Data Collection in Addis Ababa and Bishoftu, Ethiopia 2023

On 16 January, the Data Collection Workshop was held at the IVY Hotel in Bishoftu Town, Ethiopia. Together with about 20 stakeholders of the Bishoftu Town municipal solid waste management system from enterprises and the municipality, the morning was spent in constructive discussions. The main objectives were to introduce the stakeholders of the municipal solid waste management system in Bishoftu to the topic and importance of a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), to highlight the benefits and to prepare the participants for the data collection. For this purpose, four presentations were given by the SuCCESS 24 partners, explaining key concepts of the circular economy, presenting studies already carried out in Bishoftu, giving an insight into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and explaining the set of indicators to be used for the LCSA case study. 

The workshop generated a lot of interest, so it quickly became apparent that everyone was pulling in the same direction and striving to improve the waste management system. During the workshop it emerged that the high percentage of landfilled organic waste in Bishoftu, the lack of government support and funding for the waste management system, and especially the lack of demand for compost, severely limit the development of the municipal solid waste management system and thus represent the problematic hotspots of the system.

After a joint lunch, the socio-economic data needed for the LCSA were collected. 

After the data collection workshop, the SuCCESS 24 partners were taken to the waste facilities by the managers of the composting plant in Bishoftu. This allowed them to get a comprehensive picture of the landfill and the composting plant, and to interview the managers in detail.

A master's student at the University of Stuttgart had developed questionnaires in advance as a basis for the LCSA of Bishoftu's waste management system. During the stay in Ethiopia, these were checked and optimised again with the SuCCESS 24 experts of the AAiT. The questionnaires were prepared in English, which was convenient for the municipality staff and the enterprise managers, but interpreters into Ahramaic were needed for the household and worker surveys. Students from the University of Addis Ababa supported the team with the translations.