Improved City Waste Management

Waste management refers to all the activities involved in the disposal of waste from its generation to its final disposal and it is intended to reduce its effects on health and the environment.

Waste generation is a universal phenomenon, but rapid urbanisation and population growth in the cities lead to health hazards when there is a lack of capacity or inadequate urban infrastructure to deal with the waste generated. Open incineration of solid waste, as it is commonly practised in developing cities, should therefore be discouraged in the absence of combustion technologies with strict emission controls.

It is then pertinent to develop environmental strategies for reducing, reusing recycling and disposing city waste with the objective of improving city waste management.

One of the strategies for improving city waste management is the use of anaerobic bio-solid digestion systems to generate a gas such as methane which is much cleaner than biomass combustion. Methane emissions captured from solid waste can be used as biogas or as fuel for household cooking or heating. If biomass or coal combustion for household cooking is replaced by biogas, there will be less outdoor air pollution.

Furthermore, methane capture and use reduces emissions into the atmosphere, which increases the ozone layer and contributes to climate change. The impact on public health, such as its contribution towards the development of chronic respiratory diseases will be diminished. Improved waste water treatment systems in urbanised cities can also be used as a clean source of methane for power generation.

Waste management activities are a vital source of income for a large part of the urban population in developing countries where waste collectors form an important part of the economy. These collectors sort, clean, recycle and sell waste material thrown away by others. Improved waste collection and management methods will enhance the creation of safer and healthier environment.

Effective urban waste recycling can be achieved by separation and correct deposit into selective collection containers. Authorised channels such as Council household collection services can be used to remove the waste so that the waste can be used as raw materials in a new production process while materials which are hazardous can be eliminated safely.

Reuse of a material for the purpose it was originally designed is one of the strategies for improving city waste management. Utilisation of reusable shopping bags and the purchase of certain products in returnable bottles are good examples of this strategy.

Reducing the daily consumption of resources such as electricity and limiting the production of potentially pollutant substances such as fumes from cooking pots and pans are also good strategies for limiting environmental pollution.