Background The cities of Fayoum and Etsa are currently suffering from the consequences of poor solid waste management, including both the collection of municipal solid waste and its disposal in desert dumpsites. This uncontrolled disposal of waste is also starting to cause a variety of environmental problems, such as emissions from stored waste and water and soil pollution. Unfortunately, the waste management capacity of the city councils of Fayoum and Etsa is weak. Objectives The ISOWA project aimed to develop a safe and environmentally sound Integrated Waste Management System for the cities of Fayoum and Etsa. The main objectives were to: Establish a baseline situation of waste generation, waste activities, and waste treatment and disposal in the two cities; Develop and recommend the most suitable waste management system(s) for the two cities; Build capacity in the city councils on planning and management of waste; Design and implement a waste treatment and recovery pilot project; Promote the participation of NGOs, the general public, and private businesses in the decision-making process through a series of workshops; Establish a “facilitating unit” with key representatives from government, local councils, city councils, NGOs, the private sector, etc., on the facilitation, enforcement and implementation of future waste management policies, and having an advisory role for potential investors; and Implement public awareness campaigns. Other actions carried out by the project were the following: Identification of all sources and categories of solid waste generated in the two cities. This covered the municipalities (households, markets, street sweeping), construction and demolition debris, industrial waste (hazardous and non-hazardous), healthcare facilities and other institutions; Collection and analysis of data on the current situation; Collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste; Examination of the local authorities’ Institutional and legislative framework.Results An environmentally sound integrated solid waste management (SWM) concept developed by the project was presented to the Governorate of Al Fayoum and subsequently approved. Six city councils fall under the Governorate and pilot activities were implemented in 2 of these: Fayoum (which is the largest in population) and Etsa (which has the smallest population but extends over a larger area as it combines a rural and urban environment). For the concept to be officially implemented, a Decree signed by the Governorate is needed, which involves much bureaucracy. The Decree has not been issued to date and this is beyond the control of the beneficiary. Nevertheless, the beneficiary has a long standing relationship with the Governorate and there are some guarantees for the continuation of the work initiated by the project. Importantly, the pilots in Fayoum and Etsa proved to be successful and both officials and inhabitants are aware and convinced of the environmental, economic, and social benefits. The SWM concept was developed to suit the social and economic conditions prevailing in these two cities. In particular it aimed to make use of the available resources as the city councils' budget and work force were not sufficient to implement SWM. The solution put forward by the SWM concept, increases the capacity of the city council by 100% by combining the resources of the private sector (scavengers) and the city councils. Three month-long pilot applications of the SWM concept took place in Etsa and Fayoum. Steps 1 (waste collection fee from households to the municipalities) and 2 (payment of the plastic bag production line (PBPL) by the municipalities) could not be applied without the relevant legislation in place. Raw material was purchased by the project for the PBPL to start-up. Two different coloured bags were produced and distributed to the households who separated recyclables and non-recyclables. The scavengers collected the recyclables from the households, daily or every second day, which they subsequently sold in Cairo. The municipality collected the non-recyclables, which the householders placed in municipal containers. The pilot activities were supported by awareness campaigns that were carried out in parallel and they included: information events for inhabitants; presentations in schools within the pilot areas; and door to door visits. For the latter, the project involved Rural Female Coordinators (RFCs); 22-35 year old women with basic health education, employed by the Ministry of Health, to visit households and inform them on issues related to woman's health and child care. The Ministry recommended 25 RFCs who were screened and a final selection of 15 was made. The RFCs were used to going to households and were well received by the women at home. The 15 RFCs were trained by the beneficiary on SWM with emphasis on the environmental implications. They also received training by the Ministry of Health on health issues and diseases, which may arise from improper SWM, and by a specialist NGO on communication issues, including the child-to-child methodology (which focused on how to transmit a message to a child so as to make the child enthusiastic enough to pass it on to another child). A series of visits to each household were conducted, including an introductory visit, implementation and follow-up visits, and a final visit for evaluation. The pilots achieved the collaboration of all groups: private sector, city councils, inhabitants and RFCs. Although the pilots have been completed and implementation of the SWM concept now depends on the legislation being put in place, some of the benefits are still apparent. The scavengers now have access to the households that participated and are continuing to collect recyclable waste. These households are still separating their waste, thus reducing the volumes in the municipal bins. The PBPL is not operating at full capacity and is probably still using the initial raw material. The bags are being sold for waste collection to various markets and the City Council (that employs the PBPL workers) is getting the revenue. It is also worth noting that approximately 90% of the inhabitants are willing to pay a fee for the implementation of the SWM (4-5 Egyptian pounds per month per household) in order to have the benefits of regular waste collection and clean areas around the bins. The project also helped to enhance the planning and management capacities of City Council staff, particularly in the department of the Environment. Training courses were held on recycling, landfill and the collection system, as well as on operation and maintenance, computer training and financial issues. Several presentations were also held after the project end date to disseminate the SWM concept and the results of the pilots to other governorates, and also to NGOs involved in SWM, private banks which could provide loans, manufacturers of septic tanks, and recycling businesses. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).