Concept Note Solid Waste
Concept Note Solid Waste
Concept Note Solid Waste
By
Tewodros Adane Simret
M.Tech. Environmental Engineering
June 2021
1. Introduction
Solid waste is material, which is not in liquid form, and has no value to the person who is responsible for
it. Solid waste is highly linked to urbanization and economic development. As countries urbanize, urbanize,
their economic wealth increases. Poor solid waste management (SWM) threatens local residents and their
environment, especially in low and middle income settings where limited financial resources and
inefficiencies are often the cause of limited service delivery. Waste generation in sub-Saharan Africa is
approximately 62 million tons per year. Per capita waste generation is generally low in this region, but
spans a wide range, from 0.09 to 3.0 kg per person per day, with an average of 0.65 kg/capita/day.
Integrated solid waste management refers to the strategic approach to sustainable management of solid
wastes covering all sources and all aspects, covering generation, segregation, transfer, sorting, treatment,
recovery and disposal in an integrated manner, with an emphasis on maximizing resource use efficiency.
In spite of the efforts of engineers and various international and bilateral organizations to promote sanitary
landfilling, it is still regrettably true that there are very few good sanitary landfills in low- and middle-
income countries. There are two types of waste disposal in developing countries crude or open dumping
and sanitary landfilling.
Developing a strategy is the first and easiest part of the challenge in most respects. A strategy will remain
an empty document if not implemented. A country without a strategy may not be able to tackle its waste
problems effectively, but a country with a strategy that is not implemented has expended considerable effort
for no purpose.
Waste management a process includes activities and actions required to manage waste from its inception to
its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with
monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies,
economic mechanisms.
Waste management in most developing countries faces numerous challenges. A growing population and
economy, which means increased volumes of waste generated. This puts pressure on waste management
facilities, which are already in short supply. Increased complexity of the waste stream because of
urbanization and industrialization. The complexity of the waste stream directly affects the complexity of its
management, which is compounded when hazardous waste mixes with general waste.
1.2. Objective
The present research study aimed to undertake the following objectives:
To assess the present SW management practices in developing countries
To analyze the potential application of dumped SW based on its age and characteristics.
To compare and identify a suitable treatment option for SW like Composting, Anaerobic Digestion
(AD), incineration, Refused Derived Fuel (RDF), etc
2. Methodology
2.1. Study area
This study will focus more on selected developing countries where all of them from Africa. The selection
criteria will be based on the way of life, population and growth domestic products of countries.