Public Engagement in Solid Waste Management: An Evaluation Analysis of Techiman Municipal of Ghana

Waste management is a major challenge for many metropolitan and municipal assemblies in Ghana. The quantity of waste generated from the cities keeps increasing at a faster rate without increasing facilities to match its management. In the Takoradi sub-metro for instance, all the waste generated ends up at the final disposal sites without any recovery of the valuables. Proper management of the generated waste requires reliable and informative data which could assist in the collection as well as value addition process. Waste separation efficiency; willingness to separate waste at source; physical composition and per capita waste generated by households within the Takoradi sub-metropolis were studied over a five-week period. Questionnaire, interviews and survey were employed in the collection of the required data. The data were analysed using SPSS. The results showed solid waste composition of 60.0% organics, 11.5% plastics, 8.0% inert materials, 7.1% papers and cardboard, 5.0% miscellaneous materials, 2.9% textiles, 2.4% metals, 1.5% glasses and 1.2% leather and rubber. Over 80% of the waste fraction has the potential for recovery into other products; with this, 22.7% could be recycled and 63.6% suitable for biological conversions such as composting and anaerobic digestion since they have a moisture content as high as 55%. The average per capita waste generated within the sub-metro was 0.70 kg/cap/day. Households were able to separate the organic fractions from the rest of the waste fractions reaching effectiveness of 92% for organic separation and 83% for all other wastes. The data generated on the quantity and composition of the waste stream in the Metropolis would play a positive role in solid waste management and help solid waste managers make informed decisions on waste management options. 
 
 Keywords: Waste Sorting and Separation, Biodegradables, Household Waste, Separation Efficiency

Solid waste management in hospitals: A comparative assessment in some selected hospitals in Obuasi Municipality of Ghana

Municipal solid waste management is an environmental issue that has received considerable attention from researchers and environmental managers for decades. Supporting the management programs entail policies and regulations related to municipal solid waste. In developed countries, the implementation of environmental policies plays an important role and has a substantial impact on the effectiveness of solid waste management. However, in many developing countries such as Vietnam, the situation and effectiveness of the policy implementation have not been studied extensively. This investigation is conducted to ascertain the situation, limitations, and challenges in implementing solid waste management policy in Vietnam. Then, solutions for the problems and improvements for implementation efficiency are presented. This work used online questionnaires to survey environmental managers in different localities and applied qualitative research method to analyze data. The results show that not all national policies on solid waste management are implemented in all localities. Waste separation is also the foremost concern in municipal waste management in most localities of Vietnam. Most of the localities claimed that the unrealistic nature and difficult implementation of the policies and the lack of needed resources are the main limitations and challenges in Vietnam. Survey results also revealed that different localities in Vietnam have different solutions to increase policy implementation efficiency. Besides, the study also found similarities in the implementation of policies in solid waste management between Vietnam and some other countries and also gathered some valuable lessons for the improvement strategy. Finally, the implementation of an effective domestic solid waste management policy is an important platform for improving environmental quality and ensuring the sustainable development of the nation and mankind.

The article defines that the solid household waste management system is a complex of organizational, technical, economic and social measures aimed at effective collection, sorting, transportation, utilization and processing of solid household waste. An effective solid waste management system helps to ensure sustainable development, reduce the negative impact on the environment and promotes the use of waste as a resource for new products or energy. The article presents the experience of Germany, Sweden and Poland in the field of solid waste management. The peculiarities of such management are described for each of the countries. It has been established that the organization of the solid household waste management system in European countries differs in a number of features, which are determined by environmental standards, social values and strategies of sustainable development, which are aimed at solving problems related to the generation, storage, processing and utilization of waste. We propose directions for improving the solid waste management system in Ukraine, namely: development and implementation of sorting systems in households (will allow more efficient use of resources and ensure their further processing); introduction of extended producer responsibility; increasing the number and development of modern facilities for the processing and secondary processing of solid household waste; attraction of investments for the introduction of the latest technologies in the processing of solid household waste; implementation of effective incentive systems for enterprises engaged in secondary processing of solid household waste; implementation of modern technologies for tracking the volume of solid household waste, its composition and transportation routes; creation of digital platforms for information exchange between waste management, enterprises and citizens; development of programs and educational activities to increase environmental awareness of the community and their active participation in the solid waste management system; revision and improvement of legislation to meet modern environmental requirements; introduction of effective fines and incentives for enterprises and citizens that comply with or violate solid waste management requirements. Improving the solid waste management system in Ukraine can be achieved with the participation of state bodies, the business sector and the public, relying on the best experience of the European Union and other countries.

There is a significant increase in the urban population in developing countries, such as Palestine, and this poses a major challenge to the Joint Service Councils (JSCs) for solid waste management in Palestine. The problems associated with solid and hazardous waste management in developing countries are diverse and complex. Rapid development, urbanization, population growth, and problems related to the effective management of solid waste have greatly escalated. There are five distinct aspects of solid waste management: identification and classification of source and nature of waste, separation, storage, and collection of waste, waste transportation, treatment (including recovery of resources) from waste, final disposal of waste. The critical waste management issues that Palestine is challenged include stop increasing waste generation and saving landfill space and consequently lengthening the lifetime of the landfill sites. The process of sitting and building of new landfill sites entail, like in other countries, time-consuming processes, and require a long time in general, or rather difficult especially in Palestine if considered territorial dispute and political situation. Under such circumstances, it is required to know the actual data for solid waste situation as accurately as possible and to estimate the future waste quantity and quality in order to establish a precise policy on waste management and facility construction plan. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on the solid waste equipment management and how to plan the future needs of waste collection vehicles in Palestine. The study has determined that the waste collection vehicles which production before 2010 are out of duty and expendable vehicles and must be fully replaced and vehicles produced between 2011 and 2015 have 50% workable and vehicles of 2016 and higher are considered new and do not need to be changed. The study showed that in 2022, Palestine needs 97 garbage collection vehicles to meet the expected deficit in collection vehicles. The expected waste quantity will reach 2353 tons/day. The total severed population in 2022 is 3,139,341 (65% of the Palestinian population at that time), and the Unit Generation Rate is 0.75 kg/person/day.

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.

Problem setting. One of the most actual environmental problems in Ukraine is the accumulation and utilization of the solid household waste. Due to the considerable volumes of garbage accumulation, Ukraine is considered to be the one of the most technically inflicted countries in the world. In its experience of solid domestic waste treatment, our state is for a few decades behind the developed countries of Europe. There are tens of thousands of spontaneous dumps in Ukraine and more than 6 500 official landfills.Recent research and publications analysis. The analysis of researches on the assessment of the status of waste disposal sites in Ukraine has shown the lack of scientific works on the integrated assessment and forecast of solid waste landfills’ state and the minimization of their impact on the environment. The imperfection of modern measures to minimize the impact of dumps on the environment and the lack of an effective monitoring system necessitate the development of a set of measures to ensure the ecological safety of landfills.Aim of the article. To study the problem of solid waste accumulation and utilization in Ukraine and to identify ways of public governance’s improvement in the sphere of dealing with them.Main material. Hundreds of thousands of tons of solid household waste are being collected annually in urban landfills. Location, arrangement and operating conditions of most sewage dumps do not meet regulatory requirements, this increases the ecological danger of these objects. There are about 2000 objects in Ukraine, which are organized without projects and engineering and hydrogeological exploration. The consequence of this is the pollution of groundwater by filtrate and the migration of pollutants along with ground and underground flows.Due to widespread problems with solid household waste throughout Ukraine, the entire power vertical faces this question. At the local level, attempts to start a business in the sphere of waste sorting and recycling have taken place for several years. There are a lot of reports on the building of waste sorting and waste recycling enterprises in different regions of Ukraine.The garbage market, where it would be possible to sell secondary raw materials, has not yet been developed in Ukraine. According to experts, for example, waste produced only by the capital itself, can be estimated at 3 billion UAH in a year. Thus, tens of billions of hryvnias can be got for the country’s secondary raw materials. It has been estimated, that 100 waste processing plants are needed in order to clean the country from garbage.Taking into account the general difficult economic situation in the country, experts see the solution of this issue in attraction of foreign investments into the construction of such enterprises. For Ukraine there is a need for a state waste management strategy.Positive trends in the sphere of state regulation of the waste management system can be seen in recent years, but Ukraine has not created the appropriate legal and regulatory framework yet that would gradually reach the requirements of the European legislation. Conclusions of the research. The enshrined regulations of national rules on disposal and solid waste management are currently not implemented fully. This calls for the improvement of enforcement practice on this issue, as well as the introduction of amendments and additions to existing legal acts. It is necessary to develop an effective state program that would include a complex of state measures for the creation of specialized enterprises for sorting and processing of solid waste in Ukraine, to conduct a series of educational actions among citizens. Ukrainian legislation on the effective solution of the problem of solid household waste management should be based on national characteristics and positive experience of relevant European legislation in this sphere. And the attraction of foreign investments in the waste recycling industry will definitely contribute to the improvement of the ecological situation in Ukraine.

Abstract. Problem. The article deals with the essence of solid waste management in Ukraine, the relevance of applying information and computer technologies at various stages of household waste management through the use of waste monitoring, analysis of waste management methods, which will allow more efficient use of their resource potential in the extraction of resource-value components, and increase the level of environmental safety of the national economy and society as a whole. Methodology. The purpose of the study is to determine the possibilities of using computer and information technologies in the field of solid waste management through the creation of a unified information system that integrates all stages of solid waste management. Results. Modern computers and information technologies provide unprecedented opportunities to optimize the processes of collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of solid waste. Creating a unified information system that integrates all stages of solid waste management will ensure transparency of processes, increase management efficiency, and make informed decisions. The use of mathematical models and machine learning algorithms allows us to predict waste generation, optimize collection routes, and plan the capacity of processing plants, while the development of mobile applications and online platforms helps to raise public awareness of solid waste management issues and engage citizens in waste sorting and recycling. The introduction of information technology can achieve significant economic efficiency, reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills, and reduce the negative impact on the environment. The further development of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data opens up new opportunities for improving waste management systems. Originality.We would like to note that research on solid waste management and utilization is constantly being continued and improved, and the use of Internet technologies is a progressive direction of control over the generation, movement, methods of utilization, etc. Household waste surrounds people throughout their lives, and our task is not only to minimize the amount of waste generated but also to use the laws of the “green economy” to achieve zero generation or maximum possible recycling in production activities, through the use of computer and information technologies at all levels of the solid waste life cycle. Practical value. The use of information technology allows you to visualize data in the form of graphs, charts, maps, or other visual elements that help you understand the main trends and dependencies. And after passing the previous stages, it is possible to analyze, identify trends, and dependencies, and determine the key factors that affect the volume and composition of waste, as a result of which, based on data analysis, it is possible to develop forecasts of future waste management needs, the effectiveness of measures and management strategies. The results of data analysis can be used to optimize waste collection, sorting, transportation, and disposal processes to improve efficiency and reduce negative environmental impact.

Purpose: Community participation in solid waste management is currently seen as a determinant of successful solid waste management. Cases of failed solid waste management are common in areas where the waste management is regarded as a responsibility of local authorities while the community remains indifferent. Research has shown that public participation in solid waste management is marginal in most African countries. The study was aimed at analysing the residents’ participation in solid waste management in Solwezi. Results are cardinal in designing more sustainable waste management strategies.
 Methodology: It utilized systematic random sampling to sample 77 households of which 28 were from Kyawama Township, 23 from Stadium and 26 were from Kandundu Townships. Structured interviews, key informant interviews and observations were used to collect data on methods of waste disposal, residents’ perceptions of solid waste management services available, and their willingness to pay for sustainable solid waste management. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, chi-square, Pearson product-moment correlation and content analysis.
 Findings: Results showed that 65 % of the residents felt that they did not participate in any formal waste management practices. The 35 % who admitted to being participants felt they did this through waste separation, reuse and through their engaging a formal waste collector. In Solwezi, burying of waste (44.2 %) was the dominant waste management practice followed by formal waste collection (35 %) and burning (19.4 %)., while informal waste collectors accounted for 2.6 % of waste disposed of and 1.3 % of waste was disposed of through communal rubbish bins. Solwezi had very low participation of the residents in formal waste collection services with some residents not aware of the existence of such a service in the town (31.2 %). Among barriers to community engagement in solid waste management in Solwezi were a lack of knowledge of the existence of formal waste collection systems (35 %), failure by the local municipal council to provide waste bins either in residential areas or streets (13 %), relatively high costs of engaging in formal solid waste management and a lack of alternative cheaper ways of managing domestic solid waste. There was a general willingness by most residents to pay for sustainable solid waste management (57.2 %) with only 2.6 % indicating they felt that the local municipal council should treat waste management as a service that residents do not have to pay for
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: In conclusion, the low community participation in solid waste management in Solwezi was attributed to failure to adequately sensitize residents by the municipal council. Residents’ attitudes towards sustainable management of solid waste and community engagement in decisions related to solid waste management by the local authority was token at best. The study recommended sensitization in community participation as well as incentivizing champions of community waste management as a way of improving community participation in solid waste management.

1 - A summary of solid waste generation and management strategy

Managing waste efficiently is essential for building sustainable, livable and healthy communities but this remains a challenge for many municipal governments due to limited municipal budget and other logistical challenges. Such challenges result in ineffective waste collection and disposal. However, identifying the challenges associated with municipal solid waste management often lead to developing solutions to mitigate the problem. This paper assesses the waste management practices and challenges within the Techiman municipality, the regional capital of the Bono East Region. By sampling residents’ perceptions and experiences it was observed that households and patrons were dissatisfied with Techiman’s Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM). Statistically the per capita per day rate of waste generation was 0.48kg/ per capita/per day, being higher than Ghana’s municipal waste generation of 0.40 kg/per capita/per day. Lack of collection of waste from the transfer stations to the landfill sites has resulted in about 67 heaps of uncollected waste in the municipality. The results show that lack of source separation and recycling, broken down trucks, low participation of private sector in waste collection, non-compliance of by-laws, poor road infrastructure leading to the landfill site, and inefficient landfill site have contributed to the waste problem in the municipality. Resorting to source separation, educating the public on waste management bye laws, increasing private sector participation and establishing engineered landfill sites can substantially contribute to sustainable Municipal Waste Management in the Techiman Municipality.

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

The improvement of the pricing mechanism in the field of solid household waste management (MSW) is due to the need to transition to a sustainable waste management system. The current state of affairs in the field of solid waste management is characterized by chronic underfunding. Regulatory documents on the current regulatory instruments in this area do not fully implement the regulatory impact on the financial provision of the sphere of solid waste management. In this regard, the problem of scientific research and the search for ways to improve the efficiency of the process of tariff formation for solid waste management services is extremely urgent. The article provides a critical analysis of the normative primary sources for calculating the tariff for solid waste management services and determining the norms for the formation and accumulation of municipal waste (CO). The results of experimental author's studies of calculating tariffs and determining norms in retrospect over recent years with the identification of local features in their dynamics are presented, recommendations are given to improve the organization of sample observations in determining norms, as well as determining the volume of waste exported. Based on the logic of the economic factor analysis of the regulatory model of tariff calculation, the problematic provisions of the current methodology for calculating the need for financial resources for the collection and transportation, sorting and disposal of solid waste, determining the annual tariff per unit of solid waste and determining the rate of formation and accumulation of CO, appropriate recommendations have been developed to eliminate the identified problems. The conclusions and recommendations of the study will be useful to state bodies, local representative and executive authorities, economic entities, experts interested in the development of the sphere of solid waste management.

Practical experience of solid domestic waste (MSW) management in Ukraine and developed countries is analyzed. Theoretical volumes of MSW accumulation taking into account statistical factors are studied. The generalized method of MSW accumulation volumes allows forecasting their formation from the factors and evaluating the morphological composition of MSW in the region. The system for optimizing community waste management at the collection and disposal stage with the quality of the optimality criterion has been proposed. The degree of recycling and the costs of collecting and transporting waste should be taken as a criterion for optimising the urban waste management system at the collection and disposal stage. The quality analysis of the waste management system in the Zhytomyr region made it possible to identify the main problems in municipal waste management and the main reasons for their occurrence. The survey shows that the main problem in the area of waste management is the low efficiency of the existing management system, accompanied by the introduction of outdated and inefficient management methods with the lack of effective interaction of all participants in the waste management process and, above all, the lack of public involvement in solving the problem. The authors concluded that at the present time Zhytomyr city and Zhytomyr Region faced the following problems in the area of solid waste management: the number of spontaneous landfills has increased; the number of modern waste collection bins is insufficient and there are no bins for separate waste collection; the quality of solid waste collection services is inadequate; there is no recycling plant in Zhytomyr; large amount of household waste in the city landfill and absence of monitoring of its impact on the environment.

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