Status of Waste Management in the East African Cities: Understanding the Drivers of Waste Generation, Collection and Disposal and Their Impacts on Kampala City’s Sustainability

Shamim Aryampa,Najib L Bateganya,Elly Sabiiti,Basant Maheshwari,Brian Bukenya

doi:10.3390/su11195523

Shamim Aryampa, Najib L Bateganya + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195523

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Abstract

The factors that influence waste generation and management vary with country but there is a gap in the availability of waste data in Africa limiting the assessment of these factors for sustainability. Hence, this study was aimed at evaluating the drivers of waste generation, collection and disposal, and their impact on sustainability of Kampala as compared to the East African Community (EAC). Waste generation in Kampala was calculated using recorded waste collection efficiencies while data for Nairobi and Dar es Salaam was obtained from existing literature. Waste quantities for disposal were recorded daily at Kiteezi landfill from 2011 to 2017. Results showed that the major drivers of waste generation, collection and disposal in the EAC are population growth, vehicle capacity and the need for disposal respectively. Waste generation rate in Kampala increased from 0.26 to 0.47 kg/capita/day and the annual waste quantity increased significantly (p < 0.5) by 48% from 227,916 to 481,081 tons corresponding to a 54% population increase. Waste collection efficiency increased from 30% to 64% and hence waste for disposal increased significantly (p < 0.5), with a mean of 15,823 tons/month; but varied significantly (p < 0.5) with the city division. The most (5120 tons) and least (3472 tons) waste per month was collected from the Central and Nakawa divisions respectively. Additionally, Kampala Capital City Authority collected significantly more waste than private collectors for all study years. Waste is disposed of at the Kiteezi landfill despite exhausted capacity. Future projections showed that by 2030, annual waste would increase by approximately 60% for Kampala and Nairobi and by 74% for Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam generated the highest amount of waste, five times more than Kampala. More investment needs to be made towards the reduction of waste disposal and strategies developed for the reuse and recycling of waste.

Highlights

Sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to be a challenge for the majority of African cities
The most significant drivers for waste generation, collection and disposal found in this study are population growth, capacity of collection vehicles and the need for disposal respectively
These drivers highlight the inefficiencies in the MSW management practices in the East African Community (EAC) and clearly show that MSW management is a significant hindrance to achieving sustainable development in the region

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to be a challenge for the majority of African cities. Africa is the least urbanized continent, it currently has the highest rates of urbanization and urban population growth [1,2,3]. African cities are expanding rapidly with the continent’s urban population projected to triple from 470 million in 2015 to 1.2 billion, by 2050 [4]. With this tripling of the urban population, the generation rates of MSW are expected to increase more than three-fold further amplifying the challenge of managing this waste. The urbanization happening in Africa is poorly planned [6] further limiting the efficiency of managing MSW

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