Tanzania has introduced a sanitation business model to improve liquid and solid waste management in Dar-es-Salaam. Kenya has enacted a law on sustainable waste management while Ethiopia has built waste transfer stations, disposal sites and incinerators. This is financed by direct government investments or by a loan from donors.
An incinerator was built near a disposal site in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
According to WaterAid, the majority of settlements in Dar-es-Salaam used pit latrines. These were not connected to the city’s sewer network. As there were no suitable places for solid waste disposal, community members threw the waste into the surrounding environment or into nearby water sources.
In turn, the streets were too narrow. This blocked truck access to households. This meant that people manually emptied the contents of pit latrines into waterways or used people they paid, called “frogmen”, to replace them properly.
A frogman’s job was not easy, as he did not have proper equipment to empty pits safely and hygienically. He used buckets and emptied latrines without protective clothing.
Introduction of a sanitation business model
To benefit from household waste, a business model to improve liquid and solid waste was introduced in Dar-es-Salaam.
Support has been provided to three sanitation companies to become legal and successful businesses.
A local microfinance company was also recruited to manage the loans. Furthermore, the municipality should reassure landlords that the companies had good licenses and that good regulations were in place.
Companies first dealt with solid waste. They advertised their services in the community through posters and brochures. They purchased or rented the equipment they needed to be able to collect household waste and safely dispose of it at a designated landfill site.
After educating the community, we ended up with streets swept. Waste was collected every day and on average, 6 to 7 tonnes of waste were disposed of per day.
Liquid waste covered
To improve liquid waste management, a fecal sludge treatment plant was built by a private contractor under the supervision of the local partner. A new system implemented made it possible to recycle waste into manure, charcoal and biogas. These could then be sold and used.
Kenya: public authorities raise their voice against household waste
Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of Kenya, signed the Sustainable Waste Management Act into law in 2022, as Afrik21 wrote.
This law provided for the creation of a waste management council, mandatory extended producer responsibility programs, the recovery of household waste as well as the closure of illegal dumps in 47 counties across the country.
To improve liquid waste management, a faecal sludge treatment plant was built in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
The law put in place measures across the entire waste value chain, including an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mechanism. Which facilitated the ambition to eliminate plastic in nature.
Kenya also launched a plastics pact in March 2022 called the Kenya Plastics Pact (KPP). The initiative aimed to find funding to support innovation, collection, reuse and recycling of plastic waste.
Increase in population in “new flowers” versus increase in waste
The population growth rate was 2.1% in Addis Ababa (New Flowers) Ethiopia per year between 2000 and 2015, but it is expected to increase by 4.0% per year from 2015-2030 according to the Nations United.
The population, which was estimated at 3.2 million in 2015, is expected to reach 6 million in 2030. The increase in the population goes hand in hand with an increase in the volume of waste production. Solid waste management in Addis Ababa city is organized systematically and in sync with the waste flow. This is under the authority of the mayor’s office.
The city has taken timely and appropriate measures such as the establishment of Africa’s first large-scale waste-to-energy facility and a transfer station with a recycling facility.
Bags with a capacity of approximately 50 liters are distributed to ordinary households. Large waste producers enter into contracts with private collectors. Household waste is collected and transported to a collection point (dumpster point). Carts or small trucks are used for transporting waste.
The city and private companies use specialized vehicles for transporting bulk garbage such as compactor trucks and container ships.
Main roads are kept clean by 20 road sweepers and 5,000 (human) street sweepers.
Recyclable materials such as plastics are recovered. Two transfer stations with sorting facilities were built. An incinerator was built near a disposal site.
The city is taking measures that take the vulnerable into account. The construction of transfer stations, disposal sites and incinerators is financed by direct government investment or by a loan from donors. The city has started working on recycling, composting, exploiting the conversion of waste into energy…
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