Background and Context

Throughout the world, in both North and South, the role of the private sector is increasing. This development has been set in motion by the not always efficient or effective provision of services of governments to their citizens. This transition from the public to the private sector has, in numerous countries in the South, proceeded with, uneven strides. This was partly due to cost-cutting operations imposed from outside: departments are being slimmed down, civil servants are being relieved of their posts and sometimes attempts are made to re-structure government services as private businesses. In other cases, service provision is being contracted out to private companies.

The withdrawal of the government in the South is also visible in the area of municipal waste management. An increasing number of municipalities are contracting out various aspects of waste management (collection, incineration or landfilling) to private companies. This transition not only leads to changes for the structure and working of government bodies, but also for other actors in the social sector. Given this transition process the key issues are: can the citizens get the services the government has promised them earlier but has as yet failed to realise, and can the private commercial sector redeem its promises? Will all the waste of all citizens be collected and disposed of cleanly and safely at reasonable prices? Can private companies guarantee this? Is the municipality well equipped for its new facilitating role? Is it capable of properly safeguarding the interests of its citizens, including the hundreds who earn a living in small waste collection and waste processing businesses? Do the solutions chosen take account of the urban environment and working conditions?

In its approach to urban environmental issues SURCO not only believes that all citizens are entitled to good urban environmental facilities, but also that the approach to the problem should involve such aspects as employment opportunities; the environment; finance, economy, social, political and institutional aspects. In addition SURCO will involve all actors in a process aimed at the development of a new waste management approach. This approach is known as "Social Privatisation" or "Integrated Sustainable Waste Management" (ISWM). SURCO works in cooperation with local partners who are either confronted with problems or who are searching for better approaches to urban environmental development. This is the best way of assessing needs and determining the type of knowledge and assistance needed.

Throughout the entire process, SURCO works closely with the local partner on the basis of the equality of all participants. The chief concern is to find solutions that are best suited to the local situation. In so doing, it not only calls in its own experts, but also experts from its global network in the South. Through cooperation, all participants in the project learn from its implementation, which reinforces and builds the capacities of all parties involved.

SURCO can call on a wide range of expertise possessed by a worldwide pool of experts which can be called upon in ever changing combinations with regard to expertise and geographic location.

SURCO provides expertise in the following areas:

* Urban Planning
* Environmental Management and Economics
* Urban Sociology
* Enterprise Development
* Environmental and Occupational Health
* Waste Management and Recycling

This expertise is available for:

* Project identification, needs assessment, assistance in project execution, policy formulation
* Monitoring and evaluation
* Backstopping and on the job training
* The organisation of capacity building activities

With its package of services, SURCO aims at supporting actors in urban environmental management. This support will be directed at municipalities, small private enterprises and community organisations.

• Strengthening of the environmental management capacities of local authorities (Costa Rica and Central America)
• Development of the technology and introduction of a community based service for manual pit latrine emptying (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
• Regional course: Exchange of experiences in waste management in Central America
  Research in six African and Asian cities into urban solid waste recycling (technology, products and markets) through small enterprises
• Identification and strategy development concerning solid waste and sanitation components for an urban upgrading programme (Guinee Bissau)
• The introduction of micro-enterprises in public services for the improvement of environmental sanitation (PROESA, Peru)
• Environmental improvements through community involvement in the Pasig River rehabilitation project (Manila, Philippines)
• The creation of enterprises and services through financial, technical and institutional support (PROADEL, Peru)
• Urban Waste Expertise Programme (UWEP), six year programme for research and pilot project execution to enable communities and SME's to improve their environment and to increase employment in countries in the South
• Feasibility study into a network with regard to the occupational and environmental health in private and public enterprises
• Regional research project on solid waste micro and small enterprises in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay

ACEPESA, Central American Asociation for Economy, Health and Environment, San José, Costa Rica (1990)

• ACEPESA is an NGO, operating in Central America, active in the promotion of new development options through the creation of possibilities for investment and new sources of employment, the support of productive organisations and the improvement of occupational and environmental health.
• ACEPESA is responsible for three programmes: the promotion of micro-enterprises, especially small-scale tourist enterprises, to generate new employment; the Environmental Sanitation Programme (PROSAC), strengthening and increasing the involvement of local actors (not only authorities, but also NGOs and enterprises) in various components of solid waste management; Occupational Health, the search for alternatives in close collaboration with the employees and employers to improve the occupational and environmental health situation of enterprises.

CAPS, Center For Advanced Philippine Studies

• CAPS is a non-profit research foundation. Its primary purpose is to conduct relevant studies on strategic issues and to make the results available to national and local leaders, both in the government and private sectors, for sound decision making. CAPS believes that the public good is best served by a well informed leadership.
• CAPS is very much engaged in urban environmental management researches and projects most especially in the area of integrated sustainable waste management (ISWM). Since 1991, CAPS has been conducting researches dealing with waste recovery, composting, recycling, hospital waste, municipal and community-based waste management.
• CAPS is part of the Urban Waste Expertise Programme that promotes Integrated Sustainable Waste Management in the South East Asian Region.
• It is affiliated with CITYNet and the Asia Pacific Cities Forum, the UNEP-HABITAT Urban Environmental Forum (UEF) and other international and local development networks and programs.
• In its various research activities, CAPS has extended its services to government agencies and international agencies, it has undertaken studies for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

CEK – Kala Saba, The Cabinet d’Etudes Keïta – Kala Saba

• CEK – Kala Saba is a group of independent consultants that exists since January 1987 in Mali, other african and european countries.
• The balance between Man-Woman, intercultural communication and permanent training are recognized by CEK – Kala Saba’s consultants in their works as key-elements to achieve success.
• Furthermore, Kala Saba’s ambition is to systematically value development experiences to projects and development actors in Africa by drafting capitalization documents training programs etc. These efforts will focuss on the following fields :
  • Waste management in urban areas
  • Basic Education
  • NGO management
  • Support development actors particularly low income rural and urban groups : organization, communication, self-promotion

IPES, Institute for the Development of Social Economy, Lima, Peru (1984)

• IPES is a private, non-profit development organization directed at the improvement of the quality of life of the unemployed and self-employed city dwellers like employers and employees of small and micro-enterprises by implementing projects which support the local economy. IPES has branch offices in Honduras and Bolivia.
• The services of IPES include development, applied research, consultancies and project execution in the Latin American region with a special focus on technical assistance, capacity building, marketing, financing, information and legal advice. IPES has won its spurs in the development of more than 180 small enterprises for urban waste services.

IPES runs four different programmes: the Programme for the Creation of New Employment Opportunities, the Programme for the Promotion and Development of New Enterprises in Urban Services, the Programme for Financial Support and the Programme of Decentralization.

WASTE, Advisers on Urban Environment and Development, Gouda, the Netherlands (1983)

• WASTE is a non-profit development organization for urban environmental projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which also acts as a knowledge broker between sources of expertise and project demands.
• WASTE works for organisations that aim at the sustainable improvement of the living conditions of the urban low-income population and of the urban environment in general. Its activities solicit the participation of men and women in articulating their gender specific needs to ensure that the interventions match the local conditions of life and that the improvements will be sustained by the local population.
• WASTE has a multidisciplinary team comprising an environmental specialist, a planner, a solid waste management specialist, a sociologist and an environmental economist.

All five organisations have worked for a great variety of international development organisations and have received project support from different funding agencies.

• Series on the recycling of products through small and micro-enterprises: Organic Waste, Plastic Waste, Rubber Waste and Hazardous Waste.
• Series on the generation, collection and management of solid waste in Latin America: problems faced and potential solutions
• Project reports on identification en evaluation missions concerning waste management and public health education
• Project studies on tariffs, cost recovery and feasibility studies into the improvement of waste services
• Training modules and policy papers on community involvement in urban water and sanitation, waste management and hospital environmental care management
• Solid Waste Management in Latin America. The Small and Micro Enterprise and cooperative case.