Abstract
The rapid increase in urban population has resulted in poor environmental conditions in urban and peri-urban settlements. In most developing countries, the problem of inefficient municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is endemic. The problem manifests in heaps of uncollected solid waste or ubiquitous illegal dumps on open areas and by the street sides. This paper examines issues of solid waste management practices in the City of Kwekwe in Zimbabwe. It highlights types of waste, its generation, transfer and disposal. A mixed methodological approach including field observations, structured questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews were employed in the gathering of data for the study. The key findings established to be the factors affecting effective solid waste management in the City are irregular solid waste collection, inadequate operational funding, inappropriate technologies, inadequate staffing, lack of knowledge cooperation and knowledge on the part of the residents. Based on the research findings, principles of environmental stewardship need to be promoted in the City.
TopIntroduction
Land pollution and solid waste generation have become major issues in cities of less economically developed countries (Abdelnaser & Gavrilescu, 2008). The possible causes of land pollution include rising standards of living, technological development, growing populations, increase in income per capita income. Solid waste comes from domestic, social institutional and industrial activities (UNEP, 2005; Babanawo, 2006). Most of the municipal solid waste (MSW) is dumped on land in a more or less uncontrolled manner. These dumps make use of the available space very uneconomical, allow free access to waste pickers, animals and flies and often produce unpleasant and hazardous smoke from slow-burning fires (Zurbrugg, 2002; Cointreau, 2005; 2006). Solid waste, garbage, trash, refuse or rubbish is non-flowing organic wastes (combustibles wastes, plastic, wood, paper, textile, leather and rubber) and inorganic materials wastes (non-combustibles wastes, ferrous metal material, non-ferrous materials, glass, stone, ceramic, bones and shells).
Solid waste management (SWM) has become an integral part of the urban environment to ensure safe and health human while considering the promotion of sustainable economic growth technology. Waste management can be used to describe several distinct processes: the elimination or reduction of waste; the recycling or reuse of waste material; the treatment or destruction of waste (physically destroying, chemically detoxifying, or otherwise rendering waste permanently harmless); and disposal of waste into the air, water, or land (Adewale, 2011). Solid waste management systems operate at the political, socio-cultural, economic and environmental levels.
Five aspects of waste management range from generation, storage, collection, transportation through to the disposal of waste (UNEP, 2005; Hoornweg & Perinaz, 2012). Solid waste generation is an inevitable consequence of production and consumption activities in any economy (UNEP, 2005; Fei-Baffoe, Nyankson & Gorkeh-Miah, 2014).). Waste generators comprise households, industries, hospitals, and commercial and administrative establishments. The amount and type of waste generated is greatly influenced by geographical and socio-economic factors. These factors include; household size, household age structure, household income, type of dwelling, geographical location and time of year, geographical location, season of the year, population and the mean living standards waste collection frequency and the characteristics of the source area (Rushbrook & Pugh, 1999; Anschiitz & van de Klundert, 2000; Babanawo, 2006).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Solid Waste: Refers to non-flowing organic and inorganic materials that is hard or solid and not water-like or liquid that include residues, by-products in production, distribution or consumption of goods and provision of services that are discarded by owners.
Service Scheduling: Setting an order and time for planned events i.e. the determination of when each process or task runs, including assignment of time frames. Service scheduling in solid waste management refers to the step-by-step determination of suitable or ideal timed schedules for the effective/efficient collection and transportation of solid waste in a certain area/neighbourhood.
Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM): Includes the collection, transfer, resource recovery, recycling, and treatment of waste. The main target is to protect the population health, promote environmental quality, develop sustainability and provide support to economic productivity.
Integrated and Sustainable Solid Waste Management (ISSWM): Is the selection and application of suitable techniques, technologies and management programs to achieve waste management objectives and goals. The concept sustainable SWM should aim to continually improve the environment, provide direct health benefits, support economic productivity, and provide safe, dignified and secure employment.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): Refers to unwanted by-product, damaged, defective, or superfluous materials discarded in the urban areas for which municipalities are usually held responsible for collection, transport, treatment and final disposal. Synonyms to solid waste are terms such as garbage, trash, refuse, and rubbish.
Routing: The process of determining which is the best (cost-effective) or easiest way to collect waste from one point A to point B. Routing is a practical activity, which must be conducted at the site where the waste collection and transportation will be taking place. This is important because it helps to establish factors of consideration for the overall planning of waste collection business.