In May 2023, the Safer End of Engineered Life mission awarded 16 projects tackling open burning of waste to reduce risks to human health and safety. Collectively the projects compliment the wider Safer End of Engineered Life activities in the area and expand our community of partners who are working towards ultimately ending of the open burning of waste.
The projects focus on holistic solutions, with appropriate considerations to unintended consequences. They will contribute to building a robust evidence base to contribute to the existing data gap, with the aim to inform future practice and policy. They will also be raising awareness with communities, local governments and national policymakers and showcasing locally driven solutions that can be used to tackle the open burning of waste.
The objectives of the grant scheme are:
- To raise awareness and broader understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the tackling of the open burning of municipal solid waste including any unintended consequences
- To facilitate the development of evidence and use of evidence-based approaches to mitigate the impact of open burning of municipal solid waste on human health and safety.
- To increase knowledge sharing across region, cities and sectorial boundaries on effective implementation of phasing out of open burning of municipal solid waste.
- To decrease the practice of open burning of municipal solid waste through evidence-based approaches.
There were two types of grants available under this scheme:
What is an impact grant?
Up to £60,000 for up to 24 months
The aim of the impact grants is to fund sustainable activities to reduce risks from the open burning of municipal solid waste.
These activities must lead to a demonstrable impact(s) for the beneficiaries, which reduces the risks posed to vulnerable groups as a result of the open burning of municipal solid waste. The grants can either build on existing work or develop new activities.
What are baseline studies and awareness raising grants?
Up to £20,000 for up to 24 months
Baseline studies
The purpose of the baseline studies grants is to fund scoping activities to build up an evidence base and gather new valid and reliable data on the open burning of municipal solid waste to fill data gaps, inform future projects and/or engage with policies and regulations.
Awareness raising
An awareness raising grant will seek to raise awareness of the issue of open burning of municipal solid waste at all levels. It will include the use of existing bodies of data and disseminate it through creative approaches. This can be for a targeted group of stakeholders (i.e., policy makers) or for general public awareness.
Theme Leads
Dr Terry Tudor
Dr Mansoor Ali
Dr Mansoor Ali is an international development specialist with more than 35 years of experience in planning and assessing projects, designing programmes and research and the promoting of knowledge and learning with a focus on solid waste, sanitation and water. His main expertise is in waste management and recycling for low and middle income countries.