Intervention strategy and partners
The intervention strategy is based on a two-track approach by promoting resource recovery as viable business model and at the same time reducing or eliminating health risks associated with the use of the recovered waste.
1.Business model development and feasibility testing
One of the reasons for the limited economic viability and up-scaling of RRR initiatives is that local entrepreneurs usually lack the skills for proper business planning and fail to assess factors necessary for the sustainability of their businesses from a multi-criteria point-of-view. The project started by identifying over 100 existing or emerging reuse cases in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Fifty (50) of these cases are been analyzed in depth to assess their performance using a multi-criteria framework from which business models will be developed and the most promising and/or scalable ones tested for their application potential, scalability and robustness. Baseline surveys guided the selection of Hanoi, Bangalore, Kampala and Lima as favorable cities for the feasibility testing of the business models. Based on the feasibility studies in these cities, the business model catalogue will be updated.
2. Public Health protection and Sanitation Safety Planning
Unsafe use of wastewater and excreta poses significant public health and environmental risks, such as exposure to microbial or chemical contaminants. In 2006, WHO published guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater in agriculture/ aquaculture, including a methodology to prevent the transmission of disease. However, the implementation of this approach is challenged by inadequate local policy and institutional frameworks and poor capacities at local level, especially in developing countries. In parallel, a Sanitation Safety Plan (SSP) manual is being developed to facilitate the implementation of the 2006 Guidelines in low-income countries. The draft manual is being tested with institutional partners in the four feasibility cities. The SSP approach also guides the health risk assessment and identification of mitigation measures for the business models and their feasibility testing.
Implementation Approach…
The project will run for 6 years. The first three years of the program will be devoted for research whilst the latter years will be for implementation.
