Challenges and Opportunities in Solid Waste Management for Sustainability in District Hyderabad, Pakistan

Scholarship on solid waste management in Africa mostly focuses on institutional players and collaboration in achieving sustainable waste management. Little consideration is given to the technical issues and technologies for waste management; and the links to sustainable urban development. Using a systematic and inclusive literature review, this chapter discusses solid waste management in African cities and what it means for sustainable development. African cities are facing a growing and varied solid waste generation and management crisis. Following rapid population growth and urbanisation, rise in middle-income households and the attendant rise in living standards and consumption, many cities in Africa generate large quantities of solid waste which has become a development challenge. As a result, solid waste from households and commercial and industrial sources increasingly contaminate many African cities. Unfortunately, landfilling and incineration are the most common technologies for municipal solid waste management in most African cities, although none of them is sustainable due to the significant environmental and financial costs involved. The lack of clear policy strategies in waste management is an issue in many African countries because governments are not fully prepared to integrate waste management into their sustainable urban development priority goals. The future of solid waste management in African cities will remain a challenge without efforts to discover and apply locally-appropriate technologies that incorporate the principle of “reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, and dispose.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a global emergency crisis and created waste management challenges worldwide. Such a critical point has changed solid waste (municipal and medical) management prospects and posed fact challenges to the health decision-makers and policy-makers to make decisions to ensure sustainable management of the environment. One of the most negative prospects of COVID-19 pandemic is the increased waste generation, especially plastic waste in developing and developed countries. This study systematically reviews the potential influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical and municipal waste, and discusses the corresponding measures and policies of solid waste management in several countries. The results show that the highest and lowest quality of final disposal is observed in Finland with 75% recycling and in India with 90% open dumping, respectively. In many countries, the medical waste showed an increase by 350-500%.The pandemic has brought particular problems to the disposal capacity of municipal waste and medical waste across the world. We think that this point of view study provides valuable data for scientists, policy makers, health decision-makers, consultants, medical staff, medical supplies, those working in public health sector, and field engineers responsible for solid waste management.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) services are critical elements of human societies and environmental infrastructure. In developing countries, household waste collection and disposal are the responsibility of local authorities, but often the volume of waste surpasses their collection capabilities. In addition, a lack of awareness and knowledge of sustainable waste practices contributes to poor waste practices. As a result, most waste ends in open dumps, roadsides, and other similar places. Massive waste disposal sites (locally termed Bingi) in every ward within the case study area, Bauchi old city are the most critical problem facing the Bauchi state environmental protection agency (BASEPA), responsible for solid waste collection and disposal. This study evaluates the disposal practices and constraints faced by residents, thus providing relevant information to BASEPA towards more effective implementation of sustainable waste management (SWM). Questionnaires were collected from 156 households, and the findings demonstrated a variety of households' waste management practices and perceptions of BASEPA's role and presence. In conclusion, the findings indicate that lack of awareness and ignorance of SWM practices still plague households, and insufficient waste facilities, finance, and lack of modernized waste equipment are probably the biggest constraints to solid waste disposal and management. These challenges bring several implications for the waste management authority’s role in plan implementation and regulatory enforcement. The study proposes several strategies to address and overcome these challenges.

This review presents a brief trend in Minna Municipal solid Waste (MSW) management. Municipal solid waste is a major environmental problem in Minna as in many developing towns. Although strict regulations on the management of solid waste are in place, primitive disposal methods such as open dumping and discharge into surface water are still being used in various parts of the town. The review also presents the MSW management structure together with the present situation of generation composition, collection, disposal and treatment. It also provides a brief discussion on the future challenges. Waste generation increases by more than 200% within two decades and increase in budgetary allocation is not proportional to the waste generation increase. The waste management agency did not have enough resources to tackle the ever increasing Municipal Solid Waste. The collection process is deficient in terms of manpower and vehicle availability. Bin capacity provided is inadequate and their locations were found to be inappropriate, thus contributing to the inefficiency of the system. At this time, no treatment is provided to the waste after collection. Under- estimation of waste generation rates and inadequate management and technical skills were also responsible for inappropriate waste management system in the town.

Nigeria just likes every other country in sub-Sahara Africa is faced with solid waste generation and management. Solid waste is dump indiscriminately and seen in huge heaps on any piece of unused land, around buildings, drainage system, institutions, playing ground, roads side, and in the open market places in major cities and towns. Living with solid wastes littered around seems to be an acceptable way of life among the people in this part of the world. This research work reported intensive review on solid wastes generation and management in this region using Nigeria as a case study. The application of knowledge of solid waste generation and management approach is crucial for inculcating a change of attitude towards improving the management of generated solid waste in this region. From the review, it was observed that biodegradable solid waste that can be managed via the biogas technology and landfill technology have the highest percentage fraction while the remaining fraction that comprised of non-biodegradable and combustible solid waste can be managed via other technology such incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, etc. Besides, the inefficient management of generated solid waste by individuals, households, institution, consumers and waste management companies can be attributed to inadequate information on waste management benefits, insufficient academic research and industry linkages, financial constraint, economic constraint, cultural constraint, lack of planning and projection, social constraint, lack of producers’ involvement in waste management as well as poor implementation of government policies and lack of comprehensive legal framework.Keywords: Solid waste generation, solid waste management, biodegradable solid waste, combustible solid waste

Solid waste management in Malaysia is under the responsibility of the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation or commonly known as SWCorp. It is licensed under the National Solid Waste Management Department, a department directed by the Ministry of Urban Well-being, Housing, and Local Government. SWCorp is responsible for setting up policies on solid waste management under the direct overview of the ministry. Solid waste management in Malaysia has undergone various levels of transformation from managing generated solid waste such as reusing and recycling before 2015 to reducing and segregating solid waste at source since 2015. The management of solid waste at source is emphasized by the enforcement of the 672 Act: Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 in September 2015. Nevertheless, behavioral transformation requires a commitment to social responsibility, namely reducing, reusing, and recycling activities, in all sectors of the community. This chapter discusses and examines Malaysian consumers’ commitment to social responsibility in solid waste management from the perspectives of NGOs and youth. The consumer sector is the most crucial group in the community as it represents the main grassroots. Furthermore, the commitment at grassroots is more sustainable and longstanding compared to top-down enforcement. Additionally, given that NGOs are more sensitive to the transformation of public behavior, and youth are our future decision makers on the fate of the environment, this chapter discusses consumers’ commitment to social responsibility in waste management through the perspectives of NGOs and youth. The analysis regarding the commitment of Malaysian consumers through the perspectives of NGOs and youth indicates that Malaysian consumers are more committed to performing recycling and reusing activities as compared to reducing activities. These findings illustrate Malaysian consumers’ reluctance to embrace the philosophy behind behavioral transformation, that is prevention is better than cure. In this case, they are slow to adapt to the behavioral transformation activities related to reduce, segregate, and compost solid waste at the source.

Solid waste management is now acknowledged as one of the major environmental issues of our times. It remains a challenge for developed countries and is an exponentially growing problem for developing countries. The last four decades are marked by several incidents highlighting problems with solid and hazardous waste management across the world. 1. Trans-boundary shipments of hazardous and solid waste have received world-wide attention and media headlines. Infamous examples include Khian Sea which started its journey from Philadelphia in 1986 and Mobro which started its journey from New York in 1987; two US barges or ships with cargoes of municipal solid waste that went from one country to another looking for a port to dump their wastes. The Mobro went all the way to Belize and brought its cargo back to Brooklyn, New York for incineration and landfilling. Many speculate that Khian Sea dumped its cargo somewhere in the Indian Ocean in 1988. 2. Most recently, a fire started on 27 January 2016 in India’s oldest and largest open dumping site, Deonar in Mumbai, and was visible in satellite images (shown in Fig. 1.1). It continued for several days leading to complaints of air pollution and closure of schools for 2 days. The massive fire was attributed to the buildup of methane gas in the open dump where the waste had reached heights of more than 30 m. Fires in this dumping site have been recurrent making living conditions in the surrounding areas extremely difficult. 3. Many sources have identified poor solid waste management as one of the major contributing factors to the spread of plague in Surat, India in 1994. Incidents like these led to promulgation of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules in India in 2000. 4. Several industrial sites all around the world remain unusable or a toxic nuisance for their neighbours due to improper handling and management of hazardous wastes on-site. One of the earliest and most cited examples in the USA includes Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York, where toxic waste was dumped through the 1920s and got national attention only in 1976–1978. The Superfund program (under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, RCRA for ensuring proper disposal of solid and hazardous waste) was initiated in 1980 in the USA and was the government’s response for remediating and rehabilitating such contaminated industrial sites.

Ineffective solid waste management constitutes a major environmental problem in urban areas, Minna, Nigeria inclusive. This study analysed the spatial patterns of waste dump sites and the health hazards associated with the observed patterns. Also, the study identified possible areas at risk of health hazards; suggests the most suitable location for dump sites and sorting centers for municipal solid wastes; and provides a framework for sustainable solid waste management in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. The data used for this study were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source involved the use of GPS receiver to obtain the coordinates of dump sites and pictorial evidence were taken with a digital camera showing open dumps. Also, a set of 144 questionnaires were used to obtain information about people's perception of solid waste disposal and management. The secondary data used included the IKONOS image of Minna with 3.2m resolution in multispectral was obtained from Google earth in July 2010. The spatial analyses of the phenomena of interest were done on the basis of the 13 existing administrative districts in the town. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents to the questionnaires used for the study. The Google earth satellite imagery was zoomed to a satisfactory resolution and the areas of interest were clipped using corel draw and then joined together through mosaicing. Thereafter, the required remote sensing, GIS and cartographic operations were performed. Results show that there were 31 major dumpsites in Minna which are situated within built-up areas mostly along major roads and watercourses. The proximity analysis based on the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) used at distances 1000m, 500m and 250m showed that built-up areas, major roads, and watercourses fall within buffer range to dumpsites. The identified built-up areas within a distance of 1000m to dumpsites location showed that Bosso Estate, Myper, Dutsen kuran, Western by pass, Maitunbi, Tunga, Chanchanga, Shango, Kpakungun, Sokakahuta are at risk of possible environmental problems. Buffering analysis also revealed that Rivers Bako, Sauke and Gora were within a distance of 500m to dumpsites and is therefore at risk of pollution by the dumpsite constituents. In addition, 1000m buffering analysis showed that Paiko Road, Western by pass, Eastern by pass, and Zungeru Road are prone to littering by dumpsite constituents when aided by wind or human. These major roads are also liable to the risk of incinerator smoke which hampers the visibility of road users as shown by the query analysis. Furthermore, result showed that the most common waste generated in the study area is plastic (40.9%). It also revealed that 65.9% practice open dumps disposal system and only 59.1% of inhabitants disposes their waste daily. Malaria was reported by 86.4% of the respondents as the most important health problem in the town. Also, 61.4% of inhabitants depend on ground water as their means of water supply. The study also identified points free of intersection among dumpsites, built-up areas, watercourses and major roads at a distance of 3500m as most suitable sites for dumpsites and sorting centres. The study concludes that waste management with it attendant problems still constitute a major challenge in the study area and suggests the 3R's model as framework for effective solid waste management in the town.

The present paper provides a detailed analysis of the current situation on municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Kazakhstan with focus on the two major cities, Astana and Almaty, the current and former capital of the country. Untill recently, ninety-seven percent of the MSW was disposed in open dumps and substandard authorized landfills. Ninety-three percent of the 4530 municipal waste disposal landfills were not permitted, while from the 307 authorized waste disposal facilities, only the one in the city of Astana was designed in accordance with international standards (2015). Core legislation, current management policy, existing and planned facilities and infrastructure, as well as solid waste quantity and composition are discussed. The analysis is complemented by the implementation of a decision support software tool, which provides insights in waste management needs and evaluates the alternative waste management plans. Six alternative scenarios were evaluated, and the results obtained demonstrate that the optimum scenario is separation at source for both biowaste, which is composted and packaging waste processed via the materials recovery facility. Regarding the residual waste, the optimum scenario for Astana is mechanical biological treatment (MBT)-composting-recyclables and waste-to-energy for the refuse-derived fuel (RDF). For Almaty, 80% of the waste should be processed through MBT-composting-recyclables, and 20% via incineration and RDF. The results obtained can contribute to solid waste management planning in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.

Solid waste management in most MENA countries is characterized by lack of planning, improper disposal, inadequate collection services, inappropriate technologies that suit the local conditions and technical requirements, and insufficient funding. Therefore, waste management is mainly limited to collection, transportation, and disposal. As the circular economy has recently been given high priority on the MENA region’s political agenda, all MENA member states are seeking to move away from old-fashioned waste disposal, “waste management”, towards a more intelligent waste treatment, “resource efficiency”. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of national systems for municipal solid waste (MSW) management, and material and energy recovery as an important aspect thereof, in the context of the circular economy in selected countries in the MENA region. Since policy, regulation, and treatment technologies are traditionally connected to MSW management, the focus of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims to identify the different practices of solid waste management employed in selected MENA region countries and their approaches to embracing the circular economy and, secondly, it examines the extent to which policies and technologies applied play any role in this context. The study revealed that most waste management issues in the countries analyzed appear to be due to political factors and the decentralized nature of waste management with multi-level management and responsibilities. In fact, material and energy recovery in the context of municipal solid waste management does not differ significantly in the countries in the MENA region considered. In most cases, “waste” is still seen as “trouble” rather than a resource. Therefore, a fresh vision on how the solid waste management system can be transformed into a circular economy is required; there is a need for paradigm shift from a linear economy model to a circular-economy model.

Waste in urban areas is growing rapidly everywhere in the world. Effective methods to address the challenges of solid waste management are critical in achieving a clean and healthy environment. The problem of waste growth in urban areas has been brought about by low collection of waste, illegal and uncontrolled dumping sites and the absence of sewage lines. In Kenya, for instance, the growth of the economy, which resulted in the development of cities and the emergence of towns, led to waste management challenges. Efforts have been directed towards addressing the problem of waste management by various county governments. This study sought to address solid waste disposal and management challenges in Nyamira Municipality. The methods that are being employed to address this challenge are costly and have not yielded desirable results, as was evident from the scattered waste in the streets of Nyamira Municipality. Currently, the management does not carry out any waste recycling and has hired one landfill, which is paid for monthly. This Study formulated a solid waste management tool that involved the construction of a fuzzy goal programming model. The model was solved analytically using the simplex method. A sensitivity analysis was carried out, and graphs were drawn using MATLAB software. The utility of the model was tested using data from Nyamira municipality. The research advocated for waste recycling as one of the ways of managing waste to earn revenue from this recycled waste. The findings of this study are useful in formulating policies such as setting up waste management projects and establishing recycling industries. This will go a long way by reducing the cost by at least 36%. Furthermore, the findings form the basis for future research in related fields.

The economic value of sustainable recycling and waste management policies: The case of a waste management crisis in South Korea

Solid waste management is a documented threat to health and the environment to many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Rapid industrial development and urbanization have seen a rise in urban population which translates to massive production of solid waste. Though most urban and city planners have adopted new technologies such as landfills and incineration these alone cannot work without training residents on best practices that will guide them on how to manage their waste. Both health and environmental implications are associated with solid waste management and amounting in urgency especially in developing countries. The study aimed to assess the methods used by residents of Eastleigh South Ward in Nairobi County to dispose of their solid waste at the household level. Various waste disposal methods were documented during field observation and interviews while secondary data was obtained from records and reports on the management of waste in Nairobi County. About 48% of the resident indicated they discard waste along the road in heap/drainage, further 35% indicated putting waste in dust bins which eventually ends up in undesignated areas. The study also documents challenges related to waste management including infrequent /irregular waste collection, illegal dumping, low levels of information on poor waste disposal, and lack of concern among residents. Other challenges included irresponsible waste management approaches by the Nairobi County Government as well reluctance to pay private garbage collectors and high cost of disposal services charged by private garbage collectors. Promoting awareness through public education on the management of solid waste will enhance proper solid waste management practices. The study further recommends allocation of more resources to allow for effective management of solid waste.

Integrated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is a tedious task requiring the simultaneous fulfilment of technical, economical and social constraints. It combines a range of collection and treatment methods to handle all materials in the waste stream in an environmentally effective, economically affordable and socially acceptable way (McDougall, 2001). Due to the complexity of the issues required for effective integrated MSW management, various computer-aided approaches that help the decision makers reach their final decision have been engaged since the early days of integrated MSW management. Any computer-based system supporting decision making is defined as a DSS (Finlay, 1989). DSS incorporate computer-based models of real life biophysical and economic systems. There are two main categories of DSS applied to solid waste management: the first one, based on applied mathematics, emphasises application of statistical, optimisation or simulation modelling. The second category of DSS provides specific problem-solving expertise stored as facts, rules and procedures. In addition, there are also hybrid approaches. Recently, there has been a major shift towards Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) computer-aided tools. LCA is a holistic approach that is increasingly utilised for solid waste management especially in the decision-making process and in strategy-planning. LCA can be categorised as a hybrid approach since it utilises equations for inventory analysis and recycling loops on the one hand, while on the other it requires expertise input for impact assessment and characterisation. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a holistic approach that quantifies all environmental burdens and therefore all environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of products or processes (Rebitzer et al. 2004). LCA is not an exact scientific tool, but a science-based assessment methodology for the impacts of a product or system on the environment (Winkler & Bilitewski 2007). It is increasingly utilised for solid waste management systems especially in the decision-making process and in strategy-planning. LCA has been utilised for sustainable MSW management since 1995 (Guereca et al. 2006). LCA is an ideal tool for application in MSW management because geographic locations, characteristics of waste, energy sources, availability of some disposal options and size of markets for products derived from waste management differ widely (White et al., 1997; Mendes et al., 2004). LCA can help reduce local pressures and waste management costs, while considering the broader effects and trade-offs felt elsewhere across society (Koneczny and Pennington, 2007). The LCA procedure has been standardized in 1998 and revised in 2006 (ISO 14040, 2006). Based on this standard, LCA consists of the following four sections:

Solid waste management is an essential social service of the local government system in Nigeria. The lack of adequate funding of the local governments has created a situation where most of the cities are dirty as solid waste is disposed indiscriminately resulting to various public health issues. The establishment of the ecological fund has not provided effective relief to the problems of environmental governance, including solid waste management. The study examined the relationship between solid waste management and public health challenges in Ibadan city, Nigeria. The study adopted survey design, while the population of study was Ibadan city in Oyo State, Nigeria. Quantitative data was collected using validated questionnaire with response rate of 100%. Correlation coefficient and ANOVA were employed in the testing of the hypotheses. The study found that there was significant relationship between Politicization of Waste Management and Public Health Challenges (r = .325, p<.05). In addition, there was significant relationship between Ineffective Management of Solid Waste and Public Health Challenges (r = .662, p<.05). Indiscriminate Disposal of Solid Waste, Politicization of Solid Waste and Ineffective Management of solid waste had joint significant effect on Public Health Challenges (F(3, 296) = 22.078, Adj. R2 = .696, p<0.05). The study concluded that the politicization of solid waste management in the selected local governments had resulted in ineffective management of solid wastes, with the residents being exposed to several public health challenges. It was recommended that there should be improved funding of the waste management agencies to enable them adopt modern waste disposal techniques.