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Phitnanulok Municipality
Thailand

The Problem

Phitsanulok is a province of great importance in terms of economic, social, politics, and local administration. The province has a population of approximately 850,000 with 10% living in the municipality area. The province is also a center for trade, various service sectors, and regional administration. It is also a center of high secondary and tertiary education. In the future, the province will be developed as a main city for Indo-China region connecting trade and commercialization between the east and the west (also known as East-West Corridor). Development and globalization do come with costs particularly on environment. This has inevitably place a significant burden on the city’s solid waste management.

Phitsanulok municipality was no different compared to other local administrations in Thailand when it came to finding solutions to solve the increasing quantity of waste. To make matter worse, waste had rapidly increased from 46 tons/day in 1993 to 142 tons/day in 1996 while space for landfills are limited. This had translated into waste generation rate of 1.5 kg per capita. As a result, waste management had taken a significant portion of the municipal budget (20% of waste budget to municipal’s total budget before 1999). On the contrary, the municipality could recover approximately 10% from waste collection fees. In addition, the city lacked cooperation from its citizen in helping to decrease waste they generated. Citizens assumed that waste collection and disposal services were free services from the municipality in which they did not need to contribute or put in collaborating effort from their part. At the same time, the municipality considered waste services to be a free service to the community and therefore was not looking to recover their costs. Public awareness programs were launched inconsistent ways and were not popular. Waste management plan from the municipality was considered to be a routine operation and with daily problem-solving solution. It was not well-defined and with no clear target to achieve. Environmental aspect was not much concerned. There was also no collaboration among key organizations in Phitsanulok to work together in reducing waste

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Community based solid waste management (CBM) has been proposed as a solution to the waste management problem in Phitsanulok municipality. It is a tool to foster public awareness and participation in municipal solid waste management. It is also a training approach focused on community participation in solid waste management. The training is directed towards policy makers and planners on local level and central level and citizens at large to enhance public awareness and participation. This is to ensure quality in the design and implementation of solid waste management.

The fundamental concept of CBM puts waste management responsibility in the hands of the community and households. It stressed the importance that prevention and solution of waste problem involves public participation and must be a sustainable and continuous development process. One of the most important factors in community waste management is to change the way of thinking and doing things among people concerned. The solution to waste crisis is to reduce waste at the source, using low budget, and yet sustainable. It puts the responsibility of waste management at the people who generate waste following the concept of “Polluters Pay Principle.” It also brings about collaboration among all parties concerned in waste management. This initiative has put Phitsanulok municipality at the forefront of waste management.

Key benefits from CBM can be summarized as follows:

1. Increased community involvement in managing waste within the household and on public premises resulting in reduced amount of waste to be disposed and higher recycling rates;
2. Initiating, supporting, and participating in public projects to raise awareness for waste reduction and about issues and problems of waste management including education programs in schools, temples, and communities;
3. Setting up strategic solid waste management plans;
4. Sponsoring and participating in special campaigns and competitions to raise the profile of solid waste management;
5. Increased awareness for cost effectiveness of solid waste management including adjustment of waste collection fees and private sector involvement;
6. Separating collection of bio-waste and facilitation of backyard and community composting;
7. Increased transparency of waste handling and open consultation with academic, governmental agencies, and private sector for improved solid waste management practices.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
In order to reduce vast quantity of waste generated in the city, cut down waste management costs and extend the life of landfill, Phitsanulok municipality proposed the solution of community-based waste management. However, the municipality lacks experts and resource persons who are knowledgeable and can provide technical advice on waste management issue. A request has been made to the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) for technical support. With GTZ’s assistance, the CBM program was developed. The initiative has been implemented at the community level with the help of community leaders and local citizens. In addition, private recycling firms also play an important role in strengthening CBM activities.

The modules of success and lesson learned have been incorporated into interactive training curriculums. The objective of training curriculum is to disseminate knowledge and experiences to communities in Phitsanulok and to other local authorities as well. The key stakeholders include the organizations such as Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Dr. Walter Scholl Foundation, Environmental Volunteer Groups, and various educational institutes.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
Waste management by the local community refers to ways of managing waste at the local level by stressing and incorporating several success factors such as waste reduction, reuse, and recycle, earning extra income from selling of recyclable materials, and disposing waste in an environmental-friendly way. In principle, waste management by the community should assist the local governments in finding appropriate solutions to handle its waste in such a way that it is acceptable to the society, economically justified, and environmentally sustainable.

As a key result of the training, a strategic plan has been developed. CBM training is comprised of three curricula, separated in accordance with the stakeholder groups, their roles and functions toward solid waste management.

Curriculum 1 is developed for policy-makers and administrators (Mayor and City Councilors) and directed toward leadership and administrative capacity of solid waste management. It intends to build on the leadership role of the target group by effectively setting vision and policy matters. At the end of training, it provides a draft implementation plan for the policy making level.

Curriculum 2 is developed for the implementation level of the local administration. It provides a deeper insight from the point of view of planning, management, and monitoring of the implementation plan. It aims to improve capacity of working staff and personnel to translate vision and policy of the leadership level into an efficient and effective implementation and process of operation. The curriculum is focused on general understanding of managerial aspect of solid waste management, which include public participation and awareness for waste minimization, Polluter Pay Principle and financial aspects of waste management.

Curriculum 3 is developed for community representatives. Main focus is on awareness and capacity building for communities in waste management based on waste separation and recycling. Individual action plan will also be developed at the end of training. Moreover, public education on waste management on the levels of schools, temples, and other community places are elaborated.

In terms of communities’ activities, the strategies have been determined in consequences as follows:

1. The easiest way to get cooperation from community is to first ask people to separate and sort out recyclable materials as they get in return additional income to their households.
2. Second, the household is asked to sort their organic waste for backyard composting. In some households where space is limited, they may agree to share one common site of composting plant somewhere in the community.
3. Waste separation leads to great reduction of waste amount from household. Waste bins can be withdrawn along the road sides, resulting in clean and healthy city.
4. Municipality considers adjusting number of waste trucks according to the reduced amount of waste.
5. The last request to people in CBM approach is asking households to pay waste fee which is considered as the most difficult part. Households’ perception has now been changed. They are more educated and they get better understanding on the municipality situation. They could also earn additional income from selling of recyclable materials. At the end most of households do not hesitate to pay for waste fee.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
In 1999, prior to the development of CBM, public participation was limited and the government’s decentralization policy was only a concept and far from implementation. Public awareness campaign was not given much important and only served as end-of-the-pipe solution. It was not able to change people’s behavior or their attitudes toward waste management and environment in general.

As a result of CBM, training curricula was developed to share knowledge and experiences with the target group. CBM has received growing recognition and is seen as being continuous learning process. During the training, lecture is given in an appropriate manner from a resource person. The trainees also have an opportunity to practice waste management concept through exercises and discuss their own experiences with others. In the end, they are able to develop their own waste management action plans to be implemented in their communities. Not more than 30 trainees were invited to attend the CBM intensive training course at a time. This is to ensure that maximum benefit will be obtained among trainees.

After the training curricula have been developed, experts and resource persons in the field of waste management from different organizations including academia, NGOs, and private sector were invited to attend the training and give their comments in order to improve the curricula. The training was first started with the three target groups in Phitsanulok municipality – policy makers, working personnel, and communities. After the three groups have successfully completed the training, they will have an opportunity to practice in real situation especially the communities. Municipal staff will assist the communities in implementing their waste management action plans and activities at the community level. They are encouraged to ask questions and consult with them. Furthermore, the training curricula have expanded to include training of the CBM trainers. Requests were made to other environmental organizations who have worked in this particular area for their collaboration.

Nowadays, the CBM training curricula has been disseminated to be used in other parts of the country with the help of the central government agencies. In addition, Phitsanulok municipality has revised and updated the curricula regularly to include new and effective tools such as the introduction of dialogue in their program.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Even though community based solid waste management (CBM) is a successful implementation in Phitsanulok municipality, obstacles are still existed as observed below:

1. Participants selection should be carefully done to join CBM training. Most of the executives have not much time and usually think training is not necessary for them. At the community level that training conduction may be limited by budget constraint, the leader should be selected to join so as to disseminate crucial points of CBM to their community’s members effectively;
2. City life makes people less connected and concentrate more on earning their own living; and
3. Majority of households work outside their home which make it difficult to do activities together.
4. CBM content consists of various kinds of best practice where some cannot be strongly supported by central government due to political reasons;
5. Local governmental policies that hinder full public participation;
6. Lack of budget; and
7. Lack of support to proceed with program implementation.


These obstacles are overcome by:

1. Phitsanulok municipality has made waste management policy a priority on their agenda;
2. The municipality has put an emphasis on increasing knowledge and training their personnel on waste management;
3. Training courses were held for their staff including follow-up evaluation;
4. Households and community leaders attended seminar, training courses, study tours and had opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences;
5. Pilot communities were used as learning centers for other communities; and
6. Extending knowledge and finding partners in solving waste problems.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Lord Mayor of City of Phitsanulok focused strongly on environmental improvement and has given waste management priority at the top of the agenda. With assistance from the German Technical Cooperation and their technical experts, the municipality was able to develop CBM training program and curricula. The program was first applied in Phitsanulok and nearby provinces. Staff and personnel from Department of Public Health and Environment of Phitsanulok Municipal Office visited local communities to explain details of the program and helped them set up small composting facilities and garbage bank at the community level. Experts from governmental organizations and local universities were invited for sharing knowledge and show them hand-on experiences. The program was later submitted to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for national dissemination.

Prior to the implementation of CBM initiative, data collection and database system were a major problem. Data was not immediately usable. It also took a long time to translate data or found out if necessary data existed. As a result, local consultants were hired to set up and manage the database system to keep track of the following:

1. amount of waste disposed at landfill;
2. garbage collection routes, i.e. time and resources spent in collecting wastes;
3. communities’profile;
4. costs of collecting, transporting, and disposing wastes; and
5. waste fees collected from various type of waste generators.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Waste management system in Phitsanulok municipality has been altered by putting an emphasis on waste reduction at the source instead of finding end-of-the-pipe solution. An integrated waste management scheme is applied where all level of citizen can be involved. Communities in Phitsanulok municipality have an opportunity to design their own waste management project and maximize the benefits. Waste management is designed differently in each community according to local context and individual settings. The approach fosters an ownership among community members which results in high sustainability.

CBM can be transferred to be used in other areas. It puts an emphasis on public participation and people’s cooperation. The concept is being adopted by other local authorities. The modules of success and lesson learned have been incorporated into interactive training curriculums. The objective of training curriculum is to disseminate knowledge and experiences to communities in Phitsanulok and to other local authorities as well.

The CBM training guide is comprised of three curricula and separated according to target groups with different roles and contributing differently to CBM. The first target group is the mayor and city councilors as decision makers in a municipality. The second group is the directors and staff from municipality who are responsible for the implementation of CBM. The third target group is the communities who are responsible for the implementation of CBM in their areas and among the households.

Information dissemination has been made mainly with Department of Environmental Quality Promotion (DEQP), Environmental Research and Training Center(ERTC) Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) in regional and national level. CBM dissemination’s resources are managed with cooperation of Phitsanulok municipality, GTZ and MNRE.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Impact from CBM approach are observed as following.

1. Effectively reduced waste at source and per capita waste generation rate has decreased from 1.5 kg to 0.91 kg;
2. Resulted from household sorting of recyclable materials and organic waste, waste to be disposed at landfill has been significantly reduced from 40% to 85%. By household organic waste separation together with waste treatment by Phitsanulok municipality the emission from GHG gas (Methane) can be avoided approximately 15,000-20,000 teCO2/y;
3. Reduction of 32 garbage trucks per day in waste collection for the whole city to 15 garbage trucks per day;
4. Reduction in waste management costs for the municipality (from 20% of total waste before 1999 to 10% of total waste at present) ;
5. Households earn additional income from selling recyclable materials;
6. Increase in understanding and acceptance of the polluters-pay-principle which led to an increase in collection rate for waste fees ;
7. Collection of waste fees has increased from 10% to more than 50% and thus it can cover relatively higher costs of waste management;
8. Reduction in subsidy from the municipality and the central government which results in higher budget in other activities;
9. Decentralization of waste services delivery results in greater efficiency and cost reduction;
10. Network building and collaboration in waste management in Phitsanulok and other areas/provinces;
11. Develop course syllabus for CBM to be used in other part of the country;
12. CBM can be used as a spring board for other community- based approach activities; and
13. Phitsanulok municipality has become a place for learning and study tour.

Organizations Number of groups Number of visitors Remark
2550 2551 2552 2550 2551 2552
Government organizations 0 13 7 0 954 587
Local governments 23 56 41 4,130 6,987 5,559
Private organizations 1 3 1 4 26 2
Educational institutes 3 12 12 106 930 424
Foreign/International organizations 1 2 2 5 29 40
Others such as foundation/association 1 4 2 180 206 145
TOTAL 29 90 65 4,425 9,132 6,757


Lessons learned:

1. CBM and its training curricula have proved to be an effective tool in promoting public participation in municipal solid waste management, thus leading to reduction in waste disposed at landfill, decreased in waste management costs, and further extended the life of landfill.
2. It is possible and encouraging to witness the collaborative work among policy makers, local administrators (working staff), community leaders and local citizens in solid waste management.
3. CBM training curricula was based on the medium size city and urban setting of Phitsanulok municipality. Other local administrators should modify the curricula to fit their individual settings of waste management.
4. CBM puts an emphasis on waste separation, recycling and composting at the community level which might not be applicable to other communities where recycling market is less active and composting facilities are limited.
5. Monitoring and follow-up evaluation of CBM activities at the community level is critical for the success of the program.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Phitnanulok Municipality
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Dr.Premrudee Charmpoonod
Title:   Mayor  
Telephone/ Fax:   (66)55231400-9
Institution's / Project's Website:   (66)55253022
E-mail:   mayor@phsmun.go.th  
Address:   1299 Baromtrilokanad 2 Rd Muang Phitsanulok
Postal Code:   65000
City:   Phitsanulok
State/Province:   Phitsanulok
Country:   Thailand

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