Problem of Solid Waste Management in Other Countries and Solutions

Problems of Solid Waste Management in Nima, Accra

                    Despite the present concerns of individuals and the government about waste management in Ghana, Nima, one of the many suburbs of Accra, is still faced with serious solid waste management problems. From observation, domestic and municipal solid wastes are commonly found in Nima. Domestic waste comes from activities such as cooking and from human excreta.

                      Municipal wastes are the trash from commercial establishments, small industries, and households. These include tins, plastic products, and polythene bags. These form the greater part of the waste observed on the streets, in gutters, and the back of houses in Nima.

                       Containers for storing solid wastes in homes include old buckets, baskets, plastic containers, boxes, sacks, and even polythene bags, which in most cases have no lids. Hence, the wastes are even spread around before they get to the sanitary sites. Solid waste, when treated well, can be turned into a resource, but the greater part of wastes generated in Nima seem not to undergo any treatment before their final disposal. They are left in piles for weeks to create unsanitary scenes that smell bad and, worst of all, create diseases. 

                           Solid wastes generated in Nima are most often disposed of in open dumps, gutters, and at the back of houses probably due to the inadequate solid waste management equipment or the long distances to the sanitary sites. People also leave their wastes in piles for days before they finally get to the sanitary sites for disposal.

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made.

1. The public should be educated by the AMA on solid waste and its related issues. Basically, hygiene practices should be taught especially on radios, televisions, in news papers, and in schools to educate people on proper ways of handling solid waste and keeping the surrounding clean.
2. Stricter enforcement of byelaws should be ensured by the AMA where administrative penalties for minor violations should be taken with urgency.
3. The byelaws on sanitation should be made to require every landlord to provide an environmentally friendly toilet facility in his house.
4. The AMA should make it a responsibility of introducing the use of standard bins with lid for domestic and commercial use to the people of Nima.
5. People should develop proper attitudes and perception towards waste handling, which should be achieved through both formal and informal education.
6. The government, donor countries, Nongovernmental Organisations (NGO) and other stakeholders should be encouraged to donate money and equipment to the WMD to enable the department acquire effective and efficient personnel and equipment.
7. Worker dealing with solid waste in Nima should be residents of the area. With this, they would be more responsible for their job and be comfortable with the people.
8. The community should adopt a self-help approach to solve the problem. Much can be achieved when the various communities mobilise themselves and organise periodic clean up exercises and by contributing financially to support the exercise, the residents can also act as watch dogs and make sure that they themselves adhere to proper waste disposal practices.
9. The chiefs and other opinion leaders must be given additional roles to play in ensuring environmental cleanliness. This can be done by authorising the chiefs in each area or community to take up the additional job of ensuring clean environmental practices with the youth playing an important role.
10. The women should be made to play an important role as it has been realised that women do a greater part of solid waste handling and disposal in the community.

Waste Management In Russia

Moscow and St. Petersburg generate hugest volumes of waste, but problems exist all over Russia. Experts believe that poor environmental situation contribute to a very short life expectancy at birth in Russian Federation. There are very few facilities for specific or hazardous waste utilization and technologies for its collection and management are practically absent. 

By 2025, Moscow will grow 2.5 times in size, 25-30% of Russia’s GDP will be produced in the capital. St. Petersburg and some other Russian big cities demonstrate similar, though not so intensive, tendencies in population growth.

    Waste management was an acute problem already in Soviet times, but since the beginning of 2000ies it has become one of the most critical economic and environmental problems in Russia. Urgency and escalating problems related to waste management and the environment are spurring market development. For many years the Russian government priorities have focused on oil and gas, defence and heavy industries, where waste management was considered an issue for future generations. Therefore, these problems were neglected.

    However, the problem has recently increased awareness in driving federal, regional and local governments to develop a more efficient and environmentally safe waste management market. Also, they are initiating more and more public-private partnership projects in the sector, trying to attract foreign companies to the Russian waste management market. 

    It is expected that government support will largely drive the market towards more efficient operation in terms of waste processing and environmental safety.

   There is a demand for waste management and waste processing technologies from Russian megapolices’ governments, which will undoubtedly grow within next 5 years. The market looks promising for almost any contemporary technology of waste collecting, processing and utilization. However an insight on what technologies are most promising and potential hot spots for their application will be of certain value for Finnish business operating in this sector.