Integrated Solid Waste Management & Circular Economy

Policy advice, institutional and regulatory strengthening

Policies, strategies, plans, laws and regulations must be built or redeveloped and enforced from the national to the municipal level. Traditional ISWM policies need to be adapted and upgraded to the principles of the CE. The transition towards a CE must be sustained by sound policies and realistic roadmaps that guide local and national implementation efforts.

Specific services

Advice on the development and adaptation of policies, laws, regulations, strategies and economic instruments;
Institutional development and strengthening at the national, regional and municipal levels;
Roadmaps and frameworks, project pipelines and action plans for circular economy and resource efficiency models for the public and private sectors;
Integrated and climate-friendly ISWM plans and concepts, including reduction, segregation at source, collection and transport optimisation, recycling, resource recovery, treatment, waste-to-energy options, and environmentally sound disposal;
Economic instruments, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), various tariff systems and environmental taxes;
Collaboration strategies betweenthe public and private sectors;
Climate change Impact of SWM programmes, municipal and national plans, strategies and policies;
Regulatory measures for electronics and ICT, packaging, textiles and other key products in line with eco-design principles; and
Awareness raising and behaviour change strategies.

References

Development and implementation of private and public services

We provide technical and strategic advice to our clients at national, regional and municipal levels to develop practical waste management solutions in line with CE principles. At the same time, there is a strong need for feasible and sustainable ISWM systems. This requires the combination of state-of-the-art technologies and expertise with locally available experience and suitability. Over the years, GOPA Infra has proven that beyond our technical expertise, we have the necessary cultural awareness to develop appropriate ISWM systems.

Specific services

Waste prevention and CE models for ISWM systems;
International tools and methodologies for reducing land-based waste leakage to the marine environment, assessing GHG emissions and waste analysis and composition studies;
Decentralized models for specific waste streams, including source segregation, separate collection, composting (at home), small-scale anaerobic digestion and other small-scale waste treatment technologies;
Solutions for high quality sorting and removal of contaminants from waste, methods to minimize hazardous substances to health and the environment in recycled materials;
SWM information management and monitoring systems; and cooperate with the industry to establish harmonized information systems for data tracking and management;
Environmental and social impact assessments aligned with national guidelines and international best practices;
Strategies to fromalise informal employment in the waste management and recycling sectors;
Feasibility studies, economic analyses, and circular economy business models;
Support in setting up and strengthening public-private partnerships; and
Education/capacity building and training concepts for professionals and service providers in the sector.

References

Circularity and resource management in production processes

GOPA Infra promotes a transformative change in industrial practices guided by circular economy principles at all levels to change consumption patterns, value chains, and business models to reduce environmental and climate impact in the first place. Our services support governments and industries, including but not limited to textiles, electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing, packaging, plastics, construction and buildings, tourism, and fisheries in sustainable energy and resource management from the design stage and in developing a market for secondary raw materials where one industry’s waste is another’s resource.

Specific services

Waste prevention measures and reuse and recyclability models, including restrictions on the use of certain materials and alternatives for reusable products;
Strategies and systems for designing out waste, including energy and materials efficiency (less energy and water in production) and substitution (less hazardous materials);
Business and regulatory environment for sustainable and circular products, incentives and support product-as-service models, circular materials and production processes;
Introduce circular economy principles in the private sector through collaboration with and within industry associations, knowledge partnerships and cross-industry learning;
Climate change mitigation and adaptation assessments and GHG modelling tools to capture the benefits of CE and integrate sustainability criteria into the strategy development process;
Stimulate innovation for businesses and value chains via participatory and inclusive processes; and
Implement technical and financial assistance programmes in the areas of climate change and CE in collaboration with banks, lending institutions, national governments and SMEs to promote transformative changes in industry’s practices.

Solid waste infrastructure and facilities

GOPA Infra promotes the diversion of waste from landfill through waste minimization and recovery, sorting and treatment of collected waste in appropriately designed and built SWM infrastructure and facilities. For unavoidable residuals, our experts support the development of tailor-made and environmentally sound state-of-the-art sanitary landfills to minimise the negative impacts on the environment and public health.

Indiscriminate dumping of waste without prior treatment in unprepared areas and burning of waste is common practice in many countries worldwide. ISWM systems should include waste prevention, material reuse, resource recovery and well-planned final disposal. Waste separation at source is an important step in any ISWM system and contributes to high-quality waste recovery. Clean material recovery offers many benefits for the marketability of secondary materials, while clean organic waste is essential for effective biological treatment and reduction of GHG emissions.

Specific services

Site investigation and site selection;
Design, planning, tender process support and construction supervision of waste treatment facilities (buy-back centres, transfer stations, facilities for mechanical-biological treatment, composting, fermentation and material recovery, and recycling);
Design, planning, tender process support and construction supervision of new landfills and phased extensions or rehabilitation;
Landfill closure, aftercare and remediation, including refurbishment of landfill drainage systems, leachate collection and treatment, landfill gas collection and use, long-term monitoring services, environmental remediation; and
Design, plan, implementation and monitoring of pilot projects to reduce GHGs, remove plastic from the environment, reduce waste generation and enhance waste recovery rates.