Municipal Waste is generated daily from domestic sector and industrial sector. The mixed volume finds its way to the landfill / dumpsite where its left unattended. A few individuals have created the heap of waste to be a source of their livelihood, where they collect materials and sell them to recycling companies within the cities. The most popular of this is the plastic waste and metal whose percentage being recycled is very minimal .
Landfills are operated as open dump with wastes
scattered across the area. When materials are thrown away and left uncovered,
they start decomposing and generate bad smells, and act as a breeding
ground for flies, mosquitoes and other vectors. Lack of recycling and reduction
initiatives, poor waste collection systems, open dumpsites, and environmental
pollution are still common in many regions within the country especially in the cities. There are different
types of waste in the dumpsites which is mainly generated from household,
offices, hotels, shops, schools, open area and other similar institutions. The waste is identified as
- Plastic Waste
- Paper
/ Carton / Cardboard
- Tins
/ Metal / Glass
- Green
or Solid Waste
- E-Waste
- Hazardous waste from hospitals and manufacturers
A solution need to be addresses and solve the waste to proper management and
control. With the development of industries, county governments need to embrace technologies that will see the municipal waste handled carefully to not only save the environment but also as a way of creating jobs.
Upgrading of the existing waste disposal
sites with technology to achieve and sustain proper landfill operation would be a great achievement. By introducing pre-sorting stations, the
sort process will reduce and eliminate every type of waste leaving only solid
waste to a system that can produce organic fertilizer.
Several types of waste can be reused and recycled for profit.
Governments focus on waste management will be contributing to a more sustainable solution
by:
- Advancing
technologies to reduce waste
- Increasing
recycling and re-use
- Advocate
for proper waste management innovation from source
In consideration to these waste
types, gases and water for establishing and operating waste disposal
facility, upgrading existing
waste disposal sites with technology to achieve and sustain proper landfill
operation is a better practice that should be encouraged. Suggested is:
- Pre-Sorting
and dealing with Waste products and semi processing at site: Plastic waste be
cleaned, sorted into different categories for further processing.
Paper,
Carton Cardboard be sorted from the top of the heap and recycled accordingly. Tins, Metal, Glass, Aluminum Cans and
E-waste be handled by experts for recycling.
- Solid: The biggest volume of waste at the dumpsite is
the solid waste. This waste is a major
concern due to its enormous amount generated as an everyday occurrence in most
households, hotels and other institutions.
Solid waste is a mixture of food scrap items, such as vegetable and
fruit waste, meal leftovers, coffee, tea leaves, stale grains, etc. Compost of these food waste is the best way
to return to the earth. Handling this waste
is highly dangerous, time wasting and need expertise and
technology to accelerate the decomposition of organic waste
- Sustainability: There are already a team of people working at the
dumpsite and government employees managing the site. It is highly recommended that the county
Government together with their waste management partner’s develops and apply
governs for collecting, delivering and managing waste. Recommended among the policies is sorting at
source which will transform what is sent to the landfills into “new” valuable
resources. After the waste stream has
been mined for recyclable material, Waste Management is investing in conversion
technologies to turn these “leftover” material into useful products. We advise that the county government develop
a suite of these technology solutions, work with partners to divert more material to higher-value uses. The best way to improve on waste management
is by improving recycling.
Ultimately, together we shall alter the dumpsite filth
by transforming it into a daily social norm. To get there you and I, all of us need to be sensitive to proper waste management.