A Gap Analysis in Selected Asian Countries, 3R Knowledge Hub ...

3R Gap Analysis and Findings
INFORMATION SOURCES
Owing to the sensitivity of the gap analysis and
its likely impacts on future decisions, the choice
of data and information sources were limited
and restricted to those considered official or are
endorsed by the respective governments. The
main source of documents for the Gap Analysis
were those presented and circulated in the
various line of events on the 3R, such as the:
• Ministerial Conference on the 3R
Initiative April 2005, Tokyo, Japan
• 3R Senior Officials Meeting,
March 2006, Tokyo, Japan
• 3R South Asia Workshop, August 2006,
Katmandu, Nepal
• Asia 3R Conference, November 2006, Tokyo,
Japan
• 3R South East Asia Workshop,
February 2007, Manila, Philippines
In addition to the above conference
proceedings, websites of the respective national
governments, multilateral agencies and line
organizations provided reliable information for
use in the gap analysis. Reports of Government
Agencies and Departments were also referred
to cross-check the validity of the information
obtained from other sources. The valuable
contribution of published literatures in
Journals, Periodicals and Policy Briefs was of
great use in obtaining regional information and
the perspective of regional experts and
researchers on 3R. Documents and reports of
Regional and International NGOs provided
critical perspectives of the current situation.
STRUCTURE OF COUNTRY REPORTS
The country reports have been designed to first
provide an overview of the country by
presenting some macro-economic information
to provide a general picture.
The next section of the report discusses the
identified priority areas for waste management.
The following priority areas identified vary at
large: urban municipal waste, healthcare waste
and e-waste. Eventually, the priority areas have
been identified rationally, based on the severity
of the problem, nature of threats, prevailing
situation and current practices in tackling the
issue. The reason for presenting the priority
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areas is to bring light to other wastes that have
been posing threats.
The subsequent sections of the report,
containing the gap analysis are structured to
present the status of the situation. An analysis
of the status evokes various thoughts. The
findings at the end of each waste sector discuss
these thoughts in a systematic manner.
Following the results of the analysis, an
evaluation of the status was done to crystallize
the results and present it in a form easy to
understand and interpret. This was done by
displaying the results in a tabulated form. Both
prevailing technology and its appropriate
management are essential for successful
implementation. Considering this, two tables
were designed to present the information and
reflect the findings in an understandable way.
DESCRIPTION OF LEGENDS USED IN THE
TABLES
TECHNOLOGY ASPECTS
Formal and Informal denote the existence of
regulations, laws and rules to govern an
activity.
An activity is said to be Formal, if it has specific
laws and rules that mandate, enforce, encourage
and allow the activity within a specified
regulatory framework. For example, the
National Recycling Program, 2001 targeting
urban municipal waste is backed by the
government’s policies. As a spin off, many
activities originating from this Program have
contributed to the overall recycling rate in the
country.
An Informal activity is one that does not have
any law, rule or guiding policy, still the activity
might be happening by itself. For example,
sorting of urban municipal waste in India is a
source of livelihood for many scavenging
communities. Yet, there are no regulations or
laws to safeguard the interests of these
communities. These activities happen
regardless of the governing regulations and
hence making them informal activities.