The Garbage Medical Insurance program is a micro health insurance program that uses garbage as a financial resource. With this program, the community and unensured poor slum dwellers are able to pay for health cover, drugs, and other clinical services by using garbage as payment to an insurance scheme. This, in turn, improves their access to medical treatment and the quality of public health programs with respect to promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative well-being mainly targeting slum children below 5 years and expectant women. It further offers the community an incentive to start organized waste management and waste entrepreneurship system from the household level so as to benefit from continual health insurance.
What really enabled us was the constant lack of plastic waste supplies from households benefiting from our medical insurance scheme. They themselves said there was a challenge that other people were coming to buy plastics so they had to sell. This made the collection of plastic waste too costly because every time we go to collect our garbage from the families we provide insurance we don't get it. The increase in cost was due to the hiring of a car to carry the garbage.
At first, we thought that people were in need of medical insurance and the challenge was getting money to pay for it. So we knew that once we provide insurance we have solved health problems but still people wanted insurance and cash money which is difficult for the company given the high cost of medical insurance. We offered medical insurance at the family level in exchange for plastic waste. Because people already had insurance and wanted cash money they were selling plastics to other people and we could not get our plastic supplies on time. In order to overcome these challenges, we pay for any extra amount exceeding the monthly rate so as to make one earns some money. The demand is too high, if there are people who can venture into that we would appreciate it.
EcoAct Managing director discussing environmental issues in Tanzania and how they are providing solutions through woodworking technology
EcoAct
In order to clean up the city of its plastic waste, we have established a stable and profitable company and tackle the problem of waste pollution at the point of generation by attaching social, environmental, and economic value to plastic waste. We collect waste plastics from the streets and landfills, we also allow the community to exchange their waste plastics with medical insurance coverage, this helps us to collect enough waste plastics to manufacture plastic lumbers, this has helped us a lot to change the community’s attitude towards waste management.
EcoAct has simplified everything through socializing, doing factory parties where all factory workers participate and this makes them feel part of the company. Every Monday at the meeting there must be a representative of factory workers whom they elect to present the opinions to the management. We meet, discuss and consult and sometimes we give ourselves challenges to stay creative and design new and unique products. This enables them to participate in making the decisions.
When I was a fresh graduate I used to think that if you work for any company you are just a person to be instructed to do this and do that. When I got to EcoAct, things were different. There is no one to direct me on what to do. I personally just think about what to do before I am told what to do. So what I have learned is that you have to think a lot and you can't think alone. We, the staff are the ones who have to think before we are given orders.
An innovative, chemical-free, and less energy consumption technology to recycle and transform post-consumer plastic waste into affordable and durable plastic lumbers which are an alternative to expensive timber to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment while reducing effects of climate change, deforestation rates, and giving better margin to our customers.
At first, our poles after being exposed to sunlight were giving off the bad smell which made our customer complain. After going through some studies to understand the causes of the bad smell we shifted our practices and tried some other materials. In our trials, we realized that much agricultural waste like maize and coconut husks were useful to offset the smell. However, one was producing smooth and clean products, and another one produced scratchy products. So we selected the best receipt.
When we started we were using all kinds of plastics including PVC without knowing that they were made of additional chemicals. During our operations, we realized that some plastics were emitting harmful fumes when burnt which caused difficulty in breathing. We twisted our technology into organic manure and stopped using PVC and other plastics that are producing fumes. We used organic manure and things like sawdust in our formula but the problem was still there. We discovered that by adding agricultural waste in the mix of plastics we produce clean products and fumes are reduced.
Governance assessment under the IUCN Green List Process
Governance assessment processes led by the site engaged local stakeholders and developed action plans on key governance principles on participation, accountability and benefit-sharing.
This is an ongoing initiative to support inclusive decision making in the long term.
Van Long commits to work further to keep and improve the good governance.
The Van Long Management Board, has the mandate to make decisions in VLNR. It is a multi-stakeholder Management Board and was established in 2001.
It is under the mandate of the Provincial Forest Protection Department Ramsar (2018) who refers to it as the Van Long Special-use Forest Management Board.
It is responsible for the overall management of biodiversity conservation and protection of natural resources, law enforcement, and conservation projects in Van Long, but also engaging with the local communities and stakeholder groups, to ensure fair representation and meaningful consultation on governance issues.
