Basic

[pic]What is the basic value proposition of Waste Concern and what makes its financial model sustainable?

The fundamental objective of Waste Concern is to achieve a common vision to contribute to waste recycling, environmental improvement, renewable energy, employment generation for the urban poor and sustainable development. Since its inception in 2001 until 2006, they had been able to reduce 17,000 tons of Green House Gas emissions, generate employment for 986 urban poor, and saved a landfill area of 33.12 acres with a depth of 1 meter. During the same period they processed 124,400 tons of organic waste and produced 31,100 tons of compost. Their composting activities benefited 60,000 people in Dhaka and an additional 434,290 people from its replication in other parts of the country.

The Waste Concern developed composting plants are all simple, low cost and labour intensive and are suitable to the socio-economic and climatic condition of Bangladesh. The modest sales revenue and low pay-back period makes their model financially attractive.

To what extent was proper research and piloting a key factor in Waste Concern’s success?

Before going into actual implementation Waste Concern conducted in-depth research because they didn’t have any idea about the content of the urban waste. This is important to know for recycling organic waste into organic compost, which has a great market potential in the country. Piloting of the model was equally important to promote the concept of ‘4 Rs’ – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover waste. Their in-depth research and successful piloting resulted in several replications of their model across the country. Their model has also been replicated in Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

What are the benefits of a decentralized vs. centralized composting system?

It has been observed that centralized composting plants involve high operational, transport and maintenance cost, and often fails to reach target in the developing...