Solid Waste Management In Ghana Research Articles

“Be ready to pay because others are paying”: contested solid waste management transitions and charges in Accra’s open-air markets

ABSTRACT Approaches to solid waste management (SWM) in African cities have gone through various phases. Each phase is shaped by a range of factors, including population growth, urbanisation, government policies and political willingness to invest in SWM infrastructure as well as SWM services. In the Ghanaian context, the latter factor is said to be subject to public perceptions of SWM as a welfare service and hence the reluctance of people to pay for SWM services even though “others” are paying. In this paper, an attempt has been made to investigate how approaches to SWM in Ghana have transitioned over time and its consequences on willingness to pay for SWM services in the Kaneshie, Madina and Kantamanto open-air markets in Accra. Based on the study findings and the vital role that open-air markets (OAMs) play in African cities, a system of standardising SWM fees is recommended for SWM service providers in both formal and informal sectors.

Satisfaction with public-private partnership in solid waste management in Ghana

Satisfaction with public-private partnership in solid waste management in Ghana

Strategies for Promoting Integrated Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Ghana.

Strategies for Promoting Integrated Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Ghana.

Assessing social responsibility initiatives for public-private partnership success based on multi-criteria decision making: evidence from municipal solid waste management in Ghana

Through public-private partnership (PPP), social responsibility (SR) is crucial for developing sustainable public infrastructure for municipal solid waste management (MSWM). This study develops an SR framework for PPP success in MSWM. The study designs a picture fuzzy projection-based grey relational analysis method to rank the SR initiatives for PPP MSWM success. The study identifies nineteen SR initiatives from the literature and groups them into three dimensions: Environmental-based SR, Community-based SR, and Employee-based SR. Biodiversity and water protection, with a relative score of 0.8863, is the most important under the Environmental-based SR. Sanitation equipment provision has a relative score of 0.9095, and it is ranked first under the Community-based SR. Concerning the Employee-based SR, workers’ health and safety is the most important initiative, with a relative score of 0.8931. The findings inform scholars, companies, investors, and policymakers of the initiatives that need attention to promote sustainable development in solid waste management.

The Perceived Role of Communities and Government Officials in Solid Waste Management in Ghana, West Africa

This study examined the role of community members and government officials in sustainable solid waste management and identified options to improve waste management in Ghana. Mixed-methods approach was used in research design, data collection, and analysis. Data was collected from 81 community members drawn from three areas (Kanda, Asylum Down, and Nima) in the Accra Metropolitan Area, and four government officials. Data sets were analyzed using manual transcription, coding and Microsoft excel. The study revealed that communities are actively involved in managing waste. However, education and enforcement measures have not been effective due to political interference and a lack of resources. Furthermore, the study found that greater support from local government and stakeholders is needed in managing waste. The study recommends educating community members and integrating waste pickers into Ghana’s waste management stream to reduce the costs involved in SSWM and gain social and environmental benefits..

Solid Waste Management Practices in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects

World Bank report revealed that waste generation has been on the ascendancy, the worlds’ cities generated 2.01 billion tons of solid waste in the year 2016. This figure is expected to reach 3.40 billion tons per year by 2050 due to increasing urbanization – a growth of 70%. Proper management of these has become a challenge for most developing countries in recent years. The path of urbanization, population growth and affluence is associated with the challenge of proper waste management in urban areas of developing countries since the higher the income level and rate of urbanization, the greater the solid waste generated.
 Unfortunately, sub-Saharan African countries like Ghana only focuses on waste collection instead of waste management. Waste management comprises all activities and actions needed to manage waste from inception to the final disposal. These activities and actions include collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste as well as monitoring and regulation. Also, Sanitary landfilling is among the best methods of decreasing the volume of waste products; however, the lack of suitable land for landfill sites is a key issue. Therefore, the lifespan of a landfill site can be prolonged when waste reduction at the source is well considered as an aspect of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management.
 Solid waste management in Ghana has been faced with several challenges which includes; poor attitude of the general populace towards waste disposal sanitation, unplanned human settlement especially in the urban centers, poor planning of waste management programmes, low or no public education on the good sanitation, inadequate waste infrastructure, lack of political will in enforcing sanitation bye laws, inadequate operational funds and equipment to support waste management activities among others. Also, there is lack of reliable national data on waste generation and composition to inform effective planning on waste management in Ghana
 Developing countries such as Ghana has to adopt measures that will be sustainable, efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly to help in proper waste management and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 3, 6, and 11 by 2030.

The contribution of small accommodation enterprises to sustainable solid waste management

Research on small accommodation enterprises’ contribution to sustainable solid waste management remains scarce. The study addresses this gap by examining the contribution of small accommodation enterprises to sustainable solid waste management in Ghana. Employing a constructivist approach to explore the issue of solid waste management in a developing country context, the current study involved interviews with 26 small accommodation owner-managers on their solid waste management practices illuminating their contribution to the growing need for sustainable solid waste management practices. Purposive sampling was employed to ensure that only small accommodation owner-managers in the region participated in the study. Based on the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory and sustainable solid waste management model, the findings revealed the existence of highly dominant social paradigm beliefs that emanate from the prevalence of altruistic and egoistic values. Consequently, awareness of the consequence of solid waste management practices to the environment is limited as many were not conscious of the connection between solid waste management and the environment. In this way, some actions were good practices that could be described as sustainable contributions while others were not. Some of the sustainable contributions included economically affordable and socially-acceptable practices such as waste minimization, reuse, sorting, feeding animals and controlled disposal of waste. However, other practices were environmentally ineffective due to a lack of biospheric values and a lack of awareness of the consequences of those actions on the environment. These results imply that many small enterprise owner-managers are more concerned about the economic affordability and socio-cultural acceptability of solid waste management at the expense of environmental effectiveness. Therefore, practices may be undertaken without a critical evaluation of their impact on the environment. The implications of these findings have been discussed.

Working with the Informal Service Chain as a Locally Appropriate Strategy for Sustainable Modernization of Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems in Lower-Middle Income Cities: Lessons from Accra, Ghana

Twenty years of formal private sector participation in solid waste management in Ghana has failed to deliver an increase in collection coverage and recycling rates. This article shares lessons and experiences from Accra, Ghana, a middle-income city where researchers and municipal solid waste managers have collaborated to modernize the municipal solid waste management system by working together to develop a locally appropriate response to the informal waste service sector. Stakeholders have used inclusive decision-making and participatory research methods to bring formal service providers to work in partnership with their informal counterparts to improve collection and recycling. The Wasteaware benchmark indicator framework has been used to assess and compare the improvements in the physical and governance aspects of the municipal solid waste management system, supplemented by statistical analysis of responses to a survey on the socio-economic contribution of the informal service providers in the city. Within two years of their inclusion, the number of informal service providers has increased by 71 percent, from 350 to 600, creating new livelihoods and contributing to poverty reduction. The informal service providers have been able to increase collection coverage from 75% to 90%, waste capture from 53% to 90%, and recycling rates from 5% to 18%, saving the municipality US$5,460,000.00 in annual operational costs. The results have influenced the decision-makers to move towards structural integration of the informal service providers into the formal waste service system. The shift towards practical, locally responsive interventions in Accra provides a positive example of sustainable waste management modernization, and key lessons for cities in similar economies.

Locating the role of urbanites in solid waste management in Ghana

Conventional wisdom views municipal solid waste management (MSWM) as the responsibility of government or city authorities in Ghana and many African countries with urbanites (i.e. urban residents) always calling on government to deliver them from the problem. Overwhelmed with the scale of the problem, city authorities frequently seek public-private partnerships with firms (both local and international) to address the problem. While city authorities’ efforts maybe praiseworthy, the problem seems intractable. Using a case study from Berekum municipality in Ghana, this paper demonstrates how a lack of attention to the role of urbanites in MSWM has contributed to poor state of solid waste management (SWM). It presents a situational analysis of MSWM, and perceptions and roles of urbanites in the MSWM. Using agency interviews and household surveys, findings indicate that the state of MSWM reflects the indescribable condition of filth across many African countries. Although household respondents expressed willingness to actively participate in MSWM (e.g., provision of logistics, supervision of SWM activities etc.), they are not involved by the government agencies who consider MSWM as government’s responsibility. Unfortunately, the political economy of awarding SWM contracts to political party supporters and financiers have contributed to poor SWM. As a consequence, some households are gradually becoming apathetic to MSWM issues due to their non-involvement. Policy recommendations to improve MSWM are proffered.

Decades of public-private partnership in solid waste management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine empirical studies on public-private partnerships (PPPs) and solid waste management (SWM) in Ghana and India to synthesize the “crucial lessons” for urban managers and policy makers in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of empirical studies was carried out, the search process comprised four categories of keywords combined differently across three main search engines in order to obtain a pool of more relevant literature on the study. Sorting for relevance was done at various levels; retrospective content analysis of relevant empirical studies on PPP and SWM in Ghana and India was subsequently carried out to draw lessons and policy suggestions.FindingsPPPs have mainly been impressive in coverage of waste collection in the Ghanaian context, whilst in India, emphasis has been on injection of technology and effectiveness into SWM. It is also observed that in both cases the PPP processes have lacked adequate openness, transparency and sufficient stakeholder engagement. In the Ghana cases, mostly, urban authorities hardly pay attention to details in the partnership deed and also ignore monitoring of private partners. Poorly performed PPPs do occur when one of the partners relent on his role which could have a cascading effect on other actors.Practical implicationsWhilst PPP is a strong candidate to address the SWM challenges of urban centers in developing countries, this does not necessarily come about by joining the bandwagon. Merely entering into a partnership deed with private waste management companies without paying due attention to details of the contract will usher urban managers into a state of schizophrenia. The paper presents five key lessons to inform policy and practice.Originality/valueThe paper draws lessons from multiple cases of PPPs in Ghana and India by synchronizing lessons adaptable to city authorities and policy makers in developing countries.

Challenges and Prospects of Solid Waste Management in Ghana

Urbanization is on the rise in Africa and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Of concern is that the infrastructure and land use planning including for waste management is not coping with the growth of urban areas (around 3.5% annually, highest in the world). This is particularly urgent in the slum areas which constitute a big part of many of the cities and towns in Africa. Environmental sanitation and waste management is aimed at developing and maintaining a clean, safe, and pleasant physical and natural environment in all human settlements, to promote the socio-cultural, economic and physical well-being of all sections of the population. Waste management comprises a number of complimentary activities, the provision and maintenance of sanitary facilities, the provision of services, public education, regulation and legislation supported by clearly mandated institutions, adequate funding, research and development. This paper seeks to focus the challenges and prospects of solid waste management and the legal or policy arrangements available to ensure environmental sustainability.

Comparative Analysis of Households Solid Waste Management in Rural and Urban Ghana

The comparative analysis of solid waste management between rural and urban Ghana is largely lacking. This study investigated the solid waste situation and the organisation of solid waste management in both urban and rural settings from the perspective of households. The study employed cross-sectional survey covering both rural and urban districts in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. The study systematically sampled houses from which 400 households and respondents were randomly selected. Pearson's Chi square test was used to compare demographic and socioeconomic variables in rural and urban areas. Multivariate Test, Tests of Between-Subjects Effects, and Pair-Wise Comparisons were performed through one-way MANOVA to determine whether or not solid waste situations in rural and urban areas are significantly different. The results revealed that location significantly affects solid waste management in Ghana. Urban communities had lower mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in homes. However, urban communities had higher mean scores than rural communities for poor solid waste situation in principal streets and dumping sites. The study recommends that the local government authorities implement very comprehensive policies (sanitary inspection, infrastructure development, and community participation) that will take into consideration the specific solid waste management needs of both urban and rural areas.

E-waste: an emerging challenge to solid waste management in Ghana

The recent expanded usage of electronic materials like computers, television sets and refrigerators in Ghana has not generated an effective infrastructure of waste disposal. Since wastes associated with many electronic products exhibit hazardous characteristics, the absence of e-waste management law and appropriate infrastructure to handle its end-of-life by-products have compounded the challenges posed by their disposal. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, this paper examines the current e-waste management practices in Ghana. It highlights some of the associated environmental and health hazards, and challenges the argument that the exportation of e-products to developing countries will primarily help 'bridge the digital divide'. Finally, it calls on the authorities to enact and enforce appropriate regulations and policies to help bring better environmental control into the booming ICT sector.