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

In the national level, Science, Technology and
Environment Agency is responsible for waste
management in Laos, whereas, urban waste
management is under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Communication, Transport, Port
and Construction.
Waste management in Laos is shared by
national and provincial government, although
primarily implemented through local
authorities. Progress in waste management has
depended on donor support including that of
NGO and private sector participation.
The Lao Garbage Society (LGS) founded in
1994 offers residential and commercial pickup
and transportation to the dumpsite. In 1997,
the Japanese International Corporation Agency
(JICA) founded the Urban Cleansing Service
(UCS). JICA donated USD 2.7 million in
constructing a building for UCS, upgrading the
dumpsite, purchasing vehicles and large metal
solid waste bins. UCS currently contributes to
90% of the solid waste collection in Vientiane
and LGS contributes to the remaining 10%. A
local NGO, the Participatory Development
Training Centre, setup a company that buys
recyclable materials and ships them to
Thailand. This has led to the promotion of
recyclable banks buying recyclable materials
from individuals and members of the informal
sectors such as the rag pickers and informal
collectors.
Similarly, Waste-Econ Program conducted a
research funded by CIDA from 2000-2005
involving partnerships with a number of
government institutions, universities and
NGOs in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The
program aimed to explore methods for
recycling, exchanging and reducing in ways
that will be beneficial to the economies of the
partner countries, to people working in the
waste sector and to the environment as a
whole. In Laos, the University of Toronto has
partnered with the National Science Council at
the Prime Minister’s Office in Vientiane. Pilot
projects such as feasibility studies of
composting organic wastes from markets in
Vientiane have been carried-out.
In 2001, community based recycling was
initiated in three villages and three schools in
the central districts of Vientiane. The objective
of the project was to educate people to separate
their waste in order to reduce the amount of
material that goes to the landfill. The project
was funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy
in Bangkok and UNDP.
HEALTHCARE WASTE
In Laos, the amount of healthcare waste is
increasing with the improvement in health-care
activities since 1990 when the country opened
its doors to people from other countries and
various health organizations started their
activities. It has been observed that the amount
of sources of potential healthcare wastes, such
as equipment (for laboratory tests, medical
treatments, and immunization), medicines and
vaccines has been increasing beyond the
capacity for its disposal by the existing
management systems, especially in rural areas
(Kuroiwa et al. 2004). In response to these
concerns, incinerators were installed in all 18
municipality/provinces due to the efforts of the
WHO and UNICEF. In some rural areas,
untreated healthcare waste including
hazardous infectious waste is dumped in
uncontrolled sites (e.g., the backyards of
healthcare facilities) that are accessible to the
general public. Healthcare waste segregation
has been implemented since 1999 through a
healthy city program under the auspices of the
Ministry of Health, however, the program is
not yet widespread (Kuroiwa et al. 2004).
A study by Phengxay et al (2005) discusses
deeply the current situation of healthcare waste
management in Lao PDR. The study indicates
that the MOH allocated a budget for healthcare
waste management only to the national
hospital level. Three provincial hospitals were
supported by a NGO and the others,
particularly at health centre level did not have
any fund for healthcare waste activities.
The study also indicates that sharp waste
segregation was done at all healthcare facilities.
With regard to infectious waste segregation,
color-coded bags were used only at the
national hospital and in some provincial
hospitals. Labels were used at some provincial
hospitals. For final disposal of healthcare
waste, Vientiane Municipality and four
Chapter 3: Country Analysis
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