Waste Clinics: A practical approach to identify challenges and solutions for solid waste management

The document outlines the 'Waste Clinic' methodology, where local government representatives (patients) and waste management experts (doctors) collaborate to address solid waste challenges. It details a structured process involving planning—such as selecting decision-makers and regional experts—and a five-session execution phase including expert presentations, challenge identification, and solution development. Based on experience in Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) recommends a two-day format and the use of hypothetical city scenarios to encourage more open problem-solving.

• Waste Clinics are designed as a collaborative tool where local government representatives, acting as "patients", work with waste management experts, acting as "doctors", to identify pressing challenges and find potential solutions.
• For maximum effectiveness, participating cities should ideally be from the same country to ensure they operate under similar regulatory systems and policies. Participants should include both political or administrative decision-makers capable of effecting change and managers who provide ground-level operational context.
• The planning phase requires tailoring the clinic to the specific audience through desktop research and expert discussions. To prevent participant fatigue, the clinic should focus on no more than three or four specific topics, which may include organic waste management, recycling, financing, and waste collection.
• Experts serving as facilitators must possess more than subject matter expertise; they require empathy and an understanding of the participants' specific contexts, particularly for those in the global south, to avoid offering impractical solutions.
• The execution of a Waste Clinic typically follows five sessions: an opening session for context, expert presentations on best practices, a discussion to specify challenges, an expert-led session to identify solutions and action plans, and a closing session for summary and feedback.
• CATF's experience indicates that a two-day workshop is the ideal duration, with the first day dedicated to landscape familiarization through presentations and the second day focused on the clinic's interactive sessions.
• Using a hypothetical city scenario as a basis for discussion can be more productive than focusing on a city's own challenges, as it allows representatives to feel less constrained and more open to discussing hurdles and solutions cooperatively.
• Waste Clinics serve a dual purpose for the organizing body: they help CATF develop national-level policy recommendations and identify specific cities that require targeted technical assistance.

APA

Holley, P. G., Garzn, I., Sosa, Z. T., & Siegel, K. (2024). Waste Clinics: A practical approach to identify challenges and solutions for solid waste management. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2024/07/waste-clinics-practical-approach-identify-challenges-solutions-solid-waste-management/

Chicago

Holley, Paula Garcono, Isabel Garzn, Zitely Tzompa Sosa, and Kait Siegel. Waste Clinics: A practical approach to identify challenges and solutions for solid waste management. Clean Air Task Force, 2024. https://www.catf.us/2024/07/waste-clinics-practical-approach-identify-challenges-solutions-solid-waste-management/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Holley |first1=Paula Garcono |last2=Garzn |first2=Isabel |last3=Sosa |first3=Zitely Tzompa |last4=Siegel |first4=Kait |title=Waste Clinics: A practical approach to identify challenges and solutions for solid waste management |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=19 July 2024 |url=https://www.catf.us/2024/07/waste-clinics-practical-approach-identify-challenges-solutions-solid-waste-management/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{holley2024waste, author = {Holley, Paula Garcono and Garzn, Isabel and Sosa, Zitely Tzompa and Siegel, Kait}, title = {{Waste Clinics: A practical approach to identify challenges and solutions for solid waste management}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://www.catf.us/2024/07/waste-clinics-practical-approach-identify-challenges-solutions-solid-waste-management/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }