It has been a great adventure to join WASTE earlier this year. The commitment of many in and outside the organisation to work on innovative sanitation and solid waste solutions is striking. This commitment has helped to overcome serious COVID-19 restrictions to continue the work. Face to face interaction remains important, despite improving our virtual working capabilities. I felt very privileged to be able to visit some of you for the first time and see the work that our partners undertake in oftentimes difficult circumstances. There are still too many people suffering from the impacts of poor sanitation and many see their environment polluted with waste. Solutions for this needs our continued support. It is very inspiring and fulfilling to know that together, our partnerships make a difference. These problems are far too great to tackle in isolation. We share below, a number of partnerships – old and new, that we are really proud of.
I hope that you all continue to travel with us on this journey and enjoy a well-deserved year end break. Looking forward meeting you again in the new year. From all of us here at WASTE,
With warm regards,
Han de Groot, Executive Director, WASTE |
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| | Ready to invest! Joining forces with Yunus Social Business to launch Take-a-Stake
The WASH sector faces a considerable funding gap. The total investment gap is estimated in US$2.5 trillion by 2030. To close this gap, Yunus Social Business Funds gGmbH has joined forces with WASTE to address the need for more investments in the WASH and waste sectors. |
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Progress despite another unpredictable year - FINISH Mondial programme year in review
Our FINISH teams have developed rich plans for 2022, catalysed by persistent successes, despite our country teams having faced continued lockdowns and periods of political turmoil. These feature some big financial innovations ready to launch, geographic scaling-up, and key national level partnerships to ensure the sustainability of the successes so far.
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Increasing access to faecal sludge & solid waste management services in Malawi
Along with our WASTE Malawi local partner and United Purpose, will work the coming year on a project funded by UNICEF. Together, we will tackle this challenge by implementing the existent FSM business plan, integrating faecal sludge management (FSM) and solid waste management (SWM) value chains, engaging women and youth to improve livelihoods across both value chains. |
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Understanding sustainable waste management systems through gender
Applying a gender lens while developing and designing interventions not only helps legitimize and formalize women’s roles in waste management systems and value chains, but also consequently can lead to their empowerment. WASTE has been developing waste management and sanitation models and programmes which incorporate aspects of gender, household, and community dynamics at their core. |
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Plastic pollution is a key driver for sustainable solid waste management services
WASTE adviser, Sophie van den Berg, shares two key takeaways from the International Solid Waste Association conference and some insights into developing sector trends in solid waste management and plastics: We still have a long way to go before we achieve ‘circularity’ in the plastics industry. We need bold innovations that challenge existing designs, materials and business models.
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