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Material recovery facility for sustainable economic incentives of waste management
Successful recycling in industrialized and developed countries is often supported by strict government regulations and a high level of public awareness. Governments play a significant role in providing high-quality waste management services by establishing and implementing policies, laws, and regulations that govern all aspects of waste management, for example, community participation. Managing solid waste is more complicated in developing countries than developed countries because of limited recycling practices and solid waste management policies.
In developing countries, informal sectors have played an important role in managing solid waste because they collect and recycle used goods that have economic value. This informal sector of urban waste management often consists of individuals who are part of independently financed and organised waste management services in urban areas that operate apart from local governmental authorities. The informal waste management sector comprise household waste collectors, scavengers and waste pickers, informal street sweepers, scrap collectors or itinerant waste buyers, and dealers or traders either funded by non-governmental organisations or independently managed. NGOs and community-based organisations also improve the waste management system because they can encourage proper waste handling.
Community-based solid waste management (CBSWM) is an approach based on community participation and involvement in waste management and recycling practices. CBSWM aims to reduce waste at the source, recover recyclable materials, and reduce the amount of solid waste sent to landfills. CBSWM contributes significantly to solid waste management in several developing countries. In the cities of Chennai and Hyderabad, in India, CBSWM was implemented by establishing a community-driven material recovery facility that provided economic incentives and employment opportunities for local scavengers. MRFs are waste collection points at the neighbourhood scale, such that the community becomes the main actor in the recycling system. The establishment of a MRF as a form of CBSWM in neighbourhoods, hamlets, and urban villages was proven to trigger community participation in solid waste recycling. A MRF illustrates the effort of a community to support sustainable solid waste management practices while educating the public and improving recycling practices and general welfare. MRFs also improve the surrounding community because they increase awareness of appropriate solid waste management, knowledge of the impacts of unmanaged solid waste, and public concern about solid waste and build caring and mutually beneficial community enthusiasm.
MRF members are encouraged to perform waste segregation at the household and collection sites. At MRFs, recyclable waste collected by the community is weighed and valued according to the type and classification of the waste.
