UNDP Jobs - 88809- Individual Consultant - Project Assistant

Individual Consultant - Project Assistant - Plastic Waste Management (06 posistions) - For Indian Nationals only

Location :

2 -Trivandrum, 1-Ahmedabad, 1-Howrah, 1-Patna and 1-Port Blair, INDIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

04-Dec-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year (Extendable)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Plastic are petroleum-based products derived from non-renewable sources produced by heating hydrocarbons in a cracking process & polymerization. Plastics can be moulded into a permanent or a temporary object. There are about 50 different groups of plastics, with hundreds of different varieties.

In India, the consumption of plastic, in the day to day human life, in different forms is increasing by an average of 10% every year. By 2020, plastics consumption of the country is expected to 20 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA). Some of the examples of plastic consumption include: plastic bags. Plastic coatings, plastic furniture, plastic sheets, plastic fittings, plastic tanks, plastic toys, plastic buckets, plastic sanitary ware, plastic stationery, etc.

The advantage of plastic include: Resistance to chemicals, water and impact; Good safety and hygiene properties for food packaging; Excellent thermal and electrical insulation properties; Relatively inexpensive to produce; Lighter weight than competing materials, reducing fuel consumption during transportation, etc. Like other consumables, plastic also have few disadvantages as it is not readily decomposable, difficult to recycle, non-renewable, hard to reuse and pose threat to animals and environment.

Plastic materials like carry bags, bottles disposable plastic plates, cups, glass, etc. having no resale value are just thrown out & littered around by the habit of people, which contributes to generation of plastic waste leading to a serious problem for municipal solid waste (MSW) management. Rapid urbanization, population growth and industrial development have increased the consumption of plastic in India, leading to a proportional increase in the quantity of plastic waste generation. Plastic waste constitutes about 9 % of total MSW generated in the country per day. India generates 5.6 million metric tons of plastic waste annually, according to a report from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Govt. of India, in year 2015-16.

Brief on Project

This initiative is designed to minimize negative impacts and risks to environment and to human health in India, by enhancing sustainable Plastic Waste Management practices, through a socio-technical model (segregation/collection/ recycling) while ensuring compliance with regulations, to improve use of resources and in line with Swacch Bharat Mission in India; in this project the waste pickers (Safaii Mitras) will be institutionalized with respective governance mechanisms and attain improved social conditions. Project’s targets at the end of period are, to better manage an amount more than 85,000 MT/year of plastic waste and to improve socio-economic conditions of 30,000 plus Safaii Mitras. To achieve the project objective and outcomes, the project is structured in 4 components:

Component 1: Aims to develop support and implement an economically sustainable model (ESM) for packaging plastic waste management. This component focuses on developing and implementing the model at 50 selected cities in different States. It also entails support and active involvement of key stakeholders relevant to plastic waste management in urban areas in India for a holistic approach in convergence with the existing mechanisms and resources. This will also include an analysis of present regulatory mechanisms and practices followed, subject to relevance to ‘plastic waste’ in specific and current resources and technologies available as well as for creating an enabling environment, and covering under their umbrella the various kinds of plastic waste, including plastic bottles;

Component 2: focuses on design and implementation of Pilots in City Units (Swacchta Kendras) for improved plastic waste management, in the administrative wards of selected 50 cities. Socio-technical approach is to be applied to combine improved technological development in handling, with the social aspects of waste collection and segregation. This component represents the core development of the project, from its results; projections will be developed towards implementation in the entire country.

Component 3 is directed mainly to design, sustain and provide elements to institutionalize Swacchta Kendra in governance bodies and to obtain improved socio-economic conditions for waste pickers. This is to be achieved by incorporation of the plastic waste management model, and its main stakeholders presence and importance, into urban local bodies at city, state and national levels; by obtaining Safaii Mitras’ activities recognition as a service to society, with the corresponding starting up of their mainstreaming; and by fostering and strengthening self-help groups for Safaii Mitra living improvements of their way of life;

Component 4 is aimed to develop a knowledge management, monitoring and communication mechanisms, which will be based in a in-built adoptive feedback system from project results at various stages along the entire duration. Adequate governance mechanisms will be established in order to assure proper recycling methods adopted.

Some of the plastic will be utilized by the women SHGs for enterprise development. This integrated plastic waste management approach will have following benefits at social, economical and environmental levels:

Creation of employment opportunities for Safaii Mitras with Dignity & Respect
Enterprise development by creating women self help group to empower women.
Developing an efficient system of waste collection and segregation
Reduction of Transportation Costs (owing to bailing of waste Vs transporting loose waste)
Huge savings for Cement factories in terms of fuel cost (calorific value of plastic is 1.5 times more than that of coal)
Reduction in carbon emission from burning of plastic waste instead of coal
Prevention of choking of sewage lines ensuring health and hygiene and avoiding flooding during rainy seasons

The project will be on a partnership approach with various facilitating NGOs, municipalities, ULBs, Gram Panchyats, state regulatory authorities, State urban development dept, sate environment dept, RWAs and other stake holders. UNDP will extend its support for management of the implementation program at all the selected cities. The proposed project builds on the extensive experience of UNDP in the country on a diverse range of aspects including ecological restoration, water management, institution building, capacity development and community mobilization.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:

Liaison and Network with various stake holders, both government and nongovernment, during the execution of the projects in coordination with Implementing Partner (IP). Ensure proper letters are issued for augmenting the collection of at least 5 MTs of all plastic by IP.
Organise Capacity building, Resource mobilization and Knowledge management programs related to project activities in coordination with IP, particularly oversight the book-keeping; accounts and the business model approach. Initiate the required trainings at the IP level and related stakeholders.
Facilitate through IP, enterprise development by creating women self-help group to empower women.
Act as a focal point in the city for UNDP. Ensure partnerships to happen with all types of bulk generators, a minimum of 10 institutions per month.
Perform any other tasks assigned from time to time by the senior management at IP and UNDP.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive constructive attitude;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
Ability to prioritize assignments and requirements, and multitask as needed;
Ability to work independently with limited supervision.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in social science, rural management, environment engineering with waste management or related area.

Master’s Degree is preferable.

Experience:

Minimum experience of 1 year is essential.

Language requirements

Fluency in spoken and written English and Hindi. Malayalam for Kerala, Gujarati for Ahmedabad, Bengali for Howrah and Bengali or Tamil for Port Blair is added advantage.

Application Process:

Candidates have to apply online in the link (https://apps.undp.org.in/PlasticWasteManagement) with relevant details.

Evaluation Criteria:

Selection will be based on following points:

Bachelor’s Degree in social science, rural management, environment engineering with waste management or related area - 20 marks
Year of experience - 20 marks
Relevant experience - 20 marks
Telephonic/skype interview - 40 marks

Payment:

Payment would be INR 45,000 per month and on the monthly basis.

Documents to be submitted by Consultants

Cover letter expressing Suitability for the assignment and Updated CV

Notes:

As system allows uploading only one file, please merge above-mentioned documents to be submitted as part of application into one (1) single PDF document and upload.

The following documents can be accessed, clicking the link:

General Conditions for Individual Contract-
http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/procurement/UNDP%20General%20Conditions%20for%20Individual%20Contracts.pdf

For queries, please email to: ic.india@undp.org