'The Bins' - Episode 1; New SitiTalkTV Video Series: Part of Our "Welcome to Nigeria S

Disposal of waste continues to be a challenge in Nigeria. Here's a SitiTalkTV video on overflowing garbage in Enugu, Nigeria.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

June 4, 2016: Challenges of Waste Management in Africa. Previously published on SitiTalkBlog:

You see miles of waste somewhere along the highway when driving from Lagos to Enugu, Nigeria

Let’s face it, waste management is a challenge in the developing world. In all countries in Africa, from the North of the continent to the South, East and West, implementing proper waste disposal systems and management seem to be a daunting task.

A United Nations (2013) World Urbanization Prospects publication (2011) projected that between 2010 and 2035, the urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to more than double from approximately 298 million to 697 million. It estimated that over 1 billion people will live in urban areas. This means that with expanding urbanization and population explosion, waste will grow further increasing existing challenges with waste management.

A United Nations Habitat for a better urban future summary publication of the ACP-EC Joint Parliamentary Assembly 12-14 February 2014, which took place in Mauritius stated that the amount of waste generated will increase with increasing population in cities. It also stated that, "Changing human consumption patterns and the changing structure of economic activity generate various types of waste that must be appropriately managed to ensure sustainable development and a decent standard of living for all urban residents. In low-income countries, in particular, rapid urban growth is putting extraordinary pressure on limited urban resources for the provision of these essential basic services, further straining capacity in urban management. Furthermore, inappropriate policies have contributed to the growth of life- and health-threatening slums, where urban waste management services are often woefully inadequate. Indeed, there is perhaps no area where the capacity to manage urban change is more urgent and more challenging than in informal settlements and slums. Poverty, social and economic exclusion, and the lack of affordable housing constrain the habitat choices of hundreds of millions of people in Africa. Policy makers have not responded appropriately, often denying service provision to these settlements. As a result, 62% of urban populations in Sub-Saharan Africa live in slum areas dominated by uncontrolled informal spatial developments, most often located in environmentally fragile areas, and without access to basic services such as water, sanitation, energy and transport and waste management systems.”

So, the question is since African countries produce so much waste already and will produce more with rapidly increasing populations, why are their governments not focused on acquiring available cost effective technologies to turn waste into usable products especially fertilizer to support agriculture and create jobs at the same time?

Here are some examples of currently existing technologies:

1. A Singaporean company (Biomax Technologies PTE Ltd.) uses cutting edge technology to convert organic wastes into organic fertilizer in 24 hours.

2. Israeli company, Home Biogas cutting edge technologies for converting kitchen waste and animal manure to cooking gas and liquid fertilizer.

3. Biocomp Nepal which uses more basic technology where waste management plant collects waste from vegetable markets producing compost through aerobic degradation and at the same time reducing methane emissions, basically turning “green waste into black gold.” The Biocomp plant has created 30 permanent jobs for local people. The United Nations Framwork Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) collaboration for the pilot asserts that “Since the project started 2.8 million kilograms of organic waste have been collected and prevented from being dumped in the landfill. This organic waste was used to produce 190 tons of compost of which 100 tons have been sold to local farmers.”

4. Economics of Poultry Waste Use as a Fertilizer in Sindh Pakistan.