Reposted from Sanitation Updates:

This video goes beyond toilets and discusses the sanitation value chain.

Reposted from Sanitation Updates:

Summary of the study noted below is reposted from Sanitation Updates.

Improving health in cities through systems approaches for urban water management. Env Health, Mar. 2016. Authors: L. C. Rietveld, J. G. Siri, et al.

Below is an abstract from a study by Dreibelbis, et al.: Behavior Change without Behavior Change Communication: Nudging Handwashing among Primary School Students in Bangladesh.

Behavior change communication for improving handwashing with soap can be labor and resource intensive, yet quality results are difficult to achieve. Nudges are environmental cues engaging unconscious decision-making processes to prompt behavior change. In this proof-of-concept study, we developed an inexpensive set of nudges to encourage handwashing with soap after toilet use in two primary schools in rural Bangladesh. We completed direct observation of behaviors at baseline, after providing traditional handwashing infrastructure, and at multiple time periods following targeted handwashing nudges (1 day, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks). No additional handwashing education or motivational messages were completed. Handwashing with soap among school children was low at baseline (4%), increasing to 68% the day after nudges were completed and 74% at both 2 weeks and 6 weeks post intervention. Results indicate that nudge-based interventions have the potential to improve handwashing with soap among school-aged children in Bangladesh and specific areas of further inquiry are discussed.

This study in the December 2015 Issue of Social Science and Medicine evaluated discussions and commitment interventions among shared toilet users in three urban slums in Kampala, Uganda The abstract is reposted below:

Rationale and objective

Access to and use of hygienic shared sanitation facilities is fundamental in reducing the high risk of diseases such as diarrhoea and respiratory infections. We evaluated the effectiveness of group discussions and commitment in improving the cleaning behaviour of shared sanitation users in three urban slums in Kampala, Uganda. The study follows the risk, attitudes, norms, abilities and self-regulation (RANAS) model of behaviour change and some factors of the social dilemma theory.

Methods

A pre-versus post-intervention survey was conducted in three slums of Kampala, Uganda, between December 2012 and September 2013. From the pre-intervention findings, users of dirty sanitation facilities were randomly assigned to discussions, discussions + commitment and control interventions. The interventions were implemented for 3 months with the aim of improving cleaning behaviour. This paper provides an analysis of 119 respondents who belonged to the intervention discussion-only (n = 38), discussions + commitment (n = 41) and the control (no intervention, n = 40) groups.

Results

Compared to the control, discussions and discussions + commitment significantly improved shared toilet users’ cleaning behaviour. The rate of improvement was observed through behavioural determinants such as cleaning obligation, cleaning ease, cleaning approval and affective beliefs.

Conclusion

Our study findings show that group discussions and commitment interventions derived from RANAS model of behaviour change are effective in improving the shared sanitation users’ cleaning behaviour.

A video made by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WASUP) details a study intended to explore the links between sanitation, population density, and health outcomes in Maputo, Mozambique. The video describes a controlled, before-and-after trial of an urban sanitation intervention to reduce enteric infections in children.

The link to the video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyk-3jWdzn0

Wasted Health: The Tragic Case of Dumpsites  | | Source:  by Thomas Dimech | Resource, 8 September 2015 |

A new report by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) is highlighting the ‘global health emergency’ affecting tens of millions of people in developing countries who lack good sanitation infrastructure. 

The report, ‘Wasted Health: The Tragic Case of Dumpsites’, illustrates how the issues surrounding open dumpsites in the developed world 40 years ago are still prevalent in developing countries, but are also being compounded by unprecedented issues such as the unregulated accumulation of discarded electronics, mobile phones, and medical waste.

Some of the main problems identified in the report include:

• open dumpsites receive roughly 40 per cent of the world’s waste and serve about 3.5 to 4 billion people;
• there has been a substantial rise in unregulated dumping of mobile devices, electronic appliances, medical and municipal waste, accelerating the scale of the threat and health risks;
• uncontrolled burning of waste releases gases and toxins into the atmosphere;
• open waste sites in India, Indonesia and the Philippines are more detrimental to life expectancy than malaria;
• 64 million people’s lives (equal to the population of France) are affected by world’s 50 largest dumpsites;
• in addition to the human and environmental impacts, the financial cost of open dumpsites runs into the tens of billions of US dollars.

Report’s statistics

In preparing the report, researchers analysed 373 toxic waste sites in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, where, the report says, ‘an estimated 8.6 million people are at risk of exposure to lead, asbestos, hexavalent chromium and other hazardous materials’.

It continues: ‘Among those people at risk, the exposure could cause a loss of around 829,000 years of good health as a result of disease, disability or early death. In comparison, malaria in these countries, whose combined population is nearly 1.6 billion, causes the loss of 725,000 healthy years.’

The report also states that over 42 million tonnes of e-waste was generated in 2014 and a lack of trained labour and investment in recycling infrastructure has meant that much of the waste is simply dumped in open landfills, which can lead to further health issues as they can be burnt, exposing locals to dangerous pollutants, heavy metals, volatile compounds and soot.

Call for a ‘global alliance’ to address the issue

Releasing the report, Antonis Mavropoulos, Chairman of the ISWA Scientific and Technical Committee and author of the report, called for immediate action: “Little or no coordinated action is being taken at present and to be effective change can only happen if there is a global alliance to address the issue among governments and key stakeholder organisations.

“We need to start with a plan of how we finance the closure and relocation of the most dangerous sites urgently and provide support through resources of capital and expertise. While the cost will be substantial, it represents an opportunity to invest in the infrastructure and economy of these emerging and poor nations. In addition, the outlay required to close the most risky dumpsites will be just a small fraction of the cost of their health impacts.”

David Newman, ISWA President, said: “The recommendations of this report are clear: the international community has an urgent task ahead in closing waste dumps globally, for the sake of populations affected by them, because they live in or near them, but also because all the world’s people are breathing in the toxins released by burning on open dumps. And the greenhouse gas emissions involved are huge too, and unless we act, the growth of open dumping is inevitable.”

He added: “ISWA and its experts are willing to take part in this global clean up and will, with other interested parties, collaborate on drawing attention to the damage caused to human health through poor waste management practices.”

Can we shift waste to value through 3D printing in Tanzania? World Bank Blog, Sept 2015. Author: C. Paradi-Guilford.

• Full text

Plastic waste, in particular PET, which is typically found in soda bottles, is becoming abundant in African cities. In Dar es Salaam, one of the most rapidly urbanizing cities in Africa,BORDA found that about 400 tons of plastic waste per day remains uncollected or unrecycled.  Although about 98 percent of the solid waste generated per day can be recycled or composted, 90 percent is disposed in dumpsites.

A waste collection site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo: Cecilia Paradi-Guilford

At the same time, the recycling industry has started to grow because of new initiatives, community organizations and private companies. There are a few organizations that repurpose waste into arts and crafts, tools or apply it as a source of energy – such as WasteDar. However, the majority collect or purchase plastic waste from collectors, primarily with a view to export, rather than recycle or reuse locally.

Socially and environmentally, waste management is one of the biggest challenges for an increasingly urbanized world. Waste pickers can earn as little as US$1-2 a day in dangerous conditions with little opportunity for advancement. They make up some of the most disadvantaged communities living in deep poverty.

Through a new market for sorted waste materials, these communities may access higher income generation opportunities in a sustainable manner. This presents an opportunity to explore turning this waste into value more close to home.

At the same time, 3D Printing is expanding
3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that applies layers of materials (typically plastic) to develop an object that is made up of thinly sliced horizontal layers. The design of the object is made in a Computer-Aided Design program using a 3D modeling, then is inputted into the 3D printer. Gaining popularity, 3D scanners are also used to make a digital copy of ab object. 3D printers take an input of filament consisting of varying types of plastic to create the object.

3D printers can be found in schools and other training institutions, digital fabrication and maker spaces, small research and development (R&D) labs…or even one’s home. Maker spaces or digital fabrication laboratories make these openly available. They are small-scale workshops that offer digital fabrication services to the tinkerers, creative problem solvers, entrepreneurs or anyone who wishes to apply and build on their technical skills. They were originally designed as prototyping platforms for local entrepreneurs, but they have now expanded to universities and higher education facilities.

Check out the Fab Foundation to learn more about the international network that supports digital fabrication spaces called “Fab labs.” These spaces are rarely built in isolation and often are integrated into existing innovation, startup, academic, and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Wait, how does plastic waste connect to 3D printing?
A nascent opportunity to rethink the way we use, or rather reuse, plastic is the growing market for 3D printer filament. Predictions suggest that 3D printing filament market will reach $1.052 million by 2019. Currently, the cost of one kilogram (kg) of filament anywhere between $25 and $40. However, in new markets, such as Tanzania, this cost can go up to as much as $60 or even $80, including fees for shipping from China. This creates a barrier for the burgeoning local communities interested in 3D printing to access the necessary supplies.

Filament can be sourced directly from waste picker groups in developing countries. Filament with the Ethical Filament (“EF”) mark is produced ethically on a ‘fair trade’ basis, enabling waste pickers to receive more income from the recyclable materials they collect.

Companies like Protoprint are already taking advantage of this opportunity by conducting a pilot study in cooperation with Waste Pickers in India to develop ethical 3D printer filament made out of HDPE plastic. This filament can also be used for 3D printing prototypes or products themselves depending on their complexity and design.

Existing initiatives
Below are three current initiatives that are working in the recycled plastic space in varying capacities.

• Refil is a company based out of the Netherlands that is creating high quality affordable 3D printer filament out of recycled plastic. Through a specially developed process they are recycling car dashboards, into ABS plastic filament.
• The Plastic Bank is working on developing an open source extruder that creates filament from industrial waste/ocean plastic. To look at the open source hardware schematics.
• Appropedia is a wiki page for collaborative solutions to address sustainability and poverty reduction, including plastics for 3D printing.
• Tech for Trade is a UK charity that works with local entrepreneurs to test innovative approaches for building sustainable technology businesses.  They founded the Ethical Filament Foundation, which aims to ensure income sustainability of waste pickers, reduce the environmental impact of 3D printing and onboarding recycled filament producers to use their Ethical Filament Standard.
• FabLab Bohol: The plastic upcycling project in Bohol, Philippines is an initiative that recycles used plastic materials to generate income for the community. One of the main products is plastic piping for septic tank use to protect the local marine life.
• Agbogbloshie Makerspace Platform (AMP): It is a transnational youth-driven project in Ghana to promote maker ecosystems in Africa, starting at Agbogbloshie. The agenda is collective action to prototype tools and co-create a hybrid digital-physical platform for recycling of ewaste material, making, sharing and trading.

​https://youtu.be/oAdv-oRtS9Y
Caption: The Plastic Bank’s Open Sourced Extruder

Examples of 3D printed products

• Infant Vein Finder Students from the University of Nairobi created an infant vein finder to address the infant mortality rate in Kenya. (Kenya)
• Weather Stations USAID developed a 3D printed weather station that integrates with a raspberry pi to provide instant access to weather data. (Zambia)
• Umbilical Cord Clip Field Ready developed the design and provided communities with access to printers to print the clips. (Haiti)
• Prosthetics 3D printed prosthetics for amputees specifically in developing economies. (Kenya)
• Solar Panel Bases Village Energy piloted using 3D printers to make their solar panel bases to decrease production time. (Uganda)

Green Digital Fabrication in Tanzania
Through the Green Digital Fabrication initiative in Tanzania, the World Bank will test the opportunity to shift PET plastic waste to value through collaboration across the recycling industry, local innovators and entrepreneurs, makers and tinkerers, leveraging 3D printers and new, low-cost PET extruder technology. The initiative will assess the feasibility and the market opportunity to turn PET plastic waste into 3D printer filament that can be sold locally or globally, and to then print unique, locally appropriate and marketable products, which could be then traded and sold by waste collectors back to their communities.

Through the practical application of 3D printing in the context of plastic waste, the initiative also aims contribute to the broader movement on turning waste to value as well as the development of local maker and digital fabrication communities.

The initiative is funded by the ICT4D Trust Fund at the World Bank, and is a partnership between the World Bank,COSTECH, Tena Recycling, Tech for Trade and the Ethical Filament Foundation, the Buni Hub, and STIClab.

Bringing Back the Water: USAID’s Indonesia Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (IUWASH) program, Frontlines, Sept/Oct 2015.

Changes in weather patterns are already affecting everyday life in Indonesia. On the islands of Sumatra and Java, places naturally lush with vegetation, rivers and streams are beginning to dry up, exacerbated by heavy deforestation and expanding urban areas.

Construction of an infiltration pond in Semarang district, Central Java IUWASH

When it does rain, it is often more intense now and causes flooding in downstream populated areas. USAID’s Indonesia Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (IUWASH) program has promoted a simple way to collect this rain and return it to groundwater aquifers: infiltration ponds.

Read the complete article.