Waste Management 74 (2018) I–IV

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

A glance at the world

Edited by Francesca Girotto

This column comprises notes and info not subjected to peer-review focusing on waste management issues in different corners of the world. Its aim is to
open a window onto the solid waste management situation in any given country, major city or significant geographic area that may be of interest to
the scientific and technical community.

Sensibilisation campaign over plastic waste management at
Sabarimala in Western Ghats, India
Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage centre located in the Western
Ghats, India. With no enforceable legislation governing their use,
the massive amounts of plastic brought into the area by pilgrims
end up as being thrown as waste in forest and riparian areas. An
Anti-Plastic Awareness Campaign was conducted by the District
Administration of Pathanamthitta (DAP) at Sabarimala during a 3
months pilgrimage season.
The aim of the Campaign was to spread ‘‘anti-plastic” messages
among all visitors and pilgrims to reduce the huge plastic waste
generation.
Based on a pilot experience, the strategic planning involved the
following philosophies and outcomes (Fig. 1):
a. Repetition creates memory: messages about plastic use
and environmental protection were displayed all along the
roads leading to the common congregation point at Pampa,
from where the holy trek starts. For on-road campaigning,
large reflective billboards were employed with messages
written in six of the most common languages. Pre-recorded
audio messages were also played. Cards bearing anti-plastic
messages and double-sided stickers for vehicles were dis-
tributed to pilgrims by volunteers. A short-film about the
hazards of plastic waste was shown on a Video Wall erected
at Pampa and through online platforms. Awareness mes-
sages were also spread through online social media and
mobile messaging services.
b. Incentivizing change: in order to reduce plastic use, bio-
degradable and eco-friendly bags were distributed. The
image of Lord Ayyappa printed on the biodegradable bags
was sufficient to the pilgrims to prefer their use. The image
of Lord Ayyappa also ensured no littering of these materials
which were instead brought home. Thus, the message of a
clean and plastic-free Sabarimala reached also the commu-
nities where the pilgrims came from.
c. Mopping Up – Be the change you want to see: in order
to ensure safe collection and disposal of plastic waste, a
team of 800 volunteers was deployed together with eco-
guards.
The quantitative components of the campaign outcomes were
reported in Table 1.

Fig. 1. Modalities through which anti-plastic awareness messages were spread.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-053X(18)30126-0
II A glance at the world / Waste Management 74 (2018) I–IV
Table 1
Quantitative components of campaign
outcome.
Parameter Quantity
Number of collected bags 256,000
Weight of collected plastic 4608 kg
Pilgrims contacted 145,000
Vehicles approached 90,000
After the campaign, the High Court of Kerala banned the use and
sale of plastic bottles at Sabarimala.
The Sabarimala Anti-Plastic Awareness Campaign was in many
ways a giant leap in the direction of environmental protection and
sustainable pilgrimage in India.
S. Venkitaraman
H. Subramanian
Indian Administrative Service, District Administration Pathanamthitta,
Kerala, India
E-mail address: sriramvraman@hotmail.com (S. Venkitaraman)
Collaborative action between community and government for
sustainable waste management in Depok, Indonesia
Depok, one of Indonesia’s dirtiest cities in 2005, is facing the
problem of an overloaded open landfill. Additional landfill area
expansion would be needed but the community is against this deci-
sion. The government, therefore, planned the so-called Integrated
Waste Management Facilities (Tempat Pengelolaan Sampah Terpadu/
TPST) in several areas (Kelurahan) in 2006, to separate organic and
inorganic waste. Unfortunately, these TPST were closed after a while,
due to protests from the neighbourhoods regarding unpleasant
smells. This was necessary to understand that it is important to pro-
mote waste source segregation at household level.
Since the majority of generated waste is organic, the government
firstly promoted home composting using Takakura Composting Sys-
tem.1 However, this practice was evaluated not economically bene-
ficial to households.
The effort to reform began to show progress after the rise of
waste banks in Depok. It was a community initiative that promotes
recycling by giving monetary incentive to households that separate
and deposit their inorganic waste (paper, plastic, PET bottles, metals,
etc.). It opens periodically (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) and
accepts inorganic waste from households within the area where it
operates. Households can redeem the money periodically as well.
The number of waste banks kept expanding until reaching more than
300 in 2015. In contrast to private waste collectors who apply cash-
and-carry and only accept high value recyclables, waste banks pro-
mote savings and accept more varieties of recyclables.
The TPST were transformed into organic waste management
units (Unit Pengelolaan Sampah/UPS Organik). The compost is used
in parks and can be used by the households around the facility for
free.
In 2016, Depok has declared to promote a priority program called
‘Zero Waste City’. The system incorporates collaboration between
community and government: waste banks work with inorganic
waste, while the government manages the organic waste compost-
ing facilities and residual waste at the landfill. Hand in hand with
the waste banks, the government of Depok is trying to find ways
to increase the benefits for households that perform waste
separation.
1
https://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_work/thematic_issues/management/study_
takakura.html.
Aside from the ambitious goals, the government still needs to
overcome a number of challenges regarding waste bank expansion,
capacity of organic waste composting facilities, and landfilling. Most
of waste banks in the city have few members (only around 10% of
waste banks have over than 70 households as members). Ideally,
the optimal number should be between 100 and 200 households
as members. This low participation causes the waste bank to obtain
small or even zero margin. Waste bank revenue ranges from approx.
US$ 3.60 to US$ 46.22 with an average of US$ 14.13 per collecting
activity.
Some waste banks face difficulties in expanding the business too.
Inappropriate classification of depositing inorganic waste and
competition with private collectors are the major problems.
Inappropriate classification happens when depositors mix two
or three different types of waste into one (e.g. PET bottles and
plastic).
In addition, successful waste bank with high participation rate
and profit cannot be easily replicated in all districts. Community
characteristics play a crucial role in determining the success of waste
banks. There is a need to find ways to expand waste banks and
encourage the community to join it. This is important since the
new regulation made the separation mandatory instead of voluntary,
although the implementation is gradual.
Government may consider supporting waste banks financially,
such as providing them with waste processor machines. Besides that,
government should also hold rigorous education and information
programs. Government should work well together with formal and
informal leaders at neighbourhood association level to support the
expansion of waste banks.
The major challenge for the government is to increase the capac-
ity of organic waste composting facilities. The current status is only
half of the 1200 ton of collected waste. Moreover, with future higher
separation rates, it is expected that the cost of their running will rise.
A road map for achieving zero waste in Depok is imperative even
if utopic at the same time.
A. Halimatussadiah
F. Muhammad
A.A. Siregar
Environmental Economics Research Group, Institute of Economic and
Social Research – Faculty of Economics and Business,
Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
E-mail address: alin.halimah@gmail.com (A. Halimatussadiah)
Multi-criteria evaluation for emplacement of municipal solid
waste management infrastructure, using GIS tools: A case study
in the Frailesca Region of Chiapas, Mexico
In Mexico, federal and state regulations, such as ‘‘NOM-083-
SEMARNAT-2003” (SEMARNAT, 2003) and ‘‘NTEA-010-SMA-RS-
2008” (SMA, 2008) control the establishment of solid waste
management infrastructures; however, both regulations focus on
environmental aspects, leaving aside the social and economic
components.
This work develops a methodology that determines possible
areas for setting up MSW management infrastructures, in compli-
ance with technical, environmental and socioeconomic criteria. The
tools used were the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which
are an important element of support in map generation, environ-
mental management and territorial organization. Additionally, spa-
tial analysis techniques were also considered. The case study was
realized in the municipalities of the Frailesca region, Chiapas,
Mexico, because not all localities and municipalities currently have
MSW management infrastructure.
 A glance at the world / Waste Management 74 (2018) I–IV III

The technique of spatial analysis used in the GIS environment
was the ‘‘Hierarchical Analysis Process”, known as AHP. The gen-
eral criteria used in this study were divided into three parts: envi-
ronmental, socioeconomic and technical aspects. Likewise, the
general criteria were fractionated into sub-criteria. The pairwise
comparison by Saaty (1980) was used to weigh the criteria and
sub-criteria.
To normalize the levels or classes of the sub-criteria, a simple
assessment was used, with values ranging from 1 (or 0) to 3, depend-
ing on the type of sub criteria, i.e., dichotomic or not, the smallest
values corresponding to the most unfavourable or restrictive
conditions, and the highest values corresponding to the most favour-
able conditions.
The environmental criteria arose from the application of Mexican
regulations. The sub-criteria used were the distances to water bodies
and streams, as well as to the extraction wells, aspects that are
extremely important because they are sources of water supply for
the population. Soil permeability and protected natural areas were
other sub-criteria used.
The technical criteria are directly related to the operation of the
infrastructure. The sub-criteria used were the distances to the main
roads and the provenance of MSW, which are significant aspects
because they reduce operating costs. Sub-criteria such as steep
slope, faults and fractures and landslide areas, are related to the
topography of the study area and influence the vertical extent and
stability of the body of waste. They also represent an economic factor

Fig. 1. Thematic maps used in spatial analysis in the Frailesca Region of Chiapas, Mexico.
IV A glance at the world / Waste Management 74 (2018) I–IV
because they determine the amount of excavation and land levelling
to be done.
The socioeconomic criteria are related with the damage to the
population and the costs caused by the infrastructure construction.
The sub-criteria of populated areas and cultivation areas are focused
on doing no harm to humans or activities, for example, farming prac-
tices in the study area. The sub-criteria feasibility of buying land and
community acceptance refers to the ease of acquiring land to build
the MSW management infrastructure from a social and economic
perspective, because in many cases legal ownership and rejection
by the people greatly influence the construction time, the invest-
ments to be made, and may even lead to search for new areas for
infrastructure location.
Fig. 1 shows the result of AHP technique in GIS environment. The
study area is classified in three categories, based on the aptitude for
setting up MSW management infrastructure.
A good amount of land is classified as having middle aptitude
(1303.65 km2), mainly on the northeast and southeast of the
study area. In contrast, 35.11 km2 correspond to lands with low
aptitude because of their proximity to surface water and cultiva-
tion areas. Finally, 1501.64 km2 of the study area have a high
aptitude, and are mainly concentrated close to the most impor-
tant municipalities of the region, which are Villaflores and Villa
Corzo.
The unshaded region, which was immediately discarded,
requires special attention because it corresponds to lands within
protected natural areas that are likely to be affected by runoff and
landslides, often caused by heavy precipitations during the rainy
season.
References
Saaty, T.L., 1980. The Analytic Hierarchy Process. McGraw-Hill, New York.
SEMARNAT, Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, 2003. Mexican
Official Standard NOM-083-SEMARNAT-2003. Specifications for environmental
protection related to the site selection, design, construction, monitoring, closure
and complementary works of a final disposal site for urban solid waste and of
special management.
SMA, Secretariat of Environment of the State of Mexico, 2008. State Environmental
Technical Standard. NTEA-010-SMA-RS-2008. Establishes the requirements and
specifications for the installation, operation and maintenance of infrastructure
for the collection, transfer, separation and treatment of urban solid waste and
special management for the State of Mexico.
J.A. Araiza Aguilar
National Autonomous University of Mexico, Institute of Geography,
External circuit, University City, Coyoacan delegation,
Mexico, D.F., Mexico
E-mail address: araiza0010@hotmail.com
H.A. Nájera Aguilar
University of Science and Arts of Chiapas, School of Environmental
Engineering, North beltway 1150, Lajas Maciel, Tuxtla Gutierrez,
Chiapas, Mexico
R.F. Gutiérrez Hernandez
Technological Institute of Tapachula, Department of Chemical and
Biochemical Engineering, Km 2, Highway to Puerto Madero, Tapachula,
Chiapas, Mexico
M.N. Rojas Valencia
National Autonomous University of Mexico, Institute of Engineering,
External circuit, University City, Coyoacan delegation,
Mexico, D.F., Mexico