Infrastructure Planning & Management of Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste Management

Unit 6: Solid Waste Management Generation and Typology Quantity, Collection and Storage, Transportation, Treatment and Disposal, Recycling and reuse Wealth from waste Norms and standards Institutional arrangements Planning provisions and Management issues

Ethiopian Context

The rationale behind the formulation of the proclamation No. 513/2007 : To promote community participation in order to prevent the adverse effect and to enhance the benefits resulting from solid waste; The solid waste management action plans designed by and implemented at, the lowest administration unit of urban administration can ensure community participation. SWM means the collection, transportation, storage, recycling or disposal of the solid waste or the subsequent use of a disposal site that is no longer operational. The objective of the proclamation is to enhance at all levels capacities to prevent the possible adverse impacts while creating economically and socially beneficial assets out of solid waste.

The responsibilities of Urban administration: a) The formulation and implementation of action plans on solid waste management b) ensuring the installation of market waste bins by streets and in other public places. c) ensuring the collection of solid wastes from waste bins with sufficient frequency to prevent overflow. d) planning and carrying out public awareness raising activities. e) ensuring that measures are taken to prevent pollution arising from the mishandling of solid wastes.

Urban administration shall create enabling conditions to promote investment on the provision of solid waste management services It is prohibited to grant permit for the manufacture or import of any non-biodegradable plastic bags with a wall thickness of 0.03 mm and less than 0.03 mm Food industries and restaurants shall collect and dispose of the solid waste they generate in an environmentally sound manner. Construction permits shall be issued only when the building contractor deposits a legally valid bond or any other instrument to ensure the environmentally sound disposal of construction debris or excavated earth. The owner of any solid waste disposal site shall regardless of fault be liable for any damage cause to the environment, human health or property in the course of its operation and after its closure.

The head of each household shall ensure that recyclable solid wastes are segregated from those that are destined for final disposal and are taken to the collection site designated for such wastes. It is prohibited to dispose of litter on streets waterways, parks, bus stops, sport fields, train stations, water bodies on urban areas or in other public places while litter bins are available. The import of used tires into Ethiopian territory for the purpose of disposal is prohibited.

Environmental policy of Ethiopia

To ensure that improved environmental sanitation be placed highest on the federal and regional agendas for achieving sustainable urban development; To promote the construction by individual families of their own houses and create conducive conditions for communities and individual families to make improvements to their immediate habitats as well as to provide human and domestic waste disposal facilities;

To recognize the importance of and help bring about behavioral change through education and public awareness of environmental sanitation problems in trying to achieve demand-driven community led programmes of improved urban environments as well as the sustainable use and maintenance of sanitation facilities; To bring about a sound partnership between the government and communities in the development of an integrated sanitation delivery system, and to foster the supplementary role of NGOs;

To give priority to waste collection services and to its safe disposal; To create conducive conditions for families, housing groups and communities to construct latrines and for private entrepreneurs to undertake latrine emptying as well as waste collection and disposal services; To undertake studies which identify suitable sanitary landfill sites in the major cities and towns of Ethiopia; To the extent possible to recycle liquid and solid wastes from homesteads and establishments for the production of energy, fertilizer and for other uses.

Type of waste disposal

Addis Ababa

Ethiopia

Generation and Typology

Household Solid Wastes These are wastes that are mostly generated at home. Typically, this includes food wastes, packaging (bottles and cans), newspaper and other papers, and miscellaneous items that have been used up or broken and are thrown out as waste (e.g., ashes, fruit garbage, old shoes, worn out clothes, broken cooking pot, used paper, baskets, bagsetc ). Agricultural Wastes - include garden wastes, field wastes, leaves, branches, and weeds. In many cases, they also include dirt and manures in the more rural areas where households keep animals or raise vegetable or flower gardens adjacent to the house. Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) - also known as Medical or Clinical Waste and normally refers to waste products produced from healthcare premises such as hospitals, dispensaries etc. It is also known as Health Care Waste; (UNEP, 2009).

Construction Waste - waste produced in the course of construction of houses, office building, dams, industrial plants, schools and other structures. The materials usually include used lumber, miscellaneous metal parts, packaging materials, cans, boxes, wire, excess sheet metal and other materials. Construction and demolition wastes are usually grouped together. Commercial Solid waste waste that originates in wholesale, retail or services, establishment such as offices, building, storey, market, hotels and warehouses.

Generation and Typology

Demolition Wastes- wastes produced from the demolition of building, roads, sidewalks, and other structures. These wastes usually include large broken pieces of concrete, pipe, radiators, duct works, electrical wire, broken-up plaster walls, lighting fixtures, bricks and glasses. Electronic Waste (E-Waste) - a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliance. It is a point of concern, considering that many components of such equipment are considered toxic, and are not biodegradable (UNEP, 2009). Hazardous waste -is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. These wastes may be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquids, or solids. Furthermore, a hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it cannot be disposed of by common means like other byproducts of our everyday lives.

Industrial Wastes wastes generally discarded from industrial operation or derived from manufacturing process Institutional Wastes - solid wastes generated by schools, hospitals, government administrative buildings and the like. Integrated Solid waste Management the management of solid waste based on a consideration of source reduction, recycling, waste transformation and disposal arranged in a hierarchical order. The purposeful systematic control of the functional elements of generation; waste handling, separation and processing at the source; collection; separation and processing and transformation of solid waste; transfer and transport; and disposal associated with the management of solid wastes from the point of generation to final disposal.

Integrated Solid Waste Management

For the realization of integrated solid waste management, the following basic principles need to be considered: Solid waste management process must be participatory. Such participation would directly result in reduction of solid waste generation, cleaner streets, appropriate preparation and storage of waste for collection and cheaper operation; Solid waste should be considered as a wealth; The need for integrated development of solid waste at Municipal levels, private entrepreneurs, non-government organizations, community based organization and government bodies;

Development of programs in solid waste management must be based on local resources; All public, private and community stakeholders should play a key role in solid waste management activities; Solid waste should be reduced at its source; The overall management and administration should monitor and evaluate the solid waste activities from its generation up to the solid waste final disposal; The solid waste management should consider long term vision; and Integrated solid waste management should be flexible to accommodate unforeseen problems.

Need for Integrated Solid waste Management (ISWM)

The Environmental Protection Agency ISWM list of the most desirable strategies:

Reducing the waste at the source minimizes the impact of natural resources and energy reserves. Reuse has a minimal impact on natural resources and energy

Reducing the quantity of waste generated Reusing the materials Recycling and recovering materials Combusting for energy recovery Land filling

Recycling is the collection and processing of the separated waste, ending up a new consumer product
Recovery is the separation of mixed waste also with the end result of producing new raw materials for industry.

The idea is to take the solid waste stream and to transform into a non polluting product by combustion
Finally if all the above techniques have been implemented and there is still waste left over, the final solution is land filling. Hence, the solid waste professionals recognize the issues related to managing solid waste using a holistic approach or ISWM

The definition of refuse: Solid waste generated by households, including mixed non-sorted waste Recyclables Household hazardous waste Yard or green waste originating with individual waste Litter and community trash Commercial waste often contains many of the same items as household waste

Refuse does not include: Construction and demolition debris Waste and waste water treatment plant sludge's Leaves and green waste collected from community streets Bulky items such as large appliances, hulks of old cars, tree limbs and other large objects that require special handling In summary (MSW) = (refuse) + (C & D waste) + (sludge) + (leaves) + (bulky items)

Interesting facts

Municipal solid waste characteristics:

Composition by identifiable items (steel cans, paper etc) Moisture content Particle size Chemical composition Heat value Density Mechanical Properties Biodegradability

Composition by identifiable items (steel cans, paper etc) Moisture content A transfer of moisture takes place in the garbage can and truck and thus the moisture content of various components changes with time. Newsprint has about 7% moisture by weight as it is deposited into the receptacle. But the average moisture content of newsprint coming from a refuse truck often exceeds 20%. The expression for calculating moisture content is : M = (w-d/w) X 100 Where M: Moisture content, wet basis % w: Initial (wet) weight of sample d: final (dry) weight of sample

Particle size

The average particle size is defined as that where diameter where 50% of the particles (by weight) are smaller than and 50% are larger than this diameter. In water engineering, the particle size of filter sand is expressed using the uniformity coefficient defined as

UC = D60 / D10
Where UC : uniformity coefficent

D60 : particle sieve size where 60%

of the particles are smaller than that size

D10 : particle sieve size where 10%

of the particles are smaller than that size

Chemical composition Two common means of defining the chemical composition of refuse are the proximate analysis and the ultimate analysis. The proximate analysis is an attempt to define the fraction of volatile organics and fixed carbon in the fuel, while the ultimate analysis is based on chemical composition.

Heat

value

The heat values of refuse and the heterogeneous materials are measured with a calorimeter a device in which a sample is combusted and the temperature raised is recorded.

Density MSW has a highly variable bulk density depending on the pressure exerted. In a garbage can by the home owner the bulk density of MSW might be between 150 and 250 lb/yd3 (90 and 150 kg/m3) pushed into the can it might be 300 lb/yd3 (180 kg/m3) In a collection truck that compact the refuse, the bull density normally between 600 and 700 lb/yd3 (350 and 420 kg/m3. Once deposited in a land fill and compacted with machinery it can achieve bulk densities of about 1200 lb/yd3 (700 kg/m3) If the covering of the soil in landfill is included, the total land filled density can range from about 700 lb/yd3 for a poorly compacted land fill to as high as 1700 lb/yd3 (1000 kg/m3 )

Mechanical

Properties

The substantial volume reduction can be achieved by expanding greater energy in compaction.

Biodegradability The fraction of municipal solid waste is organic and the biodegradability potential is less than 45%

Improper handling of solid waste and indiscriminate disposal in open spaces, road margins, tank beds, and etcetera, give rise to numerous potential risks to the environment and to human health. Direct health risks mainly concern those working in the field without using proper gloves, uniforms, and etcetera; a high percentage of waste workers and individuals who live near or on disposal sites are infected with gastrointestinal parasites, worms, and related organisms. For the public, the main risks to health are indirect and related to poor water, land, and air quality. In addition, infrequent collection of waste provides an attractive breeding ground for flies and rats.

The generation of refuse in a community also varies through out the year. In addition to seasonal variation refuse varies with the day of the week with mondays being typically the heaviest day and Friday the lightest. Collection frequency also affect the production of refuse. Generally more frequent the collection, the more MSW is produced. Income and affluence tend to have a positive effect on refuse generation with the logic that the more expandable income a household has, the more the tend to throw away.

Methods of Solid Waste Storage

Solid waste storage facilities may be classified as primary (or individual) and secondary (or communal) storage facilities. As far as possible, the storage facilities must be animal proof, insect-proof, washable and robust enough to meet the exigencies of normal use. The storage volume required for household wastes is a function of the number of premises served, rate of waste generation, family size and frequency of collection. On the other hand, the storage capacities required for commercial and institutional premises will be determined by the size of the premises, nature and waste generation

Primary Solid Waste Storage Facilities A variety of facilities are used for primary storage of solid wastes. Temporary containers, such as cardboard boxes and plastic carrier bags, are used in unserviced or poorly serviced areas.

Standardization of primary storage might, only be suitable when waste generation rates are high, usually greater than 25 liters of daily capacity.
Collections of materials at source are termed kerbside collection systems. This method involves the householder putting out recyclable materials for collection separate from the normal refuse. In the separation at source scheme, the householder is either required to place recyclable materials into one container for sorting by the collectors (including informal sectors), or the recyclable materials are placed in separate containers

Methods of Solid Waste Collection

Secondary Solid Waste Storage Facilities; Secondary waste storage facilities may be either stationary or portable units. The stationary units are commonly uncovered, and the waste is often scattered around the facility where insects, rodents and animals are attracted to it. In portable storage facilities, the vehicle deposits an empty container and collects a full one. Vehicle productivity in general is maximized in portable units since time taken to set down an empty container and load afull one is very small

Methods of solid waste Collection

The four methods of solid waste collection are stated in the following way

A) Communal collection

Under the communal collection system, householders discharge their wastes at predetermined locations having some form of communal storage facility, and refuse collection vehicles collect the wastes at frequent intervals.

The frequency with which communal storage facilities should be distributed is often dependent on the extent to which a community is willing to cooperate in its proper use. Accordingly, the containers should be spaced so that the distance between any two containers does not exceed 200 meters. In some studies, the recommended distance between two communal containers set is about 150 meters

Methods of Solid Waste Collection

B) Block collection Under block collection system, a collection vehicle travels a predetermined route at intervals that suit the capacity and schedules of the municipality, usually every two to three days, and stops at selected locations. Consequently, the householders bring their refuse containers upon hearing the bell, and hand them over to the sanitation crew. C) Kerbside (entrance) collection

In effect, this system requires a very regular and well organized collection service, so that householders know when to leave out their wastes. Kerbside collection could be mainly applicable in high-income areas of the developing world as it incurs a relatively high collection cost. In door-to-door collection system, the collection crew enters each premise, takes out the container and sets it back after emptying the waste into collection vehicles. The lack of householder involvement in the collection process is, however, offset by increased labor costs in entering all premises. The door-todoor collection method only proves productive when collection is infrequent, typically once a week

D) Door-to-door collection

Under this system, the crew collects containers of refuse which are deposited at the Kerbside at fixed intervals, usually on two specific days in the week.
.

Transfer Station- A place or facility where wastes are transferred from smaller collection vehicles (e.g. compactor trucks) into larger transport vehicles (e.g. overthe-road and offroad tractor trailers, for movement to disposal areas, usually landfills. In some transfer operations, compaction or separation may be done at the station

Disposal

Landfills- are the physical facilities used for the disposal of residual solid wastes in the surface soils of the earth. In the past, the term sanitary landfill was used to denote a landfill in which the waste placed in the landfill was covered at the end of each days operation.

Trench landfills- are only appropriate in regions where the soils are deep and have a high clay content. The clay greatly reduces the rate at which leachate seeps through the soil. Also, the water table must lie well below the zone of fill. To make a trench landfill, a trench is dug and solid waste is spread in it and then compacted by heavy machinery. Then it is sealed each day with a layer of dirt that was excavated previously, when the trench was dug. The process is repeated until the trench is filled

Area landfills- are made from natural valleys or canyons as well as abandoned pits and quarries. the site is first lined with a layer of clay that is 2 meters thick if the natural soils on the site will not retain leachate. Then the waste are placed in layers on top of the bottom liner, compacted, and covered with soil each day until the site is filled, Mounded landfill- is often necessary to prevent groundwater contamination. Alternating layers of compacted wastes and dirt are mounded over a clay base on the surface to form a hill. After the mounded landfill is completed, the hill is contoured and vegetated to control erosion.

Leachate- liquid that has percolated through solid waste or another medium. Leachate from landfills usually contains extracted, dissolved and suspended materials, some of which may be harmful. Sanitary landfill- an engineered method of disposing of solid wastes on land in a manner that protects human health and the environment. Waste is spread in thin layers, compacted to the smallest practical volume, and covered with soil or other suitable material at the end of each working day

Open dump sites for solid wastes are unsatisfactory in health, environmental and aesthetic grounds. In open dump sites, solid wastes are generally spread over large areas which are sources of food and harborage for rats, flies and vermin, and also be a source of odor and smoke nuisance, a fire hazard, and a cause of water pollution.

Land Area (Volume) Required for Sanitary Landfills The amount of refuse that will be produced by communities served by the disposal area must be estimated in order to determine the amount of land that is needed. Land area for sanitary landfill should provide for 20 to 40 years period. The space needed for refuse disposal is a function of population served, per capita refuse contribution, resource recovery, density and depth of the refuse in place, total amount of earth cover used, and time in use, adjusted for commercial and industrial wastes

Q=peck /d in which,

Q= space or volume needed in acre-ft per year;

p= population served; e= ratio earth to compacted fill; use 1.25 if one part earth is used to four parts fill. Use 1.20 if one part is used to five parts of fill; use 1.0 if no earth is used;

c= pounds collected per day;

k=0.266 d= density of compacted fill: a density of 800 to 1000 lb/ yd3 is readily achieved with proper operation; 600 or less is poor; 1200 or more is very good.

Technical and legal criteria for selection of sanitary landfill sites

Sl. No 1 Criteria Land use Observation The site should be outside the limits of any environmental conservation areas and in a zone where designated land use is compatible with the operation of a sanitary landfill. The site should be not less than 200 metres from major bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, lagoons and oceans and should be not less than 50 metres from any other body of water. The site should be not less than 300 metres from urban residential centres with 200 or more inhabitants. The site should not be located in the proximity of airports or aerodromes and should comply with current legislation in this Respect The minimum distances recommended are the following: In a sanitary landfill with plastic membrane waterproofed bottom, the distance between the water table and the membrane should not be less than 1.5 metres; In a smaller landfill the bottom of which is waterproofed by a layer of compacted clay with a permeability coefficient of less than 10- 6cm/s, the distance between the water table and the waterproofing layer should not be less than 3 metres

Distance to water bodies Distance to urban residential centres Distance to airports Water table depth

3 4 5

Technical and legal criteria for selection of sanitary landfill sites

Sl. No
6

Criteria

Observation

Minimum useful life Natural soil impermeability Topography favorable to drainage Easy access for heavy vehicles Availability of material for covering

It is recommended that the site is compatible with a useful life for the new sanitary landfill of at least 8 years. It is recommendable that the soil of the selected site has good natural impermeability in order to reduce the possibility of aquifer contamination. The soil of the selected site should be clayey. The rainwater drainage basin should be small in order to avoid significant amounts of rainwater entering the landfill. Roads leading to the site should not have pronounced inclines or curves and should be well surfaced in order to minimize wear and tear on collection vehicles and enable them to have easy access even at times of intense rain. It is preferable that the site has, or is close to, deposits of material appropriate for covering, in order to keep the cost of waste covering low.

10

Source: Ministry for the Environment and Territory, et al. (2008).

Waste to Wealth

The concept of Waste-to-Wealth literally means moving waste from a platform of exhausted utility to valuable and desirable level. Its transformation: in engineering, requires some form of energy, and in economics requires factor of production. The latent issue here is that waste in itself can never be wealth otherwise generator will never discard it. Likewise, wealth is created and process of creating wealth has some cost implications that the market forces construe as the price. This means that not all wastes are potentially of secondary benefit. the slogan waste-to-wealth connotes that waste management operations must transcend delivery of service to provision of goods or value like energy.

Metal Waste: this kind of waste popularly referred to as metal scraps are gotten from condemned gadgets, equipment and properties with metal components. Presently, this is the most lucrative waste material in the State as they are collected as scraps and sold back to the steel industries as adjunct raw materials for new product formulation.

Glass Materials: Waste from glass materials are of two types. Those generated from electrical appliances (ewaste) such as electric bulbs and computer display screens have no economic value presently in the State; thereby ending up in the various dumpsite. While those generated from packaging such as wine bottles, drugs and drinks have economic return value as they are collected and sold back to their producers who reuse them for the same purpose or sold in the retail market to small scale enterprises who use them for packaging their produce such as cowpea nuts. The waste pickers operate by scavenging waste directly from the various dumpsites, the streets of neighbourhood in search of abandoned metal scraps and other useful recoverable waste. In the course of their activities, they are open to negotiations for the purchase of valuable waste from households and establishments.

These collected wastes are then taken to the scrap market locations which are owned and operated by individuals who play the role of middlemen in the waste market business, especially for glass and metal waste. At the scrap shops the waste are further sorted, weighed and bought from the waste pickers. These middle men known as Waste Traders then take upon themselves the responsibility of transporting and supplying these wastes to the various industries which utilize them as raw materials. The financial gain made by the waste picker is dependent on the purchasing price of the waste trader and also on the bargaining power with waste generators in situations when the waste has to be purchased. Waste creation is part of human endeavour but the disposal will be neglected until Government creates incentives, preferably market based incentives that will encourage both people and enterprises to dispose their waste in an appropriate way

Institutional Arrangements

Health and water resources ministries / bureaus and environmental protection agencies at Federal, regional and municipal level are responsible for policy formulation and regulation in regard to storm water requirements. Urban administrators are responsible to ensure the collection, transportation and as appropriate, the recycling, treatment or disposal of storm water and solid waste through the institutions of integrated municipal waste management system. Woreda (distric) administrations in rural settings are responsible for storm water disposal

Planning provisions and Management issues

The major goals of urban drainage are the following: Collect and safely convey storm water to receiving waters with limited damages and disturbances to the road, land, receiving water bodies, and the surrounding rural villages on the downstream sides,

Control or minimize flood hazards and water logging problems that may be created by overflows from rivers or streams and other water ways, Retain within each catchment a much incident rain as possible and limit changes in the hydrology of the area, which depends on human and environmental concerns, to an acceptable level.

Planning provisions and Management issues

The spatial measures can mainly be geared towards the following: Provision of spatial or land use plans (including road network plans) that support flood control systems, safe drainage of storm runoff and cost reduction; Elimination, to the greatest degree possible, of the risk from flood hazards to life, property, and public investment in the cities/towns, particularly in areas where there exist flooding from large water bodies such as rivers, lakes etc.;

Provision of adequate space for the technical measures;

Designating special over-flow (detention) or retention areas in case where protection by a surrounding dike of villages in a designated retention area is necessary; and,

Prohibition of the construction of builtup areas in sensitive locations and waterways and changes in land use so that the area can also be used as an artificial water basin, etc., when necessary.

Planning preparation and Management

On road network preparation, the following are forwarded: Drainage network proposal is intended to use the proposed road network plan of a city or town. On the other hand, the drainage study could provide input to the design of the land use/road network. The road network should inasmuch as possible be in such a way that the contours allow smooth drainage of runoffs that may be produced within the right-way of the roads and adjacent areas. In consultation with the drainage engineer, however, artificial slopes could be considered and under normal conditions a minimum of 0.5 per cent slope is necessary for drainage. Sometimes drainage lines may not be along roads but through private or public or corporate compounds/holdings as the relief dictates. And these lines should be provided if there are no other alternatives.

Right-of-way of roads should consider the necessary widths for the provision of drainage facilities. Sometimes, depending on the discharge, significant width could be required. The maximum width required for road side drainage usually ranges between 2.5 and 3 meters.