Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Digitalization for Municipal Solid Waste Management
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
EXPLORATORY
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is that most of the solid waste accumulating in Lilongwe City is not collected or recycled.
Malawi has one of the fastest urbanization rates at 4.19% per annum. Like all fast-urbanizing cities, Lilongwe City is challenged by accumulation of waste due to high urbanization and limited resources and coordination of their public services. As of June 2021, the Lilongwe City Council and private waste collectors were routinely collecting only 25% of the generated solid waste.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
The city councils are struggling to collect waste from residential areas, institutions and other communal points within the city. Inadequate financing limits the council from investing in equipment and vehicles to achieve adequate waste collection and disposal. There's a plethora of small-scale private waste collectors and recyclers who do not always officially work with the council. Financing and collaboration are some of the challenges facing the private players.
Support from UNDP Malawi and other donor agencies introduced waste transfer stations in five communities to empower communities to reduce and manage waste that goes to dumpsites and create employment for youth and women through recycling and compost manure making. Challenges of foul smell, poor quality of compost and poor waste collection and management of the transfer stations has left the project unattractive to communities. Waste management privatization has been partially done in most of the city councils although private waste collectors (largely informal) are only filling part of the gap due to technical and operational challenges. Coordination among waste generators (households, institutions), waste collectors and recyclers who create and sell products remains very weak. Technology, innovations and behaviour change interventions to create critical mass for shifting civic perceptions and action in reduction and management of waste are inadequate. Lastly, we lack structured markets for organic waste products like composted manure. Opportunities exist, however, for innovative recycling of waste.
The accumulated waste in markets and other collection points reduces the attractiveness and conduciveness of the city for business and health living which is leading to reduced revenue collection of the city council and increased spreading of diseases. Service providers in the city default their payment to the council citing inefficient services like waste collections. In the current cholera outbreak, Lilongwe is one of the top three districts with the highest number of cases that are accounting for almost 50% of total cases and over 50% of total cholera deaths in Malawi as of February 2023.
https://reliefweb.int/report/malawi/malawi-cholera-flash-appeal-2023-february-june-2023
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
While the Lilongwe City is now increasing the amount of waste collected, almost doubling from 22% to 43% between 2020 and 2021, the increase is due to a one-off hiring of specialised vehicles (front-end loaders and tippers) to clear accumulated waste in April. Otherwise, the routine collection between July 2020 and June 2021 accounted for 25.1%.
Source: Lilongwe City Council's Progress Report: Implementation of the Lilongwe City Council Strategic Plan July 2020 to June 2021, https://lcc.mw/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/PROGRESS-REPORT-SP-IMPLEMENTATION-1.pdf
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
Leveraging on the convening power of the CO-able to bring diverse players together. Ability to tap into other sources of funding to revive discussions on waste being a challenge that has already attracted enormous funding, donor interest without much gain. Ability to tap into the global lab network for solutions and strategies to enhance learning at local level.
The lab is also uniquely positioned to test novel approaches from local researchers, such as the use of embedded sensors to detect and report levels of waste in a bin.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
UNDP Malawi Accelerator Lab is leveraging its partnership with academia to test digital solutions for improving waste management in Lilongwe. The solutions include mobile apps, a digital system for call centre services, and an Internet-of-Things innovation.
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
University of Malawi
What sector does our partner belong to?
Academia
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
Developed mobile apps and an Internet of Things innovation to enhance data collection (citizen generated data), data sharing and engagement of players in the ecosystem.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Lilongwe City Council
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
Identified sites to test smart trashcans and facilitated their deployments. Reviewed and tested prototypes and early versions the mobile apps.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS)
What sector does our partner belong to?
Academia
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
To support design and fabrication of Smart Skip-bins though its university innovation pod (UNIPOD).
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
We want to know if mobile-based digital tools for facilitating waste collection and recycling services, can reduce the amount of unmanaged waste in an urban community.
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Test
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Design sprints: Smart Trashcan innovation will be redesigned using iterative design sprints for to adapt the technology for skip bins.
Data visualization: Waste data will be visualised on dashboards
Prototyping: A prototype of the redesigned Smart Skip bin will be tested at University of Malawi campus.
Behavioral Insights: to learn what nudges people in the communities to start segregating waste at source and if digital systems can nudge waste collectors to collect waste timely.
Pilots: tests the efficacy of compost manure on plots; observe Smart trashcans in the field. Prototyping: develop iterations on Smart Trashcans based on feedback from the pilot.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
To understand quantity and type of waste generated at each households and analyze trends. Also check the response rate of the service providers. Understand what strategies / policies lead to behaviour change especially around segregating waste at source
Sensor and sensor network data: Internet of Things (IoT) devices with sensors detect level of waste in trash cans. Mobile phone data: Level of waste in trash cans is transmitted to a dashboard using 2G mobile network.
Geospatial data: Location of the bin is recorded and sent to a dashboard for monitoring and management. App data: households and waste collectors will use a mobile app to request and respond to waste services. Observation: Field visits to observe status and operation of Smart Trashcans.
SMS Surveys: data collected from a SMS survey will be analysed to understand how households handle waste. Scientific research: A university will research the efficacy of compost manure and analyse attitudes and perceptions for farmers.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
City councils, UNICEF, Department of Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Local Government.
END OF ACTION LEARNING PLAN: Thank you! The form saves automatically and your submission has been recorded. You may now exit this window.
3Good health and well-being
11Sustainable cities and communities
12Responsible consumption and production
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