Iterative discovery of waste collection

Innovation methods

Data sources

Scaling

Cost

SDG(s)

Sustainable Development Goal(s)

11Sustainable cities and communities

13Climate action

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Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed.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.

Overview

On date (Day/Month/Year)

May 22nd, 2021

Current status of experimental activity

Completed

What portfolio does this activity correspond to? If any

Waste management

What is the frontier challenge does this activity responds to?

How to improve the collaboration between society and public institutions to increase resilience to climate change

What is the learning question(from your action learning plan) is this activity related to?

How to improve waste management?

Please categorize the type that best identifies this experimental activity:

Pre Experimental (trial and error, prototype, a/b testing)

Which sector are you partnering with for this activity? Please select all that apply

United Nations agency, Public Sector, Private Sector, Civil Society/ NGOs

Please list the names of partners mentioned in the previous question:

This experiment is conducted in the context of UNDP's environmental programmatic area, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and local governments, as well as waste pickers and neighbors

Design

What is the specific learning intent of the activity?

We are trying to learn how the effort of waste separation at home can connect with the collection of waste in an urban setting. We have noted in previous experiments that access to waste collection is a privilege people seldom have outside urban settings. In those context's operating waste may have little impact, because burning or burring waste separately may have little benefit. However, even when waste is collected, is an effort people don't necessarily find incentives to do or believe it has no benefit if waste collectors mix waste anyway. On the other hand, it has been pointed out that waste collectors are interested in collecting waste to sell for recycling, and that if it's separated in the house then waste collectors will take advantage of it.

What is your hypothesis? IF... THEN....

If waste is separated in a house, then waste collectors will not mix it.

Does the activity use a control group for comparison?

Yes, the same group but before the intervention

How is the intervention assigned to different groups in your experiment?

Non-random assignment

Describe which actions will you take to test your hypothesis:

We conducted different iterations of the experiment. At first we only separated waste and left it to be picked up by waste collectors in the normal way. We left the waste bags open so that it could be seen that waste was separated. Then we added signs to show which bags contained recyclable waste.

What is the unit of analysis of this experimental activity?

Instances of waste collection

Please describe the data collection technique proposed

We observed the way waste was collected using a security camera

What is the timeline of the experimental activity? (Months/Days)

About a month

What is the estimated sample size?

2-9

What is the total estimated monetary resources needed for this experiment?

Less than 1,000 USD

Quality Check

This activity is relevant to a CPD outcome, The hypothesis is clearly stated, This activity offers strong collaboration oportunities, This activity offers a high potential for scaling, This activity has a low risk

Please upload any supporting images or visuals for this experiment.

Please upload any supporting links

What are the estimated non- monetary resources required for this experiment? (time allocation from team, external resources, etc) If any.

We needed containers to accumulate waste separately, and bags to put out the trash. Then, we needed readily available materials to create the signs.

Results

Was the original hypothesis (If.. then) proven or disproven?

Partially disproven. We observed that waste collectors do mix waste even if it's given separately. However, it seems that this may be a temporary process for practical reasons because the truck does not go house by house, rather, waste collectors use trollies to gather waste from different houses.

Do you have observations about the methodology chosen for the experiment? What would you change?

There are only a few iterations of the experiments, which were implemented in a convenient location. The methodology could improve greatly if we conducted the experiment using randomized control trials, which is relatively viable once participants are recruited from different places in the city. However, the bias works in favor of showing results, because if waste is mixed in a rather affluent setting, then, it may be more difficult to not mix it in a less affluent setting.

From design to results, how long did this activity take? (Time in months)

Less than a month

What were the actual monetary resources invested in this activity? (Amount in USD)

US$0.00 additional costs

Does this activity have a follow up or a next stage? Please explain

Yes, we iterated several times, and invited other people to try it in their houses. This information is then pointed out to waste collectors and authorities, as is believing waste is mixed is one of the most common arguments for not separating waste at home.

Is this experiment planned to scale? How? With whom?

We are using the results to inform other activities relevant to waste management

Please add any supporting links that describe the planning, implementation, results of learning of this activity? For example a tweet, a blog, or a report.

Considering the outcomes of this experimental activity, which of the following best describe what happened after? (Please select all that apply)

This experiment did not scale yet

Learning

What do you know now about the action plan learning question that you did not know before? What were your main learnings during this experiment?

We know that if people separate their waste at home when they give it to waste collectors, they may observe that it will get mixed. This might be for practical reasons at first, as the bags with recyclable material are visible hanging from the garbage trucks. This experience from the house perspective is important to address, as it deters collaboration in waste separation.

What were the main obstacles and challenges you encountered during this activity?

We conducted this activity in a very informal way, in a convenient location. We would not be able to generalize.

Who at UNDP might benefit from the results of this experimental activity? Why?

The energy and environment programatic area is interested in this results in their work with the ministry of environment.

Who outside UNDP might benefit from the results of this experiment? and why?

The Ministry of environment and natural resources, local governments, and waste collectors.

Did this experiment require iterations? If so, how many and what did you change/adjust along the way? and why?

We did some iterations. About five, we changed the way we made it more visible that waste was separated, adding labels to each bag.

What advice would you give someone wanting to replicate this experimental activity?

This was a quick and dirty way to get started in understanding the system, but the results are informative and cannot be generalized.

Can this experiment be replicated in another thematic area or other SDGs? If yes, what would need to be considered, if no, why not?

Not as well. We could use security cameras to observe behavior, although separating waste is very specific to climate actions and sustainable cities.

How much the "sense" and "explore" phases of the learning cycle influenced/shaped this experiment? In hindsight, what would you have done differently with your fellow Solution Mapper and Explorer?

Sense has defined the topic.

What surprised you?

It was surprising that waste was indeed mixed, this may be due for practical reasons, but it confirms and reinforces the excuse people give for not separating waste in their houses.