TUNISIA: Demonstrating and Promoting Best Techniques and Practices for Managing Healthcare Waste and

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TUNISIA Demonstrating and
Promoting Best Techniques and Practices for
Managing Healthcare Waste and PCBsMr. Yassine
BousselmiDirector, Management of Industrial and
Special WastesAgence Nationale de Gestion des
Déchets (ANGED)Stockholm Convention
COP4Geneva, SwitzerlandMay 7, 2009
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SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN TUNISIA

• Solid waste management (SWM) has been identified
  as one Tunisias top environmental priorities
• The production of municipal waste in Tunisia is
  estimated at two million metric tonnes per year.
  According to recent studies, the annual rate of
  growth is estimated at 3
• 90s
• Nearly 34 of Tunisias urban population has
  access to sanitary landfills, while open dumps
  remain the only option for the remaining
  population
• Over 60 of the total waste is thus relegated to
  400 open dump sites, which lack basic facilities
  and infrastructure
• The most significant impacts and risks are
  associated with the open dumps surrounding the
  large cities and along the coast, and those
  located in areas with highly vulnerable natural
  resources

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THE GOVERNMENTS APPROACH

• Recognizing that the effective management of
  solid waste is a critical component of
  sustainable economic development, in 1992 a
  National Program for the Management of Solid
  Waste (PROGNADES) was launched by the Ministry of
  Environment and Sustainable Development (MOESD)
• In 2005, the National Agency for Solid Waste
  Management (Agence Nationale de Gestion des
  Déchets - ANGED) was established by Presidential
  Decree
• ANGED is a government agency with financial
  autonomy, placed under the auspices (MOESD), with
  the mandate to manage and coordinate with other
  entities the management of all types of waste
• Numerous projects and programs have been
  developed in recent years with a view to
  modernizing the management of the solid waste
  sector and providing the country with the
  necessary installations for the proper treatment
  and disposal of the various waste categories

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• Actually
• 14 sanitary landfills and 45 transfer centres are
  operational (KfW and BEI)
• Nearly 85 of Tunisias urban population has
  access to sanitary landfills,
• A project concerning the rehabilitation of open
  dump sites is developed (BM)

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HEALTHCARE WASTE MANAGEMENT

• Healthcare facilities produce roughly 18,000
  tonnes of waste per year, of which approximately
  40 are from the Greater Tunis Area
• Roughly 40 of HCW is classified as risk waste
• Guidelines for waste separation were developed by
  the Ministry of Health in 1992 on the basis of
  WHOs three-bin system
• The overall performance of the HCWM system has
  declined since its inception. Larger hospitals
  and healthcare centres practice waste separation,
  but the majority of smaller facilities do not
• The collection and transport of HCW from
  healthcare facilities to final disposal sites is
  not specialized and risk waste is typically mixed
  with general municipal waste in collection
  vehicles or at the dump sites
• Incineration is the only available alternative
  for treatment and disposal of HCW other than
  burial. However, there is currently a major
  under-capacity for incineration at the national
  level. Operating incinerators do not have
  emissions control systems
• The national inventory of dioxin and furan
  emissions concluded that up to 81 of the total
  emissions are caused during instances of
  uncontrolled combustion. Roughly 78 are emitted
  during accidental fires of municipal and
  healthcare wastes in waste dumps.

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PCB MANAGEMENT

• PCBs were never produced in Tunisia. However,
  PCB-containing equipment (particularly
  transformers) was widely used in the country.
• The Société Tunisienne de lElectricité et du
  Gaz, STEG is the only national company producing,
  transporting and distributing electricity in
  Tunisia.
• In 1986, the import to Tunisia of PCB-containing
  equipment was banned, and maintenance and repair
  of any equipment contaminated by PCBs was
  prohibited
• An inventory of PCBs was conducted in 2003 as
  part of the preparation of the NIP. Main findings
  were as follows
• There are approximately 45,600 transformers in
  Tunisia, of which STEG owns about 33,000. Prior
  to 1985, roughly 250 out of 8,000 transformers
  owned by STEG were filled with PCBs.
• The total number of PCB-containing transformers
  currently owned by STEG is 163, of which 60
  remain in service.
• STEG owns and operates a storage facility in
  Naassen, where electrical equipment taken
  off-line has been drained and is currently stored
  awaiting treatment and disposal. Approximately
  60 tonnes of PCB oils and 156 tonnes of
  contaminated equipment are stored at this
  facility.
• It is estimated that as many as 1,047
  PCB-contaminated, privately owned transformers
  and up to 631 tonnes of PCB contaminated oils are
  distributed around Tunisia, in addition to those
  owned by STEG. The Governorats of Grand Tunis
  and of Bizerte are the two areas of greatest
  concentration of PCB-contaminated equipment.

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SUSTAINABLE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

• The Government of Tunisia and the World Bank are
  working together in a Solid Waste Management
  Program aimed at supporting the Governments
  efforts to establish a sustainable system for
  municipal solid waste management and improve its
  existing hazardous waste management system. The
  Program consists of two projects
• Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management
  Project
• Project will be financed with a US22 million
  World Bank loan approved in 2007, and with
  revenues generated by the sale of greenhouse gas
  reduction credits through the Clean Development
  Mechanism.
• The Bank has entered into an agreement with the
  Government to buy 50 of the credits generated by
  the reduction of emissions in ten sanitary
  landfills around the country, which will be
  upgraded through the project.
• It is estimated that the potential for emissions
  reductions at these landfills amounts to 6.1
  billion tonnes equivalent of carbon dioxide. The
  sale of these emission reduction credits will be
  used towards the costs associated with the
  maintenance and operation of sanitary landfills
  at the 10 facilities.
• Healthcare Waste and PCB Management Project
• US5.5 million project co-financed by the GEF and
  by the Government.
• Project focused on improving HCW and PCB
  management in Tunisia

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THE GEF PROJECT

• Project Objective To establish a sound and
  sustainable HCW and PCB management program that
  will reduce POPs releases, specifically those of
  dioxins, furans, and PCBs.
• Component 1 Strengthening the legal and
  institutional framework for HCW and PCBs
  management
• Activities will be addressed in the broader
  context of the institutional strengthening
  component of the Sustainable Solid Waste
  Management Program
• Mandate for management of HCW and PCB wastes will
  be centralized at ANGED
• Component 2 Training and Capacity Building for
  Environmentally Sound Management of HCW and PCBs
• This component will consist of providing
  training, in both the public and private sectors,
  in BAT/BAP for the management of HCW and PCBs
• In the case of HCW these include a) waste
  minimization programs b) waste separation at the
  source and c) environmentally sound treatment,
  destruction and disposal technologies
• With regards to PCBs, capacity building
  activities related to BAT/BEP will include
  training on handling, storing, safeguarding,
  decommissioning, transporting, and
  decontaminating PCB-containing electrical
  equipment.
• Private sector involvement in this component is
  expected

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THE GEF PROJECT (Ctd.)

• Component 3 Improved HCW Management in Pilot
  Areas
• Improved HCW, from collection to final disposal,
  will be piloted in several areas. Pilots are
  intended to establish models of proper HCWM
  through reduced HCW generation at source and
  improved HCW segregation, treatment, transport,
  and disposal
• Pilot zones represent urban areas with i) high
  HCW generation rates, and ii) rural areas with a
  small number of healthcare facilities generating
  low quantities of HCW and separated by long
  distances
• Component 4 Managing and Reducing PCB
  Contaminated Equipment
• This component will focus on the PCB-contaminated
  equipment owned by 10 state companies and six
  ministries
• Main activities will include eliminating
  publicly-owned and off-line PCB-contaminated
  equipment, or defective/risky on-line equipment
• Component 5 Project Management
• Project Management Unit will be established in
  ANGED

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM PROJECT DESIGN

• The innovative design of this project has managed
  to blend a variety of policy and financial
  instruments in order to achieve a sustainable
  program for the management of solid wastes,
  including POPs. In particular
• The overarching commitment of the Government of
  Tunisia to adequately manage all of its solid
  waste streams, the regulations it has put in
  place to this effect, and the budget it has
  allocated, have been the critical foundation to a
  long-term sustainable approach
• The creation and the staffing of ANGED, an
  independent agency that will oversee all solid
  waste management issues and with a mandate to
  enforce regulations has also been a key step of
  the process
• The design of a Solid Waste Management Program
  sufficiently broad but with enough details to
  adequately address all waste management streams.
  The development of this program has truly
  contributed to an integrated approach to the
  management of solid waste in the country
• With regards to financial instruments, the World
  Bank loan and its associated Technical Assistance
  will support the Governments efforts. However,
  the stream of CDM revenues will make the Program
  financially sustainable in the long term
• The GEF support will be critical to demonstrating
  sound initiatives for the management of two
  particularly troublesome waste streams. This will
  help the country meet its commitments to the
  Stockholm Convention
• Private sector participation in the GEF project
  will be definitive. The Government has committed
  its support through the implementation of
  regulatory and financial measures that will
  facilitate private sector involvement