Asia

Developing Integrated Solid Waste Management Plans to Advance Circular Economies

In providing the essential service of waste management to their communities, local governments confront considerable challenges: competing priority issues (i.e., education and health); limited financial resources; growing populations and waste that are outpacing existing infrastructure; and a lack of long-term, data-driven, and goal-oriented approaches to strategically guide their waste management systems. Read More

Six Takeaways from Indore’s New Air Quality Monitoring Stations

Research around the world shows that pollution levels can vary enormously within the same city and even within the same neighborhood. Local monitoring data can thus prove essential to understanding air pollution sources, how they affect different communities and groups, and where to target policy solutions. That’s why Clean Air Catalyst launched three air quality monitoring stations in Indore in January 2023. These new stations have significantly improved the city’s air quality tracking capabilities in some important ways. Read More

Reducing Pollution in Vietnam: One Good Design at a Time

In 2020, Social Impact’s USAID Learns provided a full range of design support services to USAID Vietnam, resulting in the Reducing Pollution Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This was an exciting opportunity to support the Mission in translating the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) focus on collective action into tangible environmental programming with lasting impact. Read More

Rapid Appraisal Facility Tool

The Rapid Appraisal Facility Tool (RAFT) is a form-based tool that provides solid waste management staff and planners a quick and efficient way to collect key data about a city’s current solid waste and recycling systems, including its individual disposal and processing facilities, to inform solid waste management planning and… Read More

Creating Economies of Scale for Plastics Recycling

Alarming levels of plastic are produced every day, much of which makes its way into the environment and our ocean. Of the seven billion metric tons of plastic waste generated globally to date, less than 10 percent has been recycled. For the world to succeed in stopping plastic waste from flowing into our oceans and damaging the environment, much higher volumes need to be collected and recycled at the source: on land. Read More