Abstract
The insufficient supervision of household solid waste is a notorious problem in DR. Congo cities. Besides, solid waste management in Lubumbashi has been very rudimentary and unsystematic. This study aims to quantify and characterize the household solid waste in two Lubumbashi municipalities. For more than 50 years after independence from colonialism, the city trailed direct discharge of waste on exposed site and waterside and sometimes in watercourse with no soil cover or leachate treatment in place. Almost sixty households from two Lubumbashi city municipalities were investigated by means of group sampling techniques and the obtained data was used to quantify and characterize the municipalities' household solid waste. The composition of the household waste revealed that 30% of the wastes were recovered by Lubumbashi's state administration and 70% by local residential services termed individuals. However, in Kamalondo municipality, the household waste recovered by the state, individuals and private sectors were 25.9%, 67.5 and 6.7%, respectively. About 90% of the residence did not subscribe for the household system of collection. While each household generated varying amount and type of wastes, the average value of biodegradable waste produced in Kamalondo (1.79 kg) was three times higher than that in Lubumbashi (0.65 kg). Finally, this study highlighted that about USD 2.00 per household was enough to improve the household waste collection system of 2,000,000 residents in seven municipalities.
Highlights
People migration from villages to cities owing to rapid industrialization and population growth in D.R
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is sourced from the collection and aggregation of individual Household Domestic Wastes (HDW), which contains various constituents including food waste, sand, paper, plastics and metals such as aluminum, glass and so on
We found that a second household waste collection system was managed by private companies
Summary
People migration from villages to cities owing to rapid industrialization and population growth in D.R. Congo has resulted in considerable increase in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation. MSW is sourced from the collection and aggregation of individual Household Domestic Wastes (HDW), which contains various constituents including food waste (which is biodegradable or compostable), sand, paper, plastics and metals such as aluminum, glass and so on. HDW represents one of the major environment challenges in D.R. Congo due to lack of efficient management system. Mpinda et al (2016; Guerrero et al, 2013), identified that waste plastics, glass and metals in the HDW are major nuisances, as they pollute environment, compromise amenities, clog drains and cause flooding during rainy season. Within the HDW constituents, some are recoverable, reusable and recyclable; they can help for a better HDW management
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