Yangon, Myanmar

How a collaborative effort between Common Purpose alumni led to a waste management solution for the city of Yangon

Several Common Purpose alumni from Yangon have collaborated on a project to address Yangon’s waste management issue. The group were left inspired after immersions into two different organizations in Jakarta – Qlue, a smart city solutions provider, and Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

Due to the Yangon municipality’s lack of resources and facilities, the garbage collection system could not cover every street corner of the city. The government was already engaging and educating the community; however, the group felt that the city could implement smarter and more effective actions in order to make a significant impact.

On their Common Purpose programme, the participants learned how, as part of its smart city development, the city of Jakarta in partnership with Qlue launched the smart city app, a dedicated communication app for citizens to report problems directly to the local government and businesses. The smart city app allows citizens to report rubbish disposal problems in real time and will allow authorities to take immediate action. The Yangon alumni saw this as a possible solution for their city’s waste problem.

Another immersion visit to Bank Negara Indonesia introduced a second solution for the Yangon cohort. The state-owned bank began accepting rubbish in exchange for money to reap economic benefits from managing waste.

At the time of writing, the group has sent its waste management proposal to the Governor’s office and is hopeful that they can take the idea forward.

“Qlue and BNI’s solution are beneficial for both the Yangon government and its citizens. The feedback system provides accountability and real-time action from the government, which in turn earns the citizens’ trust in their government. At the same time, the reward system will ensure that the citizens will take action even without the government’s help.”
Khin Suu Yin, Deputy General Manager, KBZ Technology Engineering