SOLID WASTES MANAGEMENT IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES BY BABA ALI MUSTAPHA
According to WHO (1971) solid wastes are
useless, unwanted or discarded materials that arise from man’s activities.
Man’s non-degradable waste products have generally been hauled along with
degradable wastes for disposal in open gullies, valleys or abandoned pit. This
disposal method has led to more deterioration of the local environment around
the dumping grounds. This is because some wastes attract different insects. The
dumping ground also destroys the natural beauty of the environment around us.
One of the most pressing problem facing our
cities at present is disposing of huge quantities of solid waste, which
accumulate in our urban areas as by-product of modernization. Until very recently,
Nigeria and most of third world countries had not been much concerned with
solid waste disposal, our concern had not gone beyond the physical removal of
waste from our streets. It has been and is still common practice in some of
these countries to dispose off refuse by the most expedient method available,
such method might be by open burning or the use of an open dump. But with an
increasing population and rapid urbanization, our solid wastes are piling up
faster than we can find satisfactory places to put them. Besides, the changes
in total quantity the composition of our solid waste has changed, both of which
have complicated the problem of satisfactory disposal. Coming readily to mind
are the “throw away containers” which are difficult to handle in the
traditional disposal processes. Added to this is the indiscriminate dumping of
vehicle scraps and disused machinery on our streets and highways (another major
sources of degradation of our environment).
History has it that no civilization primitive
or modern arise without generation of some form of solid waste. The story of solid
waste dates back to the advent of man on the earth surface. Man in every stage
of civilization, no matter his occupation or social status generates solid
waste, but the rate of generation and method of disposal varies (Berry, 1974).
Solid waste have been as a result of man’s
activities from his earliest civilization, made more prominent during
industrial revolution, intensified by technological developments of twentieth
century, and given political and economic exposure by the passage of the solid
waste disposal Act of 1965 in Nigeria.
Solid wastes were given national attention
with the passage of solid waste disposal Act by the 89th Congress as
public law 89-272 i.e. an act to authorize research and development program
with respect to solid waste disposal, and for other purpose, reprinted here (it
has since been amended). Now all phase, particularly the engineering, planning,
sanitation and health aspect have funds provided for development and
experimental approaches.
The disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste
in or on the Land without careful planning and management can present a danger
to human health and the environment. For example, most of developing countries
like Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Pakistan, Congo DR, e.t.c are
confronted with problems of managing waste because of inadequate personnel,
lack of enough funds and machineries.
The solid waste management include all
measures involved in issuing sanitary storage of solid waste in generating
premises, collections, transportations and final disposal of all types of solid
waste to prevent health hazard and safeguard environmental degradation.
In management of waste, disposal of waste has
been identified as being of utmost importance. It is the first problem, which
must be discussed in any community. The task of maintaining a healthy
environment through sanitary disposal of waste has become difficult in recent
time in most developing countries because of the population explosion, the
migration of people from rural to urban areas, the mobility of the population
as a result of style of life, the increase in outdoor recreation and
industrialization.
Solid waste include deposit of the discarded
materials, waste particles and accumulation of agricultural, industrial and
mineral waste. Solid waste is otherwise calling refuse and is found in human
environment as a result of man’s activities. The component of refuse or solid
waste are many and varied e.g garbage’s aches and dust, dead animals, rubbish,
abandoned vehicles, e.t.c. According to
LAILAI I.W. 1997 first zontal workshop on the environmental protection and
management for sustainable development at College of Education, Now Federal
University Gashua, Yobe State, Nigeria.
Solid waste may also be defined as the
non-gaseous and non-liquid waste resulting from domestic activities of the
inhabitant of a particular residential area (Adedibu, 1982). The phenomenon of
waste generation is common to all human communities and often lead to
organization process, especially when both the natural and migratory net grain
are relatively large. In other word, organization as a spatial process as the
common constraints. For example, when population explode, consumption tends to
be elastic and people create refuse from all sorts of materials used as
packaging material. Thus, man’s activities on domestic, commercial and
industrial process produce some undesirable effect, which are pollutants of all
categories.
According to Adedibu and Okekunle (1989)
rapid population growth is a significant factor that is causing poor
environmental sanitation. Nevertheless, there are factors such as inadequate
knowledge of the composition of solid waste, the rate of which population generate
wastes, inadequate and uncoordinated infrastructural facilities for waste
disposal and rural-urban drifts.
Solid Waste in Developed and Developing World
According to Gourlay (1992) throughout the
Western World there are no longer enough convenient holes in the ground into
which the tip unwanted matter, while the third world, having refused to become
dustbin of the first world in its struggle to industrialize, aggravate the
problem by producing its own volume of waste.
While discussing solid waste management in
Ohio-U.S.A., Moon (1994) cited accessibility, population characteristic,
location, and open landfill availability as the factor that influence managing
volumes of solid waste in Ohio. He further added that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) agenda establish for the first time a revised hierarchy
of waste treatment techniques: re-use, waste reduction, recycling, resource
recovery, incineration and land filling. This prioritization was oriented more
towards changing household, community and state level attitude and action that
engineering solutions and geologic constraints.
Channing (1971) maintained that in developed
nation like Britain, U.S.A and France, solid waste is managed from the domestic
and municipal to industrial level. Furthermore, its final collection for
disposal is done based on fact like type of waste, season of the year, e.t.c,
collection equipment are specialized, manpower in terms of skill is available,
population characteristic and waste disposal habits are studied, type and
quantity of solid waste to be collected are considered at the planning stage of
collection, transportation and final disposal. In like manner, topographical
conditions, the environment, total cost, haulage and property values are all
put into account when planning a disposal system.
Some third world countries have turned the
perennial scavengers of refuse heaps into collectors or sorters of usable
waste. In medalling, Columbia, about 4,000 people earn a living from scavenging
and recycling household wastes, they have formed cooperatives (World Resources,
WR 1988-1989)
According to Jensen (1990), 10,000 scavengers
make their living barely on the city’s dump in the Mexico city. In Bangkok
Thailand, municipal sanitation workers double their salaries by searching out
and selling used papers, bottles, can and plastics. He said the sheer size of
many third world cities and their runaway growth rate make the waste situation
alarming. Collection and disposal of solid waste alone already consumes up to
50% of some municipal operating budgets. And only 50-70% of urban frash is
usually collected. What remain mound up in the poorest neighbourhood, providing
a breeding ground for rodents and diseases. Or it is illegally dumped or burnt
with little regard for environmental consequences. A world bank official
associated with the project agrees that 90% of the waste in developing
countries could be handled by safe landfills, combined with the recycling that
goes on. The main stumbling block are not technical, they are organizational
and institutional. In Douala, Cameroun, garbage collection in certain
low-income neighbourhoods is being successfully organized by communities themselves.
In India, 1-3 individuals per 1000 collect
and dispose refuse. In eastern Sudan, the regional Ministry of Health contracts
out the task of house-to-house collection of dry refuse and rubbish in small
towns to sweepers with donkey cart (W.R. 1988-89, Urban edge 1991).
In Cairo, Egypt, there exist the best-known
collector of scavengers, which are Zebbalean people. Members of the Coptic
Christian minority, they migrate from upper Egypt over 60 years ago and have
collected the rubbish from the city’s streets since they arrived. The donkey
carts took the rubbish out to the magattan hills where the women sorted out
paper, plastic and metals for sale to the recycling industry. The Zebbaleen
community Association drew up a plan for progressive mechanization, with the
help of a Cairo Professional Organisation, Environmental Quantity International
(EOI) and a grant from the U.S. Ford foundation, they competed against major
companies for the right to operate a motorized collection services and won.
Trucks are gradually replacing donkey carts and with assistance from or farm
and the ford foundation, the Zebbleen have set up their own recycling plant
(Wright, 1989, UNDP, 1991, Urban edge, 1992).
The type of living determine the nature and
characteristics of refuse produced in the community. It varies from place to
place and from season to season in commercial centres also during festive
season, the daily output will be greater. In the hot and humid atmosphere of
tropical countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Chad,
organic component of refuse decompose quickly with production of obnoxious
smell. Moreover, it will attract rats and other pests.
There are different sources of waste
generation in any society. These include domestic, industrial, agricultural
waste, construction, hospital and street refuse, e.t.c.
Domestic Waste: refers to the waste arising from domestic activities such as sweeping
and food preparation among others. There are two types of domestic household
wastes; personal waste is what the individual does not want while the household
waste include dry refuse from sweeping organic matter, waste paper and garden
refuse consisting of tree leaves and other materials. It is what the family
discards. Household waste is the rubbish, which in industrialized countries, is
deposited in dustbins and removed by refuse collectors for disposal. Studies
conducted by the World Bank concluded that Urban refuse generation tends to
increase with the economic level of countries or cities (W.R. 1988-1989).
Industrial Waste: consists of tin, cans, plastic packages among others.
Agricultural Waste: refers to crop residuals and manure, which are returned to land.
Farming has always produced waste such as left overs stubles (the felled trees
on the ground or residue) when a crop has been harvested.
Construction Waste: Are generated from construction site, as the building increase in size
and complexity the waste get more. The waste resulting from construction
includes nails, iron sheets, pipes and other construction materials.
Hospital Wastes: Are those resulting from clinic and dressing stations, which are
obviously dangerous, unless treated carefully. The contaminated materials
consist of surgical dressing of all kinds.
The most pressing problem associated with the
wastes management in developing countries is the unsanitary manner by which the
solid waste are generated, collected, conveyed, screened, processed and
disposed off. It has been observed that refuse collection and disposal have
been inefficiently tackled in most urban centres. In Nigeria, some states like
Lagos, Rivers, Kaduna, Borno, Kano, Enugu and Oyo where the local governments
are responsible for these activities, they are often inadequately equipped to
tackle the problems. They have been severely handicapped by financial constraints,
traffic jams, lack of disposal site, bad location of mechanical workshops,
lorry parks and organization and management problems (Masood et.al 1983).
The systems of collection and disposal of
solid waste differ from one locality to the other. The reason responsible for
such differences include the attitude of people and government, resource
availability and literacy level of the people (Maduke, 1987).
Masood et.al (1983) further argued that the
indifferences shown to waste collection and disposal results into; air
pollution (smoke odours), infestation by rats, flies and pest, pollution of
surface and subsurface water, unsightliness (blowing paper, leaves) and
increased truck traffic, among other problems.
The various method of solid waste disposal
include; open dumping, sanitary land filling or controlled tipping,
incineration, composing onsite disposal, among others.
Open Dumping: is the oldest and most common method of waste disposal. In this method,
dump sites are indiscriminate located, and wastes are either allowed to pile or
levelled at times. Most cities in Africa are resorting to this method of
disposal which is most unsatisfactory and has adverse effects on the urban
environment, it creates nuance and health hazards.
Sanitary Landfilling or Controlled Tipping: Is the method by which waste is deposited
in a place and covered immediately after compaction with at least 15cm thick of
stable material. A typical sanitary landfill consists of alternate layers of
compacted refuse and soil. The depth of landfill varies according to Local
condition from about 2 metres to 12 metres. This method is more satisfactory as
the earth cover when compacted, provides a tight seal and prevents flies from
multiplying fast and rodents from invading the fill minimizes the blowing and
scattering of refuse, e.t.c. It can be used as a method of reclaiming low lying
wasteland for parks, gardens and other recreational areas, and as site for
construction.
Incineration: Fire destroys everything. Burning is the most sanitary way of disposal.
Refuse from infections diseases hospital should be burnt to avoid spread of
infection. In large municipalities either large in incinerators as installed or
furnaces are built in selected areas for burning refuse. Incineration is a
process of reducing combustible wastes to inert residue at very high
temperature (1400of). Though this method has the advantage of
reducing the space requirement for waste disposal.
Incineration is expensive and has the
disadvantage for producing foil smell during the process. Tight packing of cow
dung, dropping of donkeys and other animals in manure pit with an earth cover
is preferable. Digestion of cow dung to gas plant yield fuel gas and sludge.
The gas is used as a domestic fire and sludge for the field as manure.
Composting: is the biological decomposition of organic material to humus like form,
in which moist solid organic matter are decomposed by aerobic organisms under
controlled conditions. The end result will be an oxidized product as COMPOST. A
good compost contains nitrogen and phosphorus in an organic humus. Very
suitable the assimilation by plants. The condition necessary to obtain compost
are;
i.
Suitable open land
ii.
The compost should not be removed before it becomes ripe in 4 to 6
months
iii.
The solid waste should be moist and well accreted
Composting is the most economical and
sanitary method of refuse disposal out of extensive researches carries out in
India, two methods of composting have evolved, indore Bangalore methods.
Onsite Disposal: is mostly common in homes and institutions.
Swine Feed Method: is which swine’s are allowed to feed on garbage in urban areas
especially in U.S.A. This once led to the outbreak of disease in U.S.A.
Finally, to keep the Environment clean, Borno State Government in Nigeria
recently, on 2nd November, 2019 reintroduced the monthly
Environmental Exercise in the state which was absent for about 20 years. It was
flagged off by the Governor represented by the Deputy Governor.
Baba Ali Mustapha is Ag. Director, in the
Department of Planning, Research and Statistic, Ministry of Environment, Borno
State, Nigeria. Happy New Year 2020.
Reference:
Issue and Strategies in Environmental
Planning and Management in Nigeria by S.N. Uchegbo, published by Statelite
Publishers, 27, Ochi Street, Enugu, Nigeria.
LAILAI, I.W. First Zonal Workshop on the
Environmental Protection and Management for Sustainable Development Help at
College of Education, Gashua, Yobe State, Nigeria.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Publication
(1971)
Wright 1989, UNDP 1991, Urban Edge 1992
World Resource, W.R. 1988-1989.
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