THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

NAME : OLIVER MULEYA

COMPUTER NUMBER : 2016131561

LECTURER : MS KALIBA HAPUNDA

COURSE CODE : DEV 9350

TASK : ONE

QUESTION: SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IS A HUGE CHALLENGES FOR CITIES IN

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. DISCUSS WHY THIS CASE AND OUTLINE THE
POTENTIAL THREATS TO THE ENVIROMENT POSED BY POOR SOLID WASTE
MANEGMENT.USING THE CASE OF LUSAKA CITY, PROPOSE A SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR THE CITY THAT ANSWERS TO ALL THE THREE
TENETS OF SUSTAINABILITY.
Waste is a pressing environmental, social, and economic issue, and one of the biggest challenges
faced by every urban area in the world. Although the quantity and quality of solid waste
generated by urban areas in the developing countries are low compared with Western developed
and industrialized countries, the municipal solid waste management remains inadequate. Waste
management has been widely recognized as a technical problem that is strongly influenced by
various political, legal, socio-cultural, environmental, and economic factors and by resources
available to tackle it. Moreover, the interrelationships of these factors are usually very complex
when it comes to waste management. Appropriate solutions for the complex waste management
problems should be analyzed from the system perspective, taking into account all of the above
factors that are present in a local area. This essay will first define the key words, which are; solid
waste, waste management, waste and environment. It will further discuss why solid waste
management is a huge challenge for cities in developing countries and potential threats to the
environment posed by poor solid waste management will be outlined, and later a solid waste
management model will be proposed for Lusaka city that answer to all three tents of
sustainability and a conclusion will be made at the end.

Solid waste is defined as garbage, refuse, sludge and other discarded substances resulting from
industrial and commercial operations and from domestic and community activities. The
definition of solid waste includes hazardous waste including waste oils and waste arising from
mining activities but excludes gaseous waste and wastewater (The World Bank, 2012).

Waste management means the storage, collection, transport, recovery, and disposal of waste. It
also includes supervision of operation, aftercare of disposal site and actions as a dealer or broker.
Managing solid waste is becoming a huge problem worldwide for major countries, due to the
rapid increase in waste generation (IBID)

Waste is defined as unwanted waste or undesired materials or substance consisting of unwanted

materials that are left over from a manufacturing process or from community and household
activities. The material can be discarded or accumulated, stored or treated, prior to being
discarded or recycled (Williams, 2005).

Environment is a complex of many variables, which surrounds man as well as the living
organisms. Environment include water, air and land and the interrelation ship which exist among
and between water, air and land and human beings and other living creatures such as plants,
animals and microorganism. The environment consists of an inseparable whole system
constituted by physical, chemical, biological, social and cultural elements, which are interlinked
individually and collectively in numerous ways (Environmental Resources Management, 2000).

Poor waste management in developing countries is due to a number of aspects and among them
includes economic reasons. This depends on the economic situation of the donor country and
how much foreign aid it can allocate to the developing countries. This determines the levels of
resources provided to solid waste collaborative to projects. When developing countries take
support of external agencies, there will be some bias in how to facilities, equipment and
consultants are selected for collaborative projects of solid waste management. Another limitation
is that solid waste equipment is usually provided from the donor agency’s point of view rather
than understanding what the recipient country actually needs. This develops a gap between
technology used in the developing countries and technological needs of the donor country
(Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata, 2012).

Both the developed and developing countries face certain cultural and social restrictions
regarding waste which directly affects the waste management systems. There are certain norms
in society that allow only a certain social group or social class of people to handle and deal with
waste. This limits the size of the work force for solid waste collection and disposal. Numerous
countries prohibit the direct handling of human waste and co-composting of refuse and human
waste. These social constraints limit waste management in an efficient manner (IBID).

The waste management sector requires solid technical expertise, knowledge and support, which
is visibly absent in numerous developing countries. They also lack the human resources that have
enough experience to handle waste efficiently. There are limited opportunities for one to learn
about waste management in educational institutes or through on job training programs. Because
of these constraints, developing countries take the support of technologies that are available in
the donor countries, which does not necessarily help as the equipment and facilities that are
provided as foreign aid may be irrelevant, incompatible, outdated or obsolete in the recipient
country (Oguntoyinbo, 2012).

Developing countries do not consist of many agencies that have necessary financial support to
carry out effective waste management as compared to those developed countries. Unfortunately,
solid waste management is not considered as a priority and limited funds are allocated to it.
Additionally, it does not generate revenues easily as the ability to pay for various tasks of waste
management are quite low and loans are not given easily as there is high risk (IBID).

Poor solid waste management can pose threats to the environment, some of the threats are;
Rotting organic materials pose great public health risks, including, as mentioned above, serving
as breeding grounds for disease vectors. Waste handlers and waste pickers are especially
vulnerable and may also become vectors, contracting and transmitting diseases when human or
animal excreta or medical wastes are in the waste stream (Pruss, Giroult and Rushbrook, 2000).

Municipal solid waste streams can bleed toxic materials and pathogenic organisms into the
leachates of dumps and landfills. Leachate is the liquid discharge of dumps and landfills; it is
composed of rotted organic waste, liquid wastes, infiltrated rainwater and extracts of soluble
material. If the landfill is unlined, this runoff can contaminate ground or surface water,
depending on the drainage system and the composition of the underlying soils. When organic
wastes are disposed of in deep dumps or landfills, they undergo anaerobic degradation and
become significant sources of methane, a gas with 21 times the effect of carbon dioxide in
trapping heat in the atmosphere.Garbage is often burned in residential areas and in landfills to
reduce volume and uncover metals. Burning creates thick smoke that contains carbon monoxide,
soot and nitrogen oxide, all of which are hazardous to human health and degrade urban air
quality. Combustion of polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs) generates highly carcinogenic dioxins
(IBID).

When solid waste is dumped into rivers or streams it, can alter aquatic habitats and harm native
plants and animals. The high nutrient content in organic wastes can deplete dissolved oxygen in
water bodies, denying oxygen to fish and other aquatic life form. Solids can cause sedimentation
and change stream flow and bottom habitat. Siting dumps or landfills in sensitive ecosystems
may destroy or significantly damage these valuable natural resources and the services they
provide (Johannessen, 1999).

In locations where shanty towns or slums exist near open dumps or near badly designed or
operated landfills, landslides or fires can destroy homes and injure or kill residents. The
accumulation of waste along streets may present physical hazards, clog drains and cause
localized flooding. In addition, the unpleasant odor and unattractive appearance of piles of
uncollected solid waste along streets and in fields, forests and other natural areas can discourage
tourism and the establishment and/or maintenance of businesses (IBID).

THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT HIERACHY

The solid waste management hierarchy model is a type of model that can work perfect for
Lusaka city; it is a model that represents an approach to SWM, which prioritizes the various
options in dealing with solid waste. According to this hierarchy, optimization of any SWM
system means focusing on moving it up the hierarchy, away from disposal into the direction of
waste avoidance. See the illustration of the SWM hierarchy below. From this illustration you can
see that avoidance of waste generation is the best option. The second best option is to minimize
the amount of waste you generate. The third most desirable option for dealing with solid waste is
the recovery of materials by practicing recycling and reuse where possible.

av
oi
d
minimise
recover materials
(recycle and reuse)
treat and process

disposa (controlled)

Waste refusal or avoidance, means not generating unnecessary waste, not accepting unnecessary
plastic bags, or wrapping papers and other containers when you go shopping is one way of
avoiding to bring waste to your home. In this way, the amount of waste you generate will be
reduced.

There are different forms of recycling; waste reuse is a form of recycling, which refers to using
something again which would otherwise have been thrown away. A good example for waste that
is re-used is waste paper. Waste paper can be newspapers, magazines and books, cardboard and
mixed papers. Waste paper is re-used as toilet paper, tobacco paper, wrapping paper for foodstuff
and others. Another example of re-use that was already given in earlier sessions is the re-use of
glass bottles. Glass bottles are often not thrown away or picked from the waste to be sold to
marketers for re-use in the bottling of cooking oil, beer, soft drinks, honey. At household, level
both glass and plastic bottles and other containers are widely re-used in the kitchen to store
drinking water, salt, sugar, pepper. Things that can be re-used are called re-usable (Gopalan and
Bartone, 1997).

Waste recycling is the re-use of the material the waste is made off to make a new product of the
same material. For example, t it is very easy to produce paper from old paper or clothes. On the
other hand, melting any discarded glass and produce a brand new bottle from it, this is what we
call recycling of waste.Waste recycling refers to methods of isolating certain waste materials and
using them to produce new goods. Materials with a high potential for recycling are: Paper. Waste
paper, like newspapers, magazines, cardboard, books, and letters can be used to make new paper
or cardboard. Metal. For example, scrap metal, auto wrecks, aluminum (beverage) cans, used
copper wire, etc. can be used to make new metal products. Textile. Textile off-cuts, old clothes,
can be used for the production of doormats, cushions, mattresses, kid’s underwear, homemade
caps and duster coats, stuffing dolls and others. In addition, textile can be used in the production
of high quality paper plastic. Waste plastic such as broken buckets, plastic bottles, shopping bags
and containers can be melted and formed into new products (IBID).

It can be interesting to consider recycling as a business. Whether or not recycling is interesting

for you depends on the composition of the waste that you are collecting. If there are large
quantities of recyclables in the waste that you collect, you might consider separating them from
the rest of the waste, to sell them to middleman or industries.Before you can start with the
collection of recyclables, you need to know who your clients are. You may find some potential
clients in your neighborhood; the informal sector uses a lot of recyclables. Usually these are
small clients. Bigger clients are companies that produce (semi-)finished products, like the paper,
plastic, metal, and glass industries. Not all of these companies are already aware of the benefits
of using waste as a raw material. In addition, not all these industries are available in Lusaka
(Haan, Coad and Lardinois, 1998).
Within the context of sustainable development it has been recognized that there is a need to curb
the growth in the quantity of waste produced. Where waste is created there is a need to recognize
it as a resource and recover more value from it. The fundamental aim of any waste strategy,
therefore, should be maximization of resource efficiency by promoting sustainable waste
management. This will lead to reduced environmental emissions in a socially and economically
acceptable manner. Clearly it is difficult to minimize the two variables - cost and environmental
impact - simultaneously. There will always be a trade-off. The balance that needs to be struck is
to reduce the overall environmental impacts of the waste management system as far as possible,
within an acceptable level of cost. Deciding the point of balance between environmental impact
and cost will always generate debate. Better decisions will be made if data on impacts and costs
are available; such data will often prompt ideas for further improvements (Lardinois, 1996)

An economically and environmentally sustainable solid waste management system then is likely
to be integrated, market-oriented and flexible. Such a system must handle all types of solid waste
materials. Either the alternative of focusing on specific materials, because of their ready
recyclability for example, aluminum or their public profile like plastics is likely to be less
effective, in both environmental and economic terms, than taking a multi-material approach.
Furthermore, emphasis on specific materials may lead manufacturers to design products and
packaging for recycling, perhaps at the expense of source reduction (IBID).

In conclusion the solid waste management hierarchy is be able to sustain the three tents of
sustainability, firstly it protects the environment from toxic material by recycling, reuse of things
like plastic hence, making the environment not to be contaminated. Secondly, the models helps
in the economic sector in the sense that recycling of plastics and things like glass cae used as a
business. Thirdly, the model can be socially acceptable because it can be a business and the
people can profit and contribute to the economy.
 References
Environmental Resources Management. (2000). Strategic Planning Guide for Municipal Solid
Waste Management. CD-ROM prepared for the World Bank, SDC and DFID, WasteAware,
London.

Gopalan, P. and C. Bartone (1997). Assessment of Investments in Solid Waste Management:

Strategies for Urban Environmental Improvement. Transport, Water and Urban Development
Department Discussion Paper, World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Haan, H.C., A. Coad and I. Lardinois (1998). Municipal Solid Waste Management: Involving
Micro- and Small Enterprises - Guidelines for Municipal Managers. International Training
Centre of the ILO, SKAT, WASTE, Turin, Italy.

Hoornweg D, Bhada-Tata P. (2012). What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste

Management. In urban development series, knowledge papers. Washington.

Johannessen, L.M. (1999). Guidance Note on Recuperation of Landfill Gas from Municipal
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Lardinois, Inge (1996). Solid Waste Micro and Small Enterprises and Cooperatives in Latin
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Oguntoyinbo OO. (2012). Informal waste management system in Nigeria and barriers to an
inclusive modern waste management system: a review. Public Health.

Pruss A., E. Giroult and P. Rushbrook. (2000). Safe Management of Wastes from HealthCare
Activities. World Health Organization, Geneva.

The World Bank. (2012). What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management. The
World Bank: Washington, DC, USA.

Williams, P. T. (2005). Waste Treatment and Disposal. London, New York: John Wiley & Sons.