Professional Documents
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Large Scale Environmental Clean Up Campaigns
Large Scale Environmental Clean Up Campaigns
This Technical Brief looks at what to do with large quantities of bulk wastes generated by natural disasters
and conflict situations.
• Demolition and debris removal to the main Example: Hurricane Ivan, Grenada
roads (clearing neighbourhoods)
In Grenada, several sites were identified at different
• Removal and treatment of the metal waste (in locations on the island, including: Perseverance
particular zinc sheets) Emergency Site (main landfill), Westerhill (St
• Removal and storage of the bulky waste factions David’s), Telescope (St Andrews’s), Antoine River
(non metal building debris Estate (St Patrick’s), and Queen’s Park Stadium (St
George’s). As part of the emergency response,
• Removing large quantities of mud and Oxfam assisted GRENSWMA to build suitable fencing
sediments from main roads and residential around both the Perseverance and the Telescope
areas. sites on their request. An operational manual, for
• Identification and isolation of toxic waste operating the temporary sites, was also written.
sources. Unfortunately, in spite of these operating
A clearly written Terms of Reference (ToR) and the procedures, the main landfill site at Perseverance
availability of experienced professionals is a pre-requisite still caught fire. The slow burning fire was started
to a successful needs assessment phase. accidentally in February 2005, due to after hours
dumping. GRENSWMA recognised their responsibility
in not ensuring adequate site supervision.
Example: Hurricane Ivan, Grenada
Hurricane Ivan generated a large amount of debris,
needing to be dealt with; 13,760 ha of forest, 6,000 Photo: A temporary storage site set up in a
ha of trees along roads and in residential areas, and football stadium
some 1.228.800 m³ of demolition waste that
needed to be stored, disposed of or treated.
Setting up Community
Waste Schemes
In terms of collecting bulky waste, setting-up a
Disposal Options Following community-based scheme, where specific areas are
cleared in a systematic way, is the most efficient solution.
Major Events Individual households can be made responsible for
moving bulky waste from household plots to the
Typically, major landfills or dumpsites will be the main roadside. Rented trucks can then be used to collect this
destination for large quantities of waste generated by a waste from the roadside. Waste should be picked up and
major natural disaster. However, in many developing transported in its relevant fraction. Cash-for-Work (CFW)
countries, such sites are likely to be in a precarious is an effective way to pay staff for loading the debris
condition prior to the disaster. Such sites lack the onto the trucks, with CFW staff being selected from the
capacity to be able to store, or to dispose of the waste area being cleared. CFW is an effective means of
created by a major disaster. regenerating livelihoods activities in the wake of a major
Deploying a waste management professional early on disaster. Rivers and streams, along with other key public
enables the authorities to focus on the size and scale of areas should also be cleared of debris by CFW teams.
the disaster, and to evaluate short-term solutions include Typically, the materials to be transported may include:
setting up a number of temporary storage sites, where
the various waste factions, sorted by type, can be stored • Bulky construction waste (including asbestos)
on a temporary basis, pending further treatment or final • Corrugated iron roofing sheets
disposal.
• Small trees/branches and other organic matter
• Mud and sediment loads (in event of flooding) from truck rental or construction companies. Good truck
drivers, and good individual workers (supervisors) can be
• Old furniture and damaged household items.
kept on as a means of raising the quality of the
• Household rubbish mixed in with other wastes. operation. Strict gender criterion for the selection of CFW
teams should be adhered to, with at least 50 % of the
CFW team being women.
These waste fractions can be accumulated in piles by the
roadside, with sorting into various waste factions taking
place by the side of the road. In some areas where Photo: Waste Transfer in Grenada following
access is difficult, debris can be collected by small trucks Hurricane Ivan
and then transferred to larger trucks by cranes at a
central location prior to removal to a temporary
storage/disposal site. Early on, it may not be possible to
remove large trees, due to their bulk. In this case, more
focussed WM activities will be required to tackle the tree
problem.
Community Mobilisation
Communities can be mobilised by loudspeaker cars
passing through the target areas, prior to the waste
management teams going into the area. In the event of
vulnerable groups being identified (elderly, disabled and
women headed households), CFW teams can be
instructed to assist such people by collecting the debris
from directly from their properties. Permission to
undertake such measures must be obtained from the
beneficiaries prior to the physical removal happening.
Community based activities are best coordinated by area
Setting up a Monitoring
coordinators, trained in the waste management process
and with knowledge of the areas to be cleaned. CFW
Scheme
teams will in general be selected from the target Estimated volumes and weights of debris collected must
communities, based on specific criteria. Typically, one be registered by team leaders on appropriate record
supervisor may coordinate around 10 – 15 people. CFW sheets. These sheets should then be transmitted to the
teams should be rotated on a periodic basis to provide an waste management engineer/coordinator. Figures can be
opportunity for a number of different people to compiled on a weekly basis and by team. Trucks
participate in the scheme. Typically, CFW teams may be discharging waste at official landfill/dumpsites should be
employed for a maximum of two weeks in one area, weighed at a suitable official weighbridge, if possible.
before rotating to give others an opportunity. Weighbridges may be found at construction sites,
government transport/customs facilities and at other bulk
transport companies. This allows waste collection figures
Photo: Waste being collected using CFW, to be verified.
Grenada
• Timber from buildings can be recycled and re- Example: GRENWASA, Grenada
used for reconstruction programmes or for re-
sale. One other major outcome of the intervention was the
creation of a coordination body around waste
• Small tress, branches and organic materials can management. OGB created a dynamic for regular
be shredded into mulch and used as a soil coordination meetings, serving not only as information
conditioner. Mulch may have a commercial sharing sessions for relevant government bodies
value. Again, specialised shredding machines (GRENSWMA, MoH and Ministry of Works), but also
will be required. attracted other agencies and donors to work in a more co-
• Large trees can be cut into timber or reduced to ordinated way. Meetings were regular, had agenda’s and
smaller logs. Timber can be cured and used were correctly minuted. It is interesting to note that
commercially, while logs can be used in GRENWSMA was able to obtain funding for equipment,
traditional brick burning industries, by charcoal recommended by the assessment, from one of the
manufacturers or by other energy intensive donors. The equipment obtained includes a metal baling
industries such as sugar mills. machine, a wood chipper and a tyre shredder
Helen Meekings
Photo: Land clearance activities in Grenada, (Note -
[email protected]
Opportunities to commercialise the wood cut on
tel: +44 7919 447737
individual farms were missed resulting in a large quantity
of logs being burnt unnecessarily)
Operational Considerations
Due to the remoteness of some agricultural areas,
picking up CFW staff and transporting them to the land
clearance sites requires vehicles, and results in the
inefficiency of moving people around. Transport costs can
be relatively high in rural areas, but there may be few
alternatives. CFW activities may also require a
considerable amount of cash to pay the CFW staff,