projected estimates in Table 2.2 indicate the world trends in population growth.9• This is to signify the importance of the need for minimizing the use of raw materials to produce new products.
Table 2.2 World Population Growth Trends
Year Population
1930 2.0 billion
1990 5.3 billion
2000 6.3 billion
Source: wmbard, 1993
There is an imbalance between the rate of population growth of human beings and the rate of social and economic development of many developing countries, which leads to a depletion of natural resources. More people are being born, yet the land does not expand. This human population growth rate in developing countries has resulted in more unemployed, hungry, homeless and uneducated people, and inevitably a higher rate of environmental degradation.
Morally, it is inhumane and unacceptable to let young and old people die or suffer when their lives can be prolonged and made enjoyable. Measures such as family planning and provision of health services and employment can alleviate problems of this nature to some extent. Indeed, there are more than 6.0 billion people in the world today, increasing by 100 million annually or about 270,000 per day. 10
9 "The Challenges of Holistic Waste Management in South Africa, Green Management for the 90's", Lombard R,
September 1993.
\0 As population continue to increase, society produces more and more waste. Yet, it is becoming increasingly difficultto build new landfills. Finding solutions is not simple; the problem is enormous in size (Tammemagi and Hans (1999). The Waste Crisis: Landfills, Incinerators, and the Search for Sustainable Future. Oxford Press).
The point of rapid growth of world's population is confirmed by the United Nations Secretary General (Kofi Annan) December 1999 millennium speech to the World, in which he said: "To my fellow 6 billion human beings in the world. This year's United Nations Day is a special one. The World's population has just passed 6 billion, and we are to enter a new millennium" 11.
Despite the imbalance stated in the previous paragraph, the world economic activity has also grown by 3% per year since 1950. Ifthis trend continues, the total world output will be five times larger in 2050 than today (O'Riordan, 1997). The two factors of population growth and economic progress imply that the overall generation of waste is also on the increase, in a finite world. It was estimated by Beede and Bloom, (1995) that the global burden of municipal solid waste generated amounted to 1.3 billion metric tonnes in 1990, or 0.67 kilogram of waste per person. In Lesotho, the per capita waste is expected to be less, as will be shown in Chapter 4. Of the (1.3 billion metric tonnes), industrialized countries account for a disproportionately high share of the world's waste relative to their share of world population, while developing countries account for a disproportionately high share of world's waste relative to their share of world income.
Using the material flows methodology; it has been estimated that 195.7 million 12 tonnes of solid waste were generated in United States alone in 1990. Of this total, an estimated 33.4 million tonnes, representing 17.1 % of waste were recovered through recycling and composting, leaving 162.3 million tonnes for disposal (Franklin Associates, Ltd. 1992). Similarly, a 1999 study of composition of solid waste in California State showed that 35.6 million tonnes ofmunicipal solid waste were generated. Ofthis total, 13.5 million tonnes were residential solid waste (California State Waste composition study, 1999). Concerning Europe, studies showed that Denmark generated 12.9 million tonnes of municipal solid waste in 1997, with 1.7 million ofthis coming from domestic waste; which indicated an increase from the previous year 1996 (Waste 21, 1999).
11 UNDP Lesotho, (December 1999). Publication of the United Nations System.
12 The Annual United States of America generation of 196 million tonnes of municipal solid waste would fill a convoy of 10-tonne garbage trucks, 225,000 kilometers long, thus over half way the length from here on earth to the moon.
(The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action, EP A, 1989).
Elsewhere in the world, solid waste generation is also on the increase. In Japan, about 3.2 million tonnes of municipal solid waste were generated in 1997. An increase to 4.4 million tonnes was projected the following year ifno corrective measures were put in place (Japanese Government, 1997).
Beede and Bloom further projected that in developing countries, municipal solid waste will increase at an annual rate of2.7% through the year 2010 (Beede & Bloom 1995). In addition, studies have shown that household solid waste disposal is a problem for many countries around the world (Stone, 1987). The basic difficulty is the volume of domestic waste, and the high costs of disposal. The high disposal cost factor is related to the need to protect the environment, particularly water supplies. Large cities appear to have the most dramatic problems, but the basic problem applies irrespective of town size, country or climate. The United States EP A, (1990) comments as follow on the waste disposal dilemma:
"We are all responsible/or the municipal solid waste dilemma". This implies that:
• All levels of government have underestimated the importance of safe and effective waste management.
• Industry has designed, manufactured and packaged products with little regard of how these packages would be disposed of.
• Individuals who consume and waste generators do not pay regard to disposal.
• Disposal facility operators and owners consider environmental issues and human health to be a secondary concern, thus not paying much attention to leachates, dust and disease transmission.
For many countries, disposal of household garbage in crude dumping/landfills 13 is the most common solution. For example, data in percentages for a few countries indicates the amount of solid waste, which is landfilled. USA 85% (NSWMA, 1990), Great Britain 90% (DOE, 1986)
13 In many developed countries, "Everybody wants the Authorities to pick it up, and nobody wants the Authorities to put it down". Many want their trash to disappear quickly and quietly from their backyards and curbs, yet the last thing they want is a landfill, combustor or recycling centre, all which are associated in the public mind with noxious odours possib Iy dangerous pollution, and noisy traffic, hence suffer the consequence of pub lic resistance known as the" Not [~
My Back Yard" (NIMBY) syndrome. (California Integrated Waste Management Board Final Report, December \999).
and South Africa 95% (CSIR, 1991). In the USA, the situation is changing rapidly with increasing recycling and the establishment of more renewable energy facilities (EP A, 1990). Details appear in Chapter 4.
The rapidly growing quantities of garbage (waste) from cities pose a threat to human health and the environment. It is documented that in many developing countries as many as 5.2 million people, 4 million children inclusive, die annually from diseases caused by the improper disposal of sewage sludge and solid wastes (Keating, 1994). In these developing countries, less than 10% of urban wastes are treated, mostly through land filling and to a small extent incineration. Only a small proportion of this treatment meets acceptable standards. It has also been projected that by the end of the 20th century, about half the urban population in developing countries would not have adequate waste disposal facilities (Keating, 1994).
Raven et al. (1995) point out that there are four ways of getting rid of municipal solid waste or trash namely, dump it, bury it, bum it or compost it. As indicated previously, solid waste can contaminate water, soil and air ifnot managed properly. In many developing countries, a third to a half of urban solid wastes go uncollected, with serious health consequences (UNDP, 1997).
Therefore, urban waste in developing countries pollutes the air, land and ground water through leachate over a wide area. Besides polluting, poor disposal practices can also lead to build up of gases, which can cause explosions (Cotton et al. 1997).
Problems of solid waste management exist in the developing countries in the Southern hemisphere. Several examples can be cited in this case. For example, Snel (1997) states that many cities in the southern hemisphere are characterized by overcrowding and lack of solid waste collection, which contribute to the unhealthy urban environment. The improper landfilling systems give rise to sympontaneous fires and offensive smells. Thus, communities living near dumping sites suffer the nuisance of smoke and smell and Landill sites and uncollected waste attract rodents and flies, providing a transmission route for diseases. Diaz (1999) re-iterated these findings. In his paper, he describes management of municipal solid waste as a serious problem in large metros of developing countries due to an ever-increasing influx of immigrants, especially rural-urban. The population increase taxes the ability of municipalities to provide proper basic services (Diaz,
due to the rapid rate of urbanization. This poses difficulties in disposal of waste.
Further examples concerning the problem of solid waste disposal in developing countries can be cited. Coffey (1999) also observed that uncollected solid wastes are rotting in heaps and blocking drains, provide breeding grounds for rodents and insects, thus a transmission route for many diseases endemic in developing countries. Coffey (1999) further states that insufficient solid waste management could be more a serious health hazard than the sanitation wastes from on-site sanitation systems. He proposes a solution that a choice of collection system is the key solution to managing refuse in cities. Coffey challenges that up to now, developing countries have produced very few success stories in this area. Zurbrugg and Ahmed sum up this problem of solid waste management in developing countries. In their paper, they state that in developing countries' rapidly expanding cities, collection of waste is beyond the capacity and financial means of municipal administration, and proposes that the solution to this problem lies in community based management schemes. These are schemes that involve local communities in the proper waste storage, collection, sorting and recycling activities (Zurbrugg & Ahmed, 1999).
According to Gibbs & Miller, (1996), we have been asking the wrong questions about wastes.
More often than not, we have asked: "Where do we put all this waste", rather than ask: "Why do we produce so much waste?" "Why do we need products that result in so many toxic by- products?"; "Why can industries not reduce waste?"; etc. These questions would lead to pollution prevention and waste reduction, instead of the current practice of pollution control and end-of- pipe approach.
Bringing this subject closer to the core solid waste management problems is to discuss it in the context of African situation and the SADC Region, of which Lesotho is part.
2.3 THE AFRICAN REGIONAL CONTEXT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT