schemes.
This book demonstrates one of them, developing a list of indicators which the fieldworker can use as a checklist against which to form a detailed analysis of the project. Separate lists are drawn up to include the issues relevant to each major stakeholder in the schemes; they should also be country and area specific.
A series of tables are set out, demonstrating this principle with indicators to be assessed by users, municipalities, NGOs, CBOs, local politicians, small contractors and sweepers. Guidelines are also given for size and selection of sample groups and use of research methods.
The case study gives some background to the city and describes the scale of solid waste management problems. A project was initiated with a key objective of improving solid waste management systems and also increasing community awareness and participation. A three-year pilot project financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by a local NGO “Prodipan” has led to greatly reduced waste in the streets, and it is this project which is assessed by the book.
The tables shown in the first part of the book are reproduced here and include responses. The users’ table is shown twice, giving separate responses from high-income and low-income users. In conclusion, the book demonstrates that using success and sustainability indicators are a reasonably useful method of assessing a primary collection scheme. Suggestions for revisions have been incorporated here as have the limitations of the study, which are mainly issues of scale. However, it was noted that with a generally successful scheme, it was difficult to determine the importance of each individual indicator. The book finishes with a short bibliography.