The community participation, awareness-raising and publicity aspects of the project were tackled very well. Through workshops, training courses, community meetings, production of videos and numerous other interventions community appreciation of separation and recycling in the pilot areas were significantly raised while the project operated.
In the low-income high-rise, residents were not highly organized. A small committee was formed to undertake the project, but a full residents committee was not established. The building owner initially donated three units of the building to be used for waste separation and storage. Residents were requested to separate their waste and bring separated waste to the building entrance once a week where it was separated by elderly people employed by the project. Volunteers also went to each floor of the building to collect separated waste. Money used from initial collection and sale of separated waste was used to hold a children's festival for the building residents. It was intended to use this money also to make a library for residents in the units donated by the owner.
In the Jetty Houses, residents associations representing between 16 and 40 houses each were used to raise awareness in the community and to organize separation and collection.
In the Kampung the community had several community committees in place and was already used to undertaking community campaigns. The strength of this group lies with the social structure of the community, headed by a village head and committee. A person from each zone of the Kampung took part in the project. A composting course was given to residents and separation bins installed at the entrance to the Kampung.
Also during the project a more thorough study was undertaken of the structure of the waste and recycling industries which greatly increased the understanding of participants of how this important sector functioned and the players involved.
Achievements of the project included:
o Effectively raising awareness about solid waste separation and recycling in pilot communities
o Generating a clear understanding of the structure of the waste and recycling sector
o Creating a better network of stakeholders in the sector
o Building closer links between the community and private sector