Public Involvement and Mobilization for Promoting 3R Initiative in Hanoi City - Lessons from 3R Initiative Project in Hanoi City

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1 Proceedings of the 8th Expert Meeting on Solid Waste Management in Asia and Pacific Islands (SWAPI) Tokyo, February, 2011 Public Involvement and Mobilization for Promoting 3R Initiative in Hanoi City - Lessons from 3R Initiative Project in Hanoi City Yoshikazu Taniguchi 1* and Mitsuo Yoshida 2 1 Global Environment Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo 2 Senior Advisor, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo * Corresponding author: Yoshikazu Taniguchi Mailing address: Nibancho Center Building 5-25 Niban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Taniguchi.Yoshikazu@jica.go.jp, Tel: ABSTRACT Hanoi URENCO, a solid waste management (SWM) authority in Hanoi City, implemented a project on 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Initiative in Hanoi City to Contribute to the Development of a Sound Material-Cycle Society under a technical cooperation of JICA. The Project has implemented pilot projects on source segregation/discharge practice of biodegradable waste in four model areas, improvement of mechanical composting, and awareness raising on source segregation/discharge, in order to initiate 3R practice. The Project has put an emphasis on encouraging various stakeholders to be actively involved in above-mentioned pilot projects, under the name of 3R Stars, which has contributed to nurturing a sense of ownership and participation among them. The formation of the 3R Volunteer Club has attracted a number of high school and university students who are interested in environmental issues or volunteer works to participate in 3R promotion activities. The Project has, thus, succeeded in involving a variety of stakeholders and demonstrating the effectiveness of source segregation/discharge, composting and 3R concept. The Project has brought about positive changes in influencing the direction of SWM in Hanoi City; the Hanoi Regulation on SWM was revised according to the knowledge obtained from the Project. Promoting broad mobilization and participation of various stakeholders is quite effective in implementing 3R initiatives. Furthermore, the National 3R Strategy also incorporated the experiences of the Project. Based on the above lessons learned from the Project, the approach of promoting broad mobilization and participation of various stakeholders is proved to be quite effective in introducing 3R initiatives. Key words: Public Participation, 3R Initiative, Source Separation INTRODUCTION This paper aims at introducing the activities and outputs of JICA Technical Cooperation 1

2 Project regarding 3R Initiative in Hanoi City implemented from July 2006 to July 2009 and extract lessons from the experiences. Vietnam has experienced increased levels of environmental pollution in line with rapid socioeconomic development and urbanization in recent years. In response to this situation, the government passed amendments to the Law on Environmental Protection (10th January, 1994) on July 1st, 2006, adopted the Prime Minister s decision known as Vietnam Agenda 21 which aims at sustainable development, on August 17th, Within this environmental protection policy, the 3R Initiative of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle has been raised as an important issue in need of close attention. The amount of urban solid waste generated in Hanoi City (Hanoi before August 2008) with an area: of 921 km 2 and a population of 3,000,000 1 is 1.0 kg/person/day (2004); the waste collection rate is about 70%, the reuse and recycling rate is approximately 20%, and approximately 7% of total amount of waste was composted (JICA, 2006). As a result of uncollected solid waste on public roadsides and illegal disposal of waste into lakes and marshes, drainage conditions are poor and groundwater contamination is occurring. In order to deal with such environmental problems, Hanoi City is aiming at promoting a solid waste recycling campaign under the national environmental strategy of recycling 30% of all domestic waste by According to the development study conducted by JICA from 2000 to 2002, it was confirmed that a percentage of biodegradable waste accounts for approximately 50% of a total waste. On the other hand, as mentioned above, only 7% of total waste was composted (JICA, 2006). It suggested that promoting compost of biodegradable waste was expected to contribute to achieve the national environmental strategy of recycling 30% of all domestic waste by For these factors, the Solid Waste Management authority, Hanoi City Urban Environmental Company (Hanoi URENCO) implemented a project under a technical cooperation with JICA aiming at establishing a balanced and unique 3R system centered on the source separation and recycling of biodegradable waste under the 3R Initiative, and connect this to the formation of a Sound Material-Cycle Society in Hanoi City. Previously, JICA s approach toward SWM issue was much more focused on administrative/organizational capacity development (JICA, 2005). For example, in the Project for Improvement of Solid Waste Management for the Municipality of Panama in the Republic of Panama, strengthening cooperation with community for improving waste collection was one of the outputs, but activities corresponding to the output were development of manuals for public awareness or satisfaction survey conducted by the municipal cleansing bureau. Since it 1 Hanoi City extended its interior since1st August 2008 with a new area of about 3,344 km 2 and a population of 6.23 million people 2

3 was gradually recognized that not only administrative/organizational capacity development but also public involvement, i.e. institutional/societal capacity, is essential to solve the waste issue fundamentally (JICA, 2005). In such background, the Project focused on involving citizens and other stakeholders, of which approach and lessons learnt would be utilized to subsequent JICA s technical cooperation projects. PROJECT OUTLINE AND ACTIVITIES This project had been implemented for 3 years from November 2006 to November 2009 aiming at establishing a balanced and unique 3R system centered on the source separation and recycling of biodegradable waste under the 3R Initiative in Hanoi City. Vietnamese project implementing organization was Hanoi URENCO, and JICA dispatched Japanese expert team led by Hisashi Yamauchi, Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd., for the technical cooperation. The target area of the project was Hanoi City but two-step approach was adopted; in the first step, a few areas were selected and pilot project with source separation of biodegradable waste was implemented in the area, and in the second step, the experience and evaluation of the pilot project was summarized as an official paper and ready for disseminating to other areas in Hanoi City. Subjected area Four model areas were selected for conducting a pilot project on source separation of biodegradable waste were selected, i.e., Ba Dinh District, Hoan Kiem District, Hai Ba Trung District, and Dong Da District, which compose main part of Hanoi City. Criteria of the selection were; (i) To have a typical characteristic in each district, (ii) Four model areas need to have different conditions in the aspect of waste management, (iii) Leader of People s Committee of each district need to have an interest in a waste management issue and be collaborative with the Project activities (JICA, 2009a). The local characteristics and descriptions of each model area are summarized in Table 1. Activities in the Project As a pilot project with source separation of biodegradable waste in the selected model areas, a new waste collection system suitable for collecting source-separated waste was introduced instead of a traditional one. Under the new collection system, citizens have to discharge biodegradable waste to a green-colored bin and others to an orange-colored bin separately from six to eight o clock at night, at designated sites. In order to introduce the new system, Hanoi URENCO and People s Committee of each district works collaboratively with the Project. Hanoi URENCO provided a training of appropriate separate collection for their workers and People s Committee held a series of community meeting or made house-to-house visits to 3

4 educate people for participating the source separation practice. Table 1 Description of local characteristics of model areas Phan Chu Trinh Nguyen Du Thanh Cong Long Ha Name of Distict Hoan Kiem Hai Ba Trung Ba Dinh Dong Da Area (km) Population 8,224 11,140 24,872 28,584 Number of ~ 1,900 ~ 2,000 ~ 7,000 ~ 7,300 household Local Characteristic Source: JICA (2009) - Large number of wide street which vehicles are passable. - Large number of offices - All streets are wide. - Large number of food and coffee shops - Half of the streets are wide. - Community roads are very small and complicated. - Large number of small and complicated streets. - Two big markets and several temporary markets. As a pilot project with composting, activities for improving existing Cau Dien Compost Plant and expanding demand of compost product were implemented. Primary fermentation pit was constructed and composting process was reviewed and improved. Also some equipment such as a wheel loader and monitoring equipment were procured to improve a quality of product. The compost product was presented at some events such as Agro Viet 2007 and Green Week 2007 to advertise an effectiveness of the product and expand a demand. To raise awareness of residents in model project areas and Hanoi citizens, environmental education related 3R in schools and public awareness program in communities were implemented. Total 8 schools were selected as a model school in the model areas by recommendation of Department of Education and Training under Hanoi People s Committee (DOET). Then, materials for environmental education were developed through discussions with DOET and teachers in these schools. Classes regarding environmental education were provided for pupils two times per week in average with the materials developed by the Project at selected model schools. For community people, study tours to Cau Dien Compost Plant were organized for community group leaders, women s union members and so on. In order to reduce disposal plastic bags, reusable cotton eco bags were distributed with its manual (flyer) to all households in Phan Chu Trinh and Nguyen Du area. In August 2008, the Environmental Education Center was established in the compound of Cau Dien Compost Plant. Many public relation activities were implemented to encourage source separation practice and to disseminate the concept of 3R. The Public Relations and Environmental Education Unit ( PR Unit ) was established in the headquarters of Hanoi URENCO for planing and implementing public relation and environmental education activities for citizens. Through the PR Unit, the Project issued press releases to average 80 media 4

5 institutes month by month. In addition, TV commercials were broadcasted with a theme song Hanoi 3R Stars sang by famous Vietnamese rock singer for a month and TV drama 3R movement in Hanoi City was produced and broadcasted for 2 times. Stakeholders and Networks for Hanoi 3R Initiative Hanoi City People s Committee JICA Public Service Project Implementation Body Hanoi URENCO JICA Expert Team PR Unit Public Involvement 3R Stars governmental organizations, university, research institute, media, and private companies (official network) 3R Volunteer Club high school students and university students (volunteer network at young generation) 3R Supporters community group, women s union, self-motivated citizens (volunteer network at community level) Mass Media (Newspapers, TV) Figure 1 Stakeholders and networks in and around the Project Stakeholders and Networking In the course of the Project activities, various types of gathering and network of stakeholders had been organized as shown in Figure 1. 3R Volunteer Club, consisting high school and university student volunteers, was established in December 2007 and promoted and disseminated 3R activities in Hanoi City. 3R Volunteer Club jointly organized more than 50 activities with the Project. 3R Supporters, consisted of community group, women s union, self-motivated citizens and so on, was organized as an environmental volunteers network for implementing various activities of the pilot project such as instructions of source separation to citizens at waste collection points and it organized more than 20 events for promoting 3R. 3R Stars consisted of about 85 people from governmental organization, university, research institute, media, private company and citizens group was established in February 2007 and contributed to promote a citizen participation for 3R activities and formulate a partnership among stakeholders. 3R Stars Meeting was held for 6 times in the Project period and 85 5

6 institutes and 650 people participated in total. Vietnamese mass media also reported activities of the Project such as 3R promotion events, pilot project on the source separation and so on for more than 300 times during the Project period. Based on the experience and evaluation of the pilot project, Strategic Paper for improving municipal solid waste collection was prepared through 3R Stars Meetings and other conferences concerned. Department of Construction under Hanoi City People s Committee and the Project drafted a proposal for revision of the regulation in SWM and it was adopted by Hanoi City s People s Committee, which was important contribution for institutional capacity development on SWM in Hanoi City. Based on the experience and evaluation of the pilot project, a draft report of Action Plan for disseminating the source separation for the whole area of Hanoi City was prepared. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 2 shows a percentage of residents in pilot project area who know the pilot project and who recognized an improvement of sanitation condition in each model area. It is significant that the former exceeds the latter in every area, because it means that even those who don t know the Project recognize the output of the Project and have a certain concern to sanitation issue. Table 2 Recognition of citizens Phan Chu Trinh Nguyen Du Thanh Cong Long Ha Recognition of the Project 85.9% 89.3% 74.0% 82.3% Recognition of an improvement of sanitation 93.9% 97.6% 84.9% 85.0% Source: JICA(2009a) Before the Project commencement, approximately 7% of total amount of discharged waste was being composted (Detailed Design Survey on the Project for Implementation Support for 3R Initiative in Hanoi City to Contribute to the Development of a Sound Material-cycle Society, JICA, 2006). Table 3 Source separation and composting of biodegradable waste Phan Chu Trinh Nguyen Du Thanh Cong Long Ha Accuracy of separation 75.6% 73.4% 74.1% 53.1% Composted biodegradable waste 45.4% 41.6% 42.1% 31.2% Source: JICA (2009a) As shown in Table 3, after the Project implementation, as of 7 th -9 th July 2009, more than 30% of total amount of discharged waste was composted in each model area. The result 6

7 indicates that the Project activities were successful for introducing the source separation practice and improved the rate for composting, which could contributed to reduce the waste. Considering all of the factors described in above, the Project activities resulted in the improvement of citizens consciousness and source separation in four model areas. However, as for Long Ha area, the accuracy of separation is around 50% and the rate of composted biodegradable waste is 31.2%, those are significantly lower than the rates of other three model areas, in spite of the fact that more than 80% of citizens recognized the project activities. It means that the Project contributed to raise citizen's awareness regarding 3R or the Project itself, but it remains to be an issue to change citizens activities with source separation. According to AIDMA (Attention-Interest-Demand-Memory-Action) s Rule which was adopted to plan the public relation activities in the Project, continuous approach, strong motivation, rules and regulations are needed to change people s actions (Yamauchi et al., 2007). It can be analyzed that there are some deficits regarding these perspectives in Long Ha area compared with other 3 areas. When spreading out the output in the model areas to other areas or cities, it should be considered to reduce a gap among areas which have different features. For example, enhancing competitive consciousness among areas, which was introduced in the Project for Strengthening of Solid Waste Management in Dhaka City of Bangladesh as an event Clean Dhaka Ward Contest (JICA, 2009b), is a good example to improve the problem. CONCLUSIONS The Project has succeeded in involving a variety of stakeholders in the process of implementing pilot project with source separation, composting, environmental education and raising awareness for citizens. In the Project, one of the key factors for remarkable promotion of public involvement is the presence of three different networks for 3R Initiative in Hanoi; i.e., 3R Stars as an official stakeholder network, 3R Supporter as community-based volunteer network, and 3R Volunteer Club as young generation volunteer network (see Figure 1). Furthermore, affiliated organizations of each network, e.g., Women s Union, also constitute various sub-networks, which accelerate the process of public involvement. These networks could successfully organized, announced, and implemented various events and activities of the Project, which mobilized people in various levels of the society in Hanoi. The mass media also played significant role to foster public recognition/understanding on 3R and to disseminate the results of the Project. Based on the above lessons learned from the Project, the approach of promoting broad mobilization and participation of various stakeholders through differentiated networks is proved to be quite effective in introducing/implementing 3R initiatives. 7

8 ACKONWLEDGEMENTS This paper is dedicated to the citizen activists, volunteers, Hanoi URENCO members and public servants of Hanoi City who implemented the Project successfully and generated fruitful results. The JICA Expert Team led by Hisashi Yamauchi, Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. and in-charge officers, Noriaki Murase in JICA Vietnam Office and Akiko Kawata in JICA Global Environment Department are also acknowledged for their effective technical cooperation activities. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of JICA and/or Vietnamese authorities concerned. REFERENCES Institute for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Supporting Capacity Development in Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries -Towards Improving Solid Waste Management Capacity of Entire Societies-, Japan International Cooperation Agency, The report of Detailed Planning Survey on the Project for Implementation Support for 3R Initiative in Hanoi City to Contribute to the Development of a Sound Material-Cycle Society in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Nippon Koei Co., Ltd, EX Co., Ltd), Final Report of Study on Environmental Improvement for Hanoi City in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd, Nippon Koei Co., Ltd,), Project Completion Report of the Project for Implementation Support for 3R Initiative in Hanoi City to Contribute to the Development of a Sound Material-Cycle Society in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2009a. Japan International Cooperation Agency (Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd), Progress Report 4 of Solid Waste Management Project in Dhaka City, 2009b. Vietnam-Japan Joint Terminal Evaluation Team, Joint Terminal Evaluation Report for The Project for Implementation Support for 3R Initiative in Hanoi City to Contribute to the Development of a Sound Material-Cycle Society in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Yamauchi, H., Murata, S., Chu Van Chung, Nguyen Thi and Hoang Lan, 3R Project in Hanoi City: A Challenge to Build a Sound Material-Cycle Society Focusing on the Strategy to Capacity Development-, Proceedings of the 18 th Annual Conference of the Japan Society of Waste Management Experts, 7-9, 2007 The Joint Terminal Evaluation Report for the Project for Improvement of Solid Waste Management in the Municipality of Panama in the Republic of Panama,