Sector Solid Waste

Project Type Municipal solid waste

Project Title The Study on Integrated Management Plan of Municipal Solid Waste in Havana City

Location Havana city, Republic of Cuba

Client Japan International Cooperation Agency

Project Period 2004 – 2007

Landfill site

Workshop in Habana city

Problems addressed by the Project

Havana city, the capital of Republic of Cuba is a center of economic activities with population of 2.2 million and area of 727km2 and the old town (known as Old Havana) is registered as World Heritage site. The following issues were identified in solid waste management:

Insufficient 3R (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) The City generated 2,200 ton/day of solid waste in 2004 and 97% of the amount was dumped at final disposal sites; that means most of the waste was disposed in final disposal sites and reuse and recycling rate was significantly low. Solid wastes were not collected by sorted garbage but mixed. Industrial and medical wastes were quite frequently included in the mixed solid waste. This collection system made difficult to collect resources from the mixed solid wastes and to produce compost effectively.

Lack of maintenance due to deterioration The efficiency of solid waste collecting was low due to lack of maintenance of solid waste collecting vehicles and heavy machines. The garbage trucks were antiquated and the maintenance was not easy due to shortage of tools, spare parts besides a limited budget

Limited life span of landfill sites Existing landfill site capacities were insufficient and lifespan of the sites has been shortening. There was an expansion plan of Calle 100 landfill site but the life span was estimated only until 2010. Therefore, new landfill site was necessary to raise the limitation.

Improper solid waste disposal system Survey of this project found that 50% to 60% of the generated municipal waste from household and business sectors is composed of organic matter such as garbage. Utilizing the organic matter for producing compost leads to long life of final disposal sites. There were three compost yards in 2004 but the production was not good quality as the production process was not proper as they were dumped on fields, receiving direct sunshine and rainfall due to lack of facilities and equipment. Demand of compost is high in Cuba. If high quality compost is produced from the collected garbage, it is sold as soil conditioner in the market.

Environmental issues Environmental issues were identified on the solid waste management as follows: 1) overflow of garbage from the containers, scatted waste around containers and partial illegal dumping in the city, 2), environmental deterioration in the vicinities of final disposal sites due to scattered waste, odour, a fire, breading of insects, and quality deterioration of surface water; also groundwater as soil-covering was not applied and leachate was discharged to public water bodies without treatment, 3) air pollution by automotive exhaust gas from aging collecting vehicles, 4) potential risk to residents and especially workers who are responsible for collecting garbage due to possible industrial and medical wastes.

Environmental and social issues Environmental and social consideration guidelines were established in Havana city, but the system did not work properly. For instance, public hearings should be held and the results and issues should be included in the final report, but it was not carried out. There were serious negative environmental issues towards residents around the existing landfill sites as described in the above item 3). The health risks and issues that residents faced generated a movement against the construction of new disposal site.

Hence, Republic of Cuba requested the implementation of research to settle on an integrated management plan of municipal solid waste in Havana city. Thereafter, the Japanese government determined the implementation and Scope of Work by agreement between Havana city and JICA.

Consulting Services OC Global carried out the following consulting services to provide solutions for the above issues.

Service Period

Support in formulating master plan of the waste management in Havana up to the target year of 2015 Support in conducting the feasibility study on the prioritized projects Promoted the human resources development and the technology transfer concerning investigation and

planning for the counterparts Formulated Long Term Vision targeting 2015 and the Master Plan Conducted the F/S of the priority projects selected in the Master Plan Implemented pilot projects aiming to improve the existing final landfills, to promote environmental education

and public sanitation and established citizen participatory system of waste collection Held workshop for raising awareness of residents to waste treatment including collection and separation of

wastes and for developing capacity of counterparts