Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste ...

Solid Waste Management SIA
IGNIS – Income Generation und Klimaschutz
durch die nachhaltige Inwertsetzung von
Siedlungsabfällen in Megacities (IGNIS)
Increasing urbanization in rapidly growing urban centres
in developing countries has lead to the increase
environmental pressure on natural resources, but at
the same time it opens an opportunity window for the
exploration of new approaches in order to help these
countries direct their efforts towards sustainable development.
The research project “IGNIS - Income Generation
and Climate Protection through the Sustainable
Valorisation of Municipal Solid Wastes in Emerging Megacities”
strives to develop a new concept for the improvement
of waste management and the local environment
while generating new workplaces, increasing
general welfare, considering occupational safety and
health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Funded
by the German Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) through it Future Megacities programme, the
IGNIS project takes on a systemic research approach
to resource recovery from wastes in large urban centres
in developing countries by implementing the project
in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The project
consortium, composed by the AT-Association, the
Universitaet Stuttgart, the Institute for Future Energy
Systems and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health, from Germany, and the Environmental
Development Agency for the Third World, Faculty of
Technology and the Centre for Regional and Local Development
Studies of the Addis Ababa University and
the Environmental Protection Agency of Addis Ababa,
from Ethiopia, will will holistically assess constraints
of the existing waste management system, introduce
decentralized pilot projects and evaluate their environmental,
economic and social impacts, develop a decision
support system and carry out extensive training
of the local authorities and personnel. At the end of
the project, the extent to which the results and insights
gained from research are transferable to other
emerging megacities will be evaluated.
Informal solid waste management in Addis Abeba-
September 2009
Socio-Economic Interview of Households in Addis
Abeba, November 2009
Within the scope of the IGNIS Project understanding
the material and energy flows that move through the
urban metabolism is of great importance in order
to establish their environmental, economic and social
relevance. Materials consumed by households,
commercial and public institutions are converted into
wastes and enter the municipal waste management
system. A large part of these materials are landfilled
without treatment or recovery, while only part of the
secondary resources with market value are recovered
and reintroduced in the economic cycle.
Residential waste sorting analysis
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