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CHAPTER TWO
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Introduction
• What is waste?
• Waste consists of solid wastes and liquid wastes
• Solid wastes are often defined as:
• material that no longer has any value to the person who is responsible
for it, and is not intended to be discharged through a pipe
• ….but majority of waste materials can be re-used!
• Solid wastes are heterogeneous in nature, thus comprising of
countless different materials, e.g:
• food wastes, packaging in the form of paper, metals, plastics or glass,
discarded clothing and furnishings, garden wastes, construction wastes,
factory offcuts and process wastes, pathological wastes and harzardous
and radioactive wastes.

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Important definitions
• Refuse – All waste from a community excluding human excreta. Composed of
putrescible and non-putrescibles
• Garbage– Putrescible waste resulting from food products.
• Rubbish– combustiable and non-combustiable waste excluding ashes. E.g. paper,
cans, cardboard, broken glass.
• Residential waste – generated in houses and apartments.
• Commercial waste – generated in commercial and service establishments e.g.
office buildings, hotels and restaurants, e.t.c.
• Municipal waste – from residential areas and commercial institutions.
• Industrial waste – from by-products of manufacturing processes and industrial
operations.
• Demolition and construction – from demolition and / or construction of
buildings, roads and other structures.
• Agricultural wastes – from agricultural activities like growing plants and rising
animals.

Definitions cont’d
• Resource recovery - This is the process of obtaining economically usable
material or energy from waste. Several processes are used to convert solid
waste into liquid, solid or gaseous fuel.
• Re-use - Reclamation of material in its end use form and it’s subsequent
use in the same form.
• Recycling – Reprocessing of wastes to recover an original raw material.
• Material conversion – Utilization of wastes in a different form of material
such as road pavement materials from auto tyres
• Co-disposal - Is an emerging technology involving the use of energy from
burning solid waste to dry the sewage sludge to a point at which it will
burn without supplemental fuel or in combination with more refuse.

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Classification of Solid waste

• Origin
• Agricultural waste – resulting from rearing & Slaughtering of animals ,
processing of animal products, and field crops.
• Industrial waste – from manufacturing and industrial processes.
• Municipal waste – residential and commercial waste generated by a
community.
• Residential waste – domestic solid waste.

• Physical state
• Garbage
• Domestic and commercial refuse
• Rubbish and Ashes.

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

• Purposeful systematic control of the generation, storage,
collection, transportation, separation, processing, recovering and
disposal of solid waste.

• Objectives of SWM
• Eliminate breeding of disease causing vectors e.g. flies, rats..
• Avoid multiplication and development of disease causing agents
• Avoid nuisance from dust
• Avoid odours from products of decomposition
• Prevent contamination and pollution of water and soil
• For resource recovery, recycling, etc.

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Effects of SWM
• General
• Disease transmission by insects and rats, fire hazards, odour nuisance,
atmospheric and water pollution.

• Specific problems
• Foul odour near storage bins
• Blocking of drainage systems resulting in waste water overflows.
• Soiled streets
• Surface and ground water pollution due to leachate from the waste
• Land pollution from untreated / inadequately treated industrial wastes containing
toxic substances.
• Indiscriminate disposal of hospital wastes that contain pathogenic organisms.
• Transmission of vector borne diseases
• Health risks to solid waste workers and scavengers.

Effects of MSWM

Various forms of scavenging, by animals,

Solid wastes blocking drains and by people

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Chaotic situations like these are common in cities of

developing countries!

Information required for planning of a SWM

system
• Population of the area
• Waste generation rates
• Quantity of waste generation
• Waste characteristics of the area
• Social-economic status of the population
• Level of development
• Climate
• Frequency of collection

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Municipal solid waste generation rates

- Lifestyle
- Urbanization
- Income

Quantities and Characteristics of Refuse

• Important to know quantity and Characteristics before
determining suitable methods for disposal.
• Vary according to source, region and local habits, season of
the year, population x-tics, Legislation & people’s attitude.
• Characteristics
• Density – Influences transportation
• Organic content – affects the rate of decay if to be used as fertilizer
• Moisture content – affects composting
• Combustibles percentage
• Salvage percentage – how much can be recovered from the system.
The non-destructionable portion of waste e.g. heavy metals

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Quantities and Characteristics of Refuse

Quantities and Characteristics of Refuse

• Chemical characteristics / Ultimate analysis
• Carbon (C)
• Hydrogen (H)
• Oxygen (O)
• Nitrogen (N)
• Sulphur (S)
• Ash

• This is relevant for the purposes of waste to energy

processes either by combustion or by biological
transformations.

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Waste composition
• MSW composition studies are important to;
• Estimate material recovery potential
• Identify sources of component generation
• Facilitate design of processing equipment
• Estimate physical, chemical and thermal properties of wastes
• The waste composition is variable and depends on;
• Lifestyle
• Demographic
• Geographic
• Urbanization
• Income

Methods for waste composition determination

• Material flow method
• Uses industry data on production, import and export of goods to estimate waste
generation.
• Best applied at national level
• Cannot account for seasonal, geographic, and socioeconomic differences at regional
or local levels
• Site-specific sampling / Sorting and weighing
• Waste is sorted into waste components, weight of each component is taken and
calculated as a percentage the sample weight.
• Under this method;
• Divide into sub areas (income levels)
• The number of samples is defined basing on statistical criteria
• Load selection for sampling should be randomized and performed over a 5 – 7 day period.
• Multi-seasonal
• The initial sample should weigh approximately four times the sub samples that would be sorted

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Waste composition categories

Waste Composition

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Kinobe et al., 2015

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Other relevancy of waste composition

Functional elements of a SWM system

Functional Element Description

Waste generation Materials with no value hence thrown away and gathered
for disposal

On-site handling and storage Handling, storage & processing of SW at or near point of
generation

Collection Gathering of SW after collection to a location where

collection vehicle is emptied

Transfer & transport Transfer from smaller collection vehicle to larger transport
equipment and eventually transported to disposal site.

Processing & Recovery Recover usable materials, conversion pdts or energy from
SW.

Final disposal Ultimate disposal of SW

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Functional Elements of a complete SWM system

Storage System / Refuse collection

Depending on the ultimate disposal system, storage can be either;
• Mixed
• All solid waste place in one bin
• Separate system

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Mixed system Separate system

Characteristics of Collection Bins

• A lid to prevent Scavengers, rodents access waste
• Sufficient volume to store for at least 3 days
• Handles
• Sufficiently heavy not to be knocked down by animals
• Uniform standard size – for better planning of quantities

Refuse Collection

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Transportation / Ultimate Disposal

• Transportation is Mainly managed Main storage, collection and Transportation options
by;
• Municipal authorities e.g. KCCA
• Private firms hired by municipal
authorities e.g NOREMA services
Uganda Ltd, Hilltop enterprises, Esccom
Investments Ltd.
• Private Firms hired by individuals

• Ultimate Disposal
• Important for protection of Health and
Environment
• Should be sustainable

Hierachy of Integrated Solid Waste Management

 Waste prevention and minimization

 Re-use and Recycling

 Transformation

 Landfilling

• The priority in a waste management policy is to reduce the amount

of waste,
• Waste transformation (Biological or thermal) can be in the form of
incineration, composting or biogas production.

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WASTE MINIMISATION
• Reduction of the amount that is generated from the source
• Some of the sources are;
• Production units for food & household pdts
• Production units fro commercial pdts
• Shopping outlets
• Households
• Offices, commercial properties & institutions
• Food wastes can be minimised, printing on both paper sides,
least packaging

REUSE AND RECYCLING

• This reduces the amount of landfilled waste
• Plastic recycling
• Paper and cardboard recycling
• Glass
• Metal
• Construction and demolition waste

• For sustainable development, solid wastes should not only be collected and
disposed of; rather, they should be recycled to generate products beneficial to
society
• fertilizers (compost and sludge digestate/slurry); polythene and plastic
products such as bags, chairs, pavement blocks and tiles, fencing poles,
portraits, wall hangings, fountains, beads and blinds as well as other decorative
pieces

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Plastic recycling

Company signpost of PRIUL Unsorted Plastic garbage at PRIUL yard

Final product at PRIUL for export to China

Sorted waste at PRIUL

RECYCLING RATES

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WASTE TRANSFORMATION
• Waste transformation may be;
• Biological - Aerobic or composting
- Anaerobic or Biogas
- Combined anaerobic and aerobic
Biological treatment is very necessary for organic
waste management.

• Thermal -incineration

Biological treatment - Organic waste management

• ORGANIC WASTE should be considered as a VALUABLE MATERIAL, i.e. as a
source of materials and energy

• One or more treatment processes could be applied – even in combination - to

recover material and/or energy

Expected outcomes:

• Reduction of the amounts (i.e., volume) of wastes to be landfilled

• Reduction of the reactivity of the wastes to be landfilled

•Products and energy from organic wastes treatment could help

the growth of an economical sector based on APPROPRIATE WASTE
MANAGEMENT

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Biological treatment - Organic waste management

Direct disposal option:
• Open dumping: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Direct landfilling

THE DIFFERENT OPTION!

INTEGRATION BETWEEN
or reuse/recovery option:

• Animal feeding

• Biological Aerobic Treatment (Composting)

• Biological Anaerobic Treatment (Anaerobic Treatment)

Organic waste reactivity

 Aerobic stabilisation/Anaerobic digestion are processes
occurring NATURALLY in organic wastes heaps due to the
metabolism of communities of microorganisms and fungi which
use organic wastes as food.

Organic waste simplified formula: CaHbOcNd

CaHbOcNd+(4a+b-2c -3d)/4 O2 aCO2 +(b-3d)/2H2O+d NH3

Ca H bOc Nd  xH 2O  yCH4  wCO2  zNH3

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Organic waste reactivity

What is Composting? – Aerobic decomposition

Food waste, yard waste, manure,

agricultural waste, municipal - Stable, no further
organic wastes degradation
- Soil amendment

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Decomposition process phases

55 to 37 oC
70 oC
hygienization

Breakdown
- Natural
- Controlled

- Thermophiles need oxygen and water in

active phase
- In curing phase, temperature reduces,
oxygen consumption reduces and
mesophiles dominate the pile

Finished compost
• Maturity
• Degree of humification
• Stability
• Temperature (~ ambient)
• Oxygen concentration (>10-15%)

SIEVING PHASE

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Composting Technologies
• Windrow composting
• Passively aerated windrows
• Forced aerated windrows
• In-vessel composting
• Bin composting

Windrow composting

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Passively aerated windrows

Forced aerated windrows

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In-vessel composting

Bin composting

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Comparison of composting Technologies

Conditions for Composting

• An optimum Carbon: Nitrogen of 25-30:1. Because bacteria need a
minimum supply of nutrients to survive. A nitrogen deficiency will hamper
the production of new cell protoplasm.
• A moisture content of 40 - 60 % is essential. Moisture levels >65% cause
anaerobic conditions and low temperatures while levels <40% slow the
process
• Optimum pH of 6 - 7.5
• Sufficient air supply. Foul odour indicates insufficient oxygen supply
• Optimum temperature of 45-65oC. This temperature also kills of
pathogens. A temperature of > 60% however, may kill the thermophilic
bacteria.

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Composting steps

Example – Mbale Compost plant

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Example – Mbale Compost plant

Biogas Production - Anaerobic decomposition

What is Biogas ?
Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.
The properties of biogas are similar to the ones of natural gas.
Biogas is the common name for the mixture of gases released from anaerobic
digestion.
Typically biogas is composed of:
Methane (CH4) 50 to 75 %
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 25 to 50 %
Hydrogen (H) 5 to 10 %
Nitrogen (N2) 1 to 2 %
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) Traces

Methane is the valuable part of the biogas. Biogas that contains about 60 to
70 % of CH4 has a calorific value of about 6 kWh/m3 what corresponds to
about half an L of diesel oil. (ISAT/GTZ 1999, Vol. I)

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Biogas Production - Anaerobic decomposition

• Biogas and nutrient rich slurry are products of the anaerobic digestion of
organic matter at high moisture content in biogas digester

Basic steps
• The digester is fed regularly with the proper portion of organic waste and
water (90-99.5%) normally 1:1.
• After retention period of 25-35 days, gas is tapped from the outlet gas
pipe and slurry from the outlet pipe.
NB. Regular feeding of the digester will give constant gas supply.

Anaerobic decomposition – Stages

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Anaerobic decomposition – Operating conditions

Anaerobic decomposition – Operating conditions

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Anaerobic decomposition – Operating conditions

1. Concept “The Ecocylce of biogas”

What are Small-Scale Anaerobic Digesters?

Cooking
Cattle Dung /
Manure

Lightning
Toilet Products
(Excreta, Faeces) Biogas

Heating
Kitchen / Garden
Organic Waste
(Green Waste)
Electricity

Fertiliser Fuel

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Biogas Digester types

Fixed dome digester construction

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Tubular digester construction

Example – Biogas digester benefits

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Composting and Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic Digestion: Main product
Composting: Main product COMPOST
METHANE
Benefits: Benefits:

Improve the properties of soils for It recovers the energy content of the
agriculture (texture, pH, permeability, wastes
resistance to acidification…)
Biogas can be used as fuel to produce
It can be utilized for landscaping energy and heat for different purposes

It can be used for gardening Wood and charcoal can be partially or

totally substituted
Economical advantages (projects and
small enterprises funded by micro-
credits)

THERMAL TREATMENT - Incineration

Reduction of waste bulk by burning it to ashes and gases. It’s the best method
for combustible refuse Bacteria, insects, etc and are destroyed and the heat
produced can be utilized in stream production and to burn sludge from
wastewater.

Incineration of waste to recover steam

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Factors to be considered when planning an incineration plant

• Transportation requirements for the waste to site

• Optimise location in relation to source of waste and ash disposal
• Possible emissions (organics and metals)
• Disposal of ash residue
• Effect of incinerator in relation to other pollution sources in the
area

A typical low cost incinerator

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Advantages and disadvantages of incineration

• decrease in total volume of refuse for disposal
• If well operated the products are non-odoriferous
• Pathogenic organisms are completely destroyed
• Solid air pollutants for example dust, paper, etc are removed.
• The low land requirements make it suitable for crowded areas (little land is
required for it, unless a sanitary landfill)
The major disadvantages of incineration are:
• Requires high construction and operation costs hence more expensive. Due
to refractory materials, it is not economically viable for non-combustible
wastes (e.g. peelings) as a lot of fuel would be required.

SANITARY LANDFILL

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SANITARY LANDFILL

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LANDFILL SHAPES
 The shape has a major impact on the design
 Some basic shapes

Conditions for operating a controlled landfill

The sanitary landfill is a method of disposal on land
without creating a nuisance or hazard to the
population.

• Minimisation of dust nuisance

• Avoidance of groundwater contamination
• No access to refuse by vectors
• A low permeability clay seal on the land surface
• Clearance greater than or equal to 3m of the bottom of landfill
from the water table

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Factors for selection of a sanitary Landfill area

• Economic factor - convenience, accessibility, etc.
• Environmental factor - disposal must be environmentally safe
• Open dumps and uncontrolled landfills cause severe
contamination of groundwater resources and are a direct
threat to health.
• Availability of a sufficient layer of soil to cover the wastes
• Low nuisance factor from noise associated with compacting

Methods of sanitary Landfilling

• Trench method

• Area method

• Progressive method

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Natural decomposition process

• Moisture content
Freshly tipped household refuse contains about 15-20%
moisture content, which is slightly lower than what is required
for bacterial action to commence (25%)
• Ammonia and ammonium salts
• Humus
• Temperature change
• Emission of gases
Decomposition of refuse in a landfill is anaerobic hence the
emission of gases (CO2, NH3, H2, CO, CH4, N2, and H2S). H2 and
CH4 gases are inflammable and can be recovered for beneficial
use. If the gas is not recovered

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The spread of biological and Chemical Pollution in the soil

LANDFILL DESIGN
Dry tomb schematic cross-section
Landfill gas Top cover

Leachate

Baseliner

Groundwater level

Groundwater monitoring

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LANDFILL OPERATIONS

LANDFILL OPERATIONS

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LANDFILL DESIGN - EXAMPLE

Determine the area required for a new landfill site with a projected life of 20 years
for a population of 150,000 generating 25 kg per household per week. Assume the
density of waste is 500 kg/m3. A planning restriction of the landfill to 10m

Solution
Assume: 3.5 persons/ household
Waste generated = 150000/3.5 x 25/1000 = 1071 tonnes/week (55700 tonnes/year)
Volume of landfill space = 55700x1000/500 = 111000m3/year
Area required = Volume/height = 11100 m2 (1.11 ha)
Increase value by 50% to allow for daily cover, roads, receiving areas, fencing etc
Required area for 20 years = 1.1x20x1.5 = 33 ha

What is hazardous waste?

• Hazardous wastes are classified as wastes, which, by virtue of their
concentration of constituents and characteristics pose a hazard to
human health and/or the environment if improperly managed.
• In addition, waste having characteristics such as oxidising,
flammable, corrosive, toxic etc is considered to be hazardous.
• Hazardous waste comes in many shapes and forms. It can be liquid,
solid, contain gas or sludge. It can be the by-product of
manufacturing processes or simply discarded commercial products,
like cleaning fluid or pesticide.

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Household hazardous waste

What is hazardous waste?

The four defining characteristics of hazardous wastes are:
• Ignitability – creates fires under certain conditions or is spontaneously
combustible, e.g. waste oils and used solvents.
• Corrosivity - Corrosive waste includes acids or bases capable of corroding
metal, like storage tanks, containers, drums, and barrels. Battery acid is a good
example.
• Reactivity - Reactive waste is unstable under “normal” conditions. It can cause
explosions, toxic fumes, gases or vapours when mixed with water. Examples
include lithium-sulphur batteries and explosives.
• Toxicity - Toxic waste is harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed. When toxic
waste is disposed on land, contaminated liquid may drain (leach) from the
waste and pollute groundwater. Certain chemical waste and heavy metals are
examples of potential toxic waste.

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Sources of Hazardous wastes

• decrease in total volume of refuse for disposal

Dangers of Hazardous wastes

• Surface water contamination

• Groundwater Contamination
• Air Contamination
• Leachate
• Soil Contamination

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