Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam—Municipal Waste Recycling Project (MWRP)

In 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) received a Congressional Directive to support increased recycling of waste that threatens human health and the environment, and that, if recycled, could generate income, improve agriculture, and produce energy. As part of this objective, USAID launched the Municipal Waste Recycling Project (MWRP), which worked in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam and provided grants and technical assistance to waste recycling programs, with a particular focus on improving waste management practices and reducing plastics pollution in marine environments. Successful pilot programs and lessons learned from MWRP guided USAID efforts to scale up municipal waste recycling programs in other countries around the world.

DAI supported Development Innovations Group in the implementation of MWRP by creating a grants program that provided startup funding for promising new approaches to municipal waste management. The team evaluated grantees throughout the project to collect insights for future USAID recycling initiatives, as well as facilitated international knowledge sharing on municipal waste management and recycling best practices.

Select Results

• Supported the development of a grants manual to communicate consistent application and evaluation criteria to the project team and grant applicants.
• Conducted a study on municipal solid waste in the three target countries to inform grant program design.
• Identified promising potential grant recipients, evaluate grant proposals, and analyze the effectiveness of grantee programs to collect lessons and insights for future waste recycling initiatives.