#Author:Er Arun Tamang, Eleotronices Engieering NIT Sikkim India https://nitsikkim.ac.in/
A lot of Peru’s solid waste— almost 50 per cent of it— is thrown into open dumpsites. It’s a lost opportunity, given that over half of that waste is organic and that the sector is responsible for well over a third of the country’s methane emissions. It’s a common problem throughout the region where there’s often limited household waste separation, few composting plants, and poor infrastructure to collect and transport waste. Peru’s government wants to combat this problem by promoting better reuse, recycling, and composting of waste, while also pursuing methods to convert organic waste into functional products such as fertilizer or energy sources. It’s a challenging proposition, however, because the country’s current policy environment isn’t conducive to the changes: there’s a lack of in-country technical expertise, and there’s limited financing options given that waste projects can require high upfront investment and the market for products is still young.
Luckily, Peru was able to turn to its southern neighbour for advice. The project “Enhancing NDC ambition and scaling up implementation in Peru’s Municipal Solid Waste sector”, was carried out from 2020 to 2021 and helped Peru review their policy framework for organic waste management based on advice from Chile’s successful approval of a National Organic Waste Strategy. The project started with a peer exchange between Chile and Peru. This consisted of five high level policy meetings between the two governments to discuss different aspects of waste management, the barriers each country faces, and Chile’s successes. The conversations focused on policy, regulation, high-level strategy, financing, and how the national government can catalyse action.
