According to Gardner (2004), 1.3billion tons of Municipal solid Waste is being generated around the globe each year, a volume that is expected to increase due to mass consumption, rapid urbanization, and throw away lifestyles that have become more widespread worldwide. The volume of Municipal solid waste is expected to double by the year 2025 due to prosperity and urbanization especially in the developing countries. With this trend, cities around the world are expected to experience serious environmental and health challenges. To most countries waste is not regarded as a resource and hence stands as an indicator of economic instability.
In Kenya, the rapid rate of uncontrolled and unplanned urbanization, coupled with economic and social challenges has led to an increase waste generation per capita and the subsequent environmental degradation (UNEP, 2005). Poor management of municipal solid waste is a major problem in most Kenyan cities and it’s probably worst in Nairobi. Nairobi is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, but due to this rapid urbanization, mass consumption of products and throw away lifestyles, garbage has been an issue of great concern. Physically and financially, the county government has been unable to provide both waste collection and waste management. Due to budgetary deficiencies, the Nairobi city council has found it difficult to address solid waste management in a sustainable way. Insufficient public awareness on proper waste management strategies including reducing, re-using and recycling together with the poor enforcement of relevant legislations has also become a hindrance to sustainable waste management. The lack of equipment such as vehicles to handle the increasing volumes of waste, understaffing and the lack of skilled workforce in waste management is also a major challenge to sustainable waste management.
As a professional, the first action to be taken is educating the members of the community on proper waste management techniques. There is the growing need to increase people’s level of awareness on waste management and this may involve educating them on reducing their consumption, recycling and re-using of waste, segregation of waste and buying of high quality durable goods among others. There is also the need of partnerships between the communities and the local government in carrying out clean ups and finding solutions to the waste problem in an area. The local government staff also needs to be trained on proper waste management and disposal of waste. Budget allocations to waste management should also be increased to enable the City councils to deliver quality services to the urban population. There is also the need of enforcement of legislation with regards to waste disposal like for example the ‘polluter pays principle’ among others. Urbanization should also be planned and regulated by the city’s leadership to curb the issue of congestion and lack of proper waste disposal methods.
Solid waste can be turned into a valuable resource through the 3R’s (Reduce, Re-use, Recycle) of sustainable waste management (EPA, 2010). The 3R’s are sometimes referred to as the waste hierarchy. Reduce is the reduction of the amount of waste generated. It has been argued that the best way to manage waste is not to produce it, and hence reduction of waste can be done by the buying of goods in bulk, avoiding over-packaged goods, limiting purchases and buying of durable goods among others. Re-use means using something again rather than throwing it out. It involves the finding of new uses of a waste product. Through re-using the elements of a discarded item are usually used again. An example would be the re-use of a plastic paper bag rather than discarding it. Recyclemeans the processing of old used items in order that the material can be used to make new products. It involves a series of steps taken to process and remanufacture a used product and selling it as a new product. Many plastic containers for example can be recycled and usually come with a recycling symbol. The main aim of waste hierarchy is to extract maximum benefits from products and generate minimum amount of waste.
References
Gardner, G. (2012). Municipal Solid Waste Growing. Worldwatch Institute.
United Nations Environment Programme. (2005). Selection, design and implementation of economic instruments in the solid waste management sector in Kenya: The case of plastic bags. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme.
United States. (2010). Reduce. Reuse. Recycle: Practice the 3 Rs inside and out. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
