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Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed.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.
Learnings on your challenge
What are the top 5 key insights you generated about your frontier challenge during this Action Learning Plan?
The top 5 key insights we generated from this exploration are: 1. There are requirements of local level guidelines and national policies to promote the potential of waste to energy and upcycling of plastic waste through recyclable and non-recyclable materials. 2. There are potential markets on waste enterprises but they require support on creating business model to promote waste upcycling business as a dignified enterprise. 3. There is a possibility of promoting Refused Derived Fuel in cement factory clinkers from the non-recyclable plastics. However, national approval and guidelines are essential. All our exploratory studies and test results on plastic bricks and Refused Derived Fuel have been submitted to the Department of Environment under Ministry of Forest and Environment to initiate the dialogue on creating feasible environment on bringing waste plastics into circular economy. 4. We explored the possibility of plastic mixed bricks and tested its viability in comparison to normal bricks. The compressibility test has been approved by the lab of Pokhara Metropolitan City office. As a result, a demonstration toilet was constructed from these bricks and handed over the lab of Metropolitan City. However, the cost is almost similar to normal bricks and it might be challenging for these bricks to compete with the already existing market. 5. There is a whole lot of exploration yet to be done on the effects of micro-plastics, especially after being upcycled.
Please paste the link(s) to the blog(s) that articulate the learnings on your frontier challenge.
1. https://www.np.undp.org/content/nepal/en/home/blog/2020/Plastic-Waste-Management.html
2. https://www.np.undp.org/content/nepal/en/home/blog/2021/Diving-Deeper-to-Understand-the-Driving-Forces-for-Plastic-Waste-Management.html
3. https://www.np.undp.org/content/nepal/en/home/blog/2021/The-Feasibility-of-Non-Recyclable-Plastic-Waste-to-End-Uses.html
Did you experience any barriers or bottlenecks when impacting the system, working on your frontier challenge respectively?
1. The local governments are eager to work but reluctant to invest and test the idea at the same time. It took us lots of efforts and series of bilateral discussions to bring the LGs on board. Since the process was too time-consuming while bringing onboard local government formally through agreements, we partnered with the local organizations and private sectors to initiate the coordinating and mediating roles. 2. Most of the times the research studies are not taken seriously since they do not directly contribute to tangible results. Hence, the exploratory research are linked up with experiments and creating prototypes so that we have a complete learning cycle and at the same time could contribute to scaling up if there is potential.
For this frontier challenge, how much of your time did you dedicate to the stages in the learning cycle? Please make sure that your answers adds up to 100%.
Data and Methods
Relating to your types of data, why did you chose these? What gaps in available data were these addressing?
1. Geospatial data: The GIS map that we have created for each urban municipality have helped us visualize the current scenario for each municipality. This mapping has helped us as well as the local government on understanding the composition of plastic waste generated at the local level, which will further guide on proposing relevant solutions as per the local need. 2. Direct Interviews: We have conducted direct interviews with the focal persons of each urban municipality and 53 private plastic production companies to sense and explore the potential causes and effect of plastic waste. This has helped us understand the actual scenario at the local level. 3. Surveys: Without understanding where we stand in terms of managing this complex issue, it was difficult to know from where to start. Hence, surveys have been the primary data source for us to unpack emerging questions in terms of analyzing the gaps and tap the areas of interest of the local government. We have also conducted surveys in terms of market feasibility for both plastic bricks and Refused Derived Fuel. 4. Primary Data: Due to the lack of secondary information on plastic waste and its potential use for circular economy, we gave preferred primary data sources and conducted three research studies backed by testing and experimentation on the feasibility of converting non-recyclable plastics into bricks and fuel for large factories.
Why was it necessary to apply the above innovation method on your frontier challenge? How did these help you to unpack the system?
1. Collective Intelligence: We conducted one virtual session involving local governments, private sectors and civil society organizations and second with the youths on exploring potential ideas to manage plastic waste. Among various ideas, we explored and tested the possibility of plastic bricks and refused derived fuel (RDF) after receiving positive response from the local governments. 2. Randomized Controlled Trials: During the exploration of plastic bricks and RDF, we conducted a series of controlled trials at the technical laboratory of Pokhara Metropolitan City (PMC) Office for Plastic Bricks and laboratory of Centre for Energy and Environment Nepal (CEEN) for RDF testing. Once we receive the optimum positive test, we finally processed for prototyping. 3. Prototyping: After a series of iteration on the designs and approval from the laboratory technicians, a prototype was finally prepared. We constructed a demonstration toilet made out of plastic bricks which was handed over to PMC office while the prototype of RDF was used as fuel in claycraft factories for emission test.
Partners
If applicable, what civil society organisations did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We partnered with Centre for Energy and Environment Nepal (CEEN) to prototype the RDF, construct a locally made shredding machine and conduct an emission test along with market feasibility research for the RDF.
If applicable, what academic partners (and related institutions) did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
If applicable, what private sector partners did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We were able to partner with three private sectors. 1. We worked with Bikash Udyami Private Limited to conduct the research, especially to collect data from the field, on exploring the avenues of plastic waste management. 2. We partnered with Green Roads Waste Management Private Limited to explore and test the possibility of plastic mixed bricks. We were able to prototype the bricks, conduct its compressibility test and after the positive results, coordinated with Pokhara Metropolitan City Office to construct a demo-toilet made out of these bricks. 3. In partnership with Avni Ventures, we were able to conduct an assessment on the viability of using non-recyclable plastics in cement factories and its viable market along with the potential cost for Multi-Layered Plastic (MLP) segregation.
If applicable, what government partners (and related institutions) did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
We collaborated with Pokhara Metropolitan City Office to test the plastic bricks in their laboratory and got their approval on using these bricks to construct a demonstration toilet, designed by their engineers, at their premises.
Relating to your answers above: who of the partners listed were new and unusual partners for UNDP, and what made them special?
The private sectors are unusual partners for UNDP since this is the first time that they worked with us to prototype and test these new concept and idea.
If applicable, which UN internal partners did you actually work with and what did you do with them?
End
Bonus question: How did the interplay of innovation methods, new forms of data and unusual partners enabled you to learn & generate insights, that otherwise you would have not been able to achieve?
We were able to work with local enterprises and organizations who knew the local context and backgrounds very well. Though the processes were time consuming at the initial stages, reaching out to the champions from the local government was much more smoother which made the exploratory processes and acceptance to the tests and experiments more feasible at the later stages.
Please upload any further supporting evidence / documents / data you have produced on your frontier challenge that showcase your learnings.
1. https://www.np.undp.org/content/nepal/en/home/library/crisis_prevention_and_recovery/exploring-the-avenues-for-plastic-waste-management.html 2. 2. https://undp-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/purnima_bajracharya_undp_org/EcbVEvW6Y6BPl-A2oLO_E64BOmrbxI_u0erblFqOfNI3nw?e=nw727X 3. 3. https://undp-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/purnima_bajracharya_undp_org/ERukgixAInFHnmrNK8KhproBx0dXAiEZnR7kePM2Ng1wsw?e=4cw127 4.
4. https://undp-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/purnima_bajracharya_undp_org/ETBOz7TrG4xGqxlh7HDnniEBwjMTIcvv0RGoFD2gkMF3tg?e=zsLngh
8Decent work and economic growth
11Sustainable cities and communities
12Responsible consumption and production
Comments
Log in to add a comment or reply.