Waste management and treatment

The Kölliken hazardous waste landfill (SMDK) is the largest contaminated site in Switzerland. It is located in the middle of a residential area. It began operation in 1978 and was shut down from 1985 due to odour and dust emissions and made safe for the short term. It transpired that the landfill was threatening the closest water table. The remediation operation, officially approved in 2003, involves creating an appropriate infrastructure (support-free hall, rail connection etc.) and excavating a total of 500,000 tonnes of waste. The work is expected to be completed in 2017.

In recent decades, the urban and peri-urban population of Bolivia has consistently grown. Today two-thirds of Bolivians live in urban areas. Cities, especially of medium and small size, have great difficulty in meeting the challenges related to their growth and in ensuring efficient and sustainable basic services. With 90% of final disposal sites for solid waste that are open dumpsites and less than 30% of treated wastewater, sanitation presents many challenges, exacerbated by the country's economic growth.

The municipal environmental management project executed by CSD Engineers Ltd, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation and the Bolivian foundation AGUATUYA, has been designed in partnership with municipal and national authorities from Bolivia in order to develop sustainable services of solid waste and wastewater management, reducing the environmental impact and consequences on the health of urban populations.

The project was realized under the Decentralization and Local Development Program (DLDP) founded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Helvetas Intercooperation. DLDP, with the technical support of CSD, has been providing support in the waste management sector in Northern Albania since 2007. It became a recognized and important partner in this sector in the country. DLDP’s support combines technical and cofinancing assistance in planning and implementing waste collection and recycling systems. DLDP also focuses on local capacity development and on the development and implementation of new and innovative models for regional solutions (ie. regional transfer stations). Cost and tariff models as well as support to policy makers are central in DLDP’s approach.

The project was realized under the Decentralization and Local Development Program (DLDP) founded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Helvetas Intercooperation. DLDP, with the technical support of CSD, has been providing support in the waste management sector in Northern Albania since 2007. It became a recognized and important partner in this sector in the country. DLDP’s support combines technical and co-financing assistance in planning and implementing waste collection and recycling systems. DLDP also focuses on local capacity development and on the development and implementation of new and innovative models for regional solutions (ie. regional transfer stations). Cost and tariff models as well as support to policy makers are central in DLDP’s approach.

The program of support to the communes within the framework of the decentralization of tasks in Albania (project dldp/SDC/Helvetas) showed that waste management is one of the domains where there is greatest demand for aid and one where support can be quickly effective.
A first phase of improvement of the urban collection (Shkodra) and support in creating terms of reference and tenders for the privatization of the service was very successful.
A second phase consisted in creating selective collection and recycling installations and developing and realizing concrete experiences of collection and waste management in 12 rural communes.
These experiences and their success served as a basis for creating a handbook of planning for the management of communal waste as well as training materials for the sector’s professionals.

Update and completion of a partial inventory to draw up the current status of POPs in Egypt. Identify the main hotspots (for PCBs and obsolete pesticides stockpiles) as defined by the Stockholm’s convention (>50 ppm).