Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is a global challenge and the situation is worse in urban areas of developing countries due to ineffective disposal systems. In many industrialised countries, waste minimisation and recycling/reuse policies have been introduced to reduce the amount of waste generated, and increasingly, alternative waste management practices to waste disposal on land have been implemented to reduce the environmental impacts of MSWM. Nevertheless, research and MSWM in most developing countries have largely concentrated on waste collection. This doctoral study investigates how planning and decision-making for MSW disposal in developing countries with similar circumstances and MSW problems to Ghana can be improved, using the Wa Municipality as a case study. It established the baseline scenario of MSW disposal and examined MSW disposal management and operational performances. The methodology and research design for the study was a descriptive and interpretive case study that was analysed through both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The key research findings indicate that the current state of MSW disposal management performance in Ghana does not present an enabling environment for effective MSW disposal. Also, the present MSW disposal practices in the case study area and Ghana in general consist of some waste collection, transportation and open dumping, where the entire amount of waste is open dumped without pre-treatment. Evaluation of MSW disposal operational performance through modelling and scenario analysis showed that open dumping/landfilling of waste creates copious health effects (0.0001519 lbs/year on average), whereas, MSW disposal in an integrated solid waste management (ISWM) system optimises the minimisation of health effects (-0.0005812 lbs/year on average). The study developed and validated a framework for the improvement of planning and decision-making for MSW disposal, which can easily be applied in the context of developing countries. Also, the developed framework provides a theoretical standpoint for the concept of MSW disposal in ISWM. Appropriate MSW disposal treatment technologies based on the developed framework could be applied to ameliorate the impacts of MSW disposal in Ghana and other developing countries.

O presente projeto teve por objetivo o desenvolvimento de propostas e implementação de ações mitigadoras em área rural enfocando o tema habitacional \"estudos sólidos\" (lixo), por meio de um Programa de Educação Ambiental, junto à população residente na Colônia da Fazenda Canchim (33 famílias num total de 126 pessoas), inserida em uma das unidades da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste), em São Carlos, SP. Inicialmente foi realizado o levantamento de dados históricos e geográficos da área e, em seguida, a caracterização sócio-cultural da comunidade, incluindo a investigação da percepção com relação ao seu ambiente mais próximo, possibilitando a construção do cenário onde se desenvolveu o trabalho. O perfil sócio-cultural foi o indicador do tipo de integração entre os indivíduos que formam o grupo, no sentido de entender a participação coletiva e o espírito de cooperação, e de conhecer o sistema de atitudes e modos de agir, os costumes, o saber, enfim, o grau de compreensão das interrelações entre a comunidade e o ambiente. O levantamento das diferentes formas de utilização antrópica do sistema ecológico forneceu subsídios para propor alternativas que visam uma ocupação do espaço e que levam em consideração os princípios ecológicos. Estes dados foram obtidos por meio da análise documental do acervo da Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, relativa aos temas de interesse, observação direta, entrevistas e desenhos (mapas mentais). A partir deses resultados, foi elaborada uma proposta de atividades sensibilizadoras para serem desenvolvidas junto à população. As atividades foram concentradas na elaboração de cartazes, palestras, exibição de vídeo e passeios orientados. Essas atividades permitiram a discussão da problemática ambiental e o levantamento de possíveis soluções, a partir da reformulação de comportamentos humanos e resgate de valores. Como ação mitigadora de impacto ambiental ) foi desenvolvido, na área de estudo, o sistema de coleta seletiva de resíduos sólidos (metal, papel, vidro e plástico) sob a forma de postos de entrega voluntária (PEVs), como a melhor solução diante da problemática apontada pelos moradores, tendo contribuído para a melhoria da qualidade de vida e qualidade ambiental. / The objective of this work was to develop proposals and to implement mitigation activities in rural area, related to the environmental issue solid waste, trough an environmental Education Program with the population at the Canchim\'s farm (33 families, 126 people), from Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste), São Carlos - SP. The work started with a survey of historical and geographical data of the area, the socio-cultural characterization of the community and the research of their perception of their relation with the surrounding environrnent. This survey allowed to locate the population under study in space and time, and to build up the work scenery. The social profile was the indicator for the kind of integration among the individuals in the group, to understand the colective participation and the cooperation spirit. The cultural aspects allowed to know the system of atitudes, the ways to act, the behaviours, the knowledge, the degree of understanding the relationship between community and environment. The survey of the various kinds of anthropic use of the ecological system gave support to the alternative proposals to settle the space, considering the ecological principles. These results were obtained by searching documents at library of Embrapa Southeast Cattle, related to the studied thema, direct observations, interviews and brainstorms. A proposal of sensitize activities was build up on these results, to be applied to the local population. The activities were focused on the production of posters, folders, speaches, movies and monitored walkings. These activities raised the discussion on the environrnental matter and the survey of possible solutions, based on the the rescue of human values and the change of behaviour. The forwarded environmental mitigation activity was the selective disposal of solid wastes (metal, paper, glass and plastic) at Voluntary Delivery Points (VDP), as the best solution for the by population selected main problem, with increase of local life quality.

O conceito de prevenção da poluição, já abordado em estudos sobre efluentes e outros tipos de resíduos, deve se estender também à questão das embalagens utilizadas em indústrias. Isto porque, com o aumento na complexidade dos processos produtivos, as embalagens passaram a ser empregadas também para abrigar componentes durante a fabricação e o transporte, e não mais apenas para conter o produto final; assim, sua utilização pode acarretar a geração de grandes quantidades de resíduos, caso o princípio da prevenção não seja adotado. É neste quadro que o presente trabalho se insere: inicialmente, apresenta considerações relativas às embalagens e à evolução dos conceitos do gerenciamento de resíduos, destacando a presença da prevenção da poluição em norma ISO 14001 e em dispositivos legais do Brasil e de países da Comunidade Econômica Européia.Através de estudo de caso realizado em uma empresa montadora de motores localizada em São Carlos (SP), foram identificados procedimentos adequados à prevenção da poluição por embalagens de uso industrial, como a utilização de embalagens retornáveis; observou-se, no entanto, a geração de resíduos a partir de acessórios que acompanham as embalagens, como filmes e cintas plásticas. Por fim, a partir da escolha de um modelo de motor produzido na empresa, foram analisadas as embalagens cujos componentes estão envolvidos em sua fabricação; com os dados obtidos, foram propostos e determinados índices de desempenho relativos à ocorrência de descartes de acessórios em termos quantitativos e qualitativos, segundo o tipo de material / The increasing complexity of the production processes ended up leading to an increasing need for packages of several shapes and materials. They are nowadays used not only for finished products, but also during fabrication and transportation phases, in order to protect raw materials, components and semi-finished products. Thus, the use of packages may also result in the generation of waste during production processes. The historically-new trend of priorizing pollution-prevention activities must, of course include all the packaging used in the industry. However, studies of the possibilities of pollution prevention have been concentrated on the waste originated directly from the production processes (effluents, metal scrap). At same time, studies on the pollution prevention applied to packaging have been focused on the packaging of consumer goods. There's a need for researches on packaging-related waste generated indirectly by production processes. More specifically, one must evaluate the possibilities and results of the application of pollution prevention concepts to this kind of waste, so that it can be dealt with in a proper way, and the industrial sector be informed about the new waste management paradigm. Starting with basic packaging-related definitions, and a description of the evolution of solid waste management concepts, from disposal to pollution prevention, this work, through a case study, identifies procedures directed towards waste prevention e proposes some performance indicators, related to the amount of waste generated in the fabrication of one unit of product. It also presents and establishes a comparison between brazilian and european environmental laws

O destino e a utilização da imensa quantidade de resíduo sólido produzida nas cidades devem ser regulados por critérios rigorosamente científicos, desta forma, a aplicação no solo do composto produzido a partir deste material deve vir precedida de pesquisas que demonstrem a viabilidade ou não do seu uso. Neste trabalho utilizou-se o composto no cultivo da cenoura e analisou-se alguns parâmetros do composto, do solo e das cenouras, quantitativa e qualitativamente, para obter subsídios suficientes para o uso responsável e adequado deste tipo de resíduo na agricultura. Desta forma, com os resultados obtidos através das avaliações dos teores totais e disponíveis de metais (Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd e Cr) nas amostras de solo e nas raízes das cenouras, pode-se verificar a viabilidade da aplicação do composto para o cultivo da cenoura, considerando que não houve indícios de que o teor de qualquer metal nas raízes tenha sido suficientemente alto para trazer qualquer dano a saúde de quem as consome, entretanto o aumento da mortalidade das mudas relacionou-se diretamente com a taxa de aplicação do composto evidenciando um aspecto negativo da sua aplicação. / The destination and the use of the immense amount of municipal solid wastes should be strictly regulated by scientific approaches. Taking that into consideration, the application in the soil of the compost produced from this residue should be preceeded of studies to prove its viability. In this work, the compost was used in the cultivation of carrot. Some parameters of the compost, soil and carrots were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain subsidies for the responsible and appropriate use of this material in the agriculture. The viability of compost application was verified, when cultivating carrots, by evaluating the total amount of available metais (Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd and Cr) in the soil compost and carrot roots, because there were no indications of sufficiently high traces of metals in the roots to cause any harm to human health. However, the increase of the plants\' mortality was directly related with the compost application rate, thus evidencing a negative aspect of its use.

A atividade produtiva humana tem gerado quantidades cada vez maiores com materiais mais complexos de resíduos sólidos, não sendo diferente com as suas atividades de lazer, que têm propiciado o aumento na região destes, principalmente em pequenas comunidades, que possuem como atrativos, seu patrimônio físico, ambiental e paisagístico. O presente trabalho apresenta um enfoque das questões ambientais e saneamento, mais especificamente dos resíduos sólidos. O trabalho se restringe nas áreas de interesse turístico e de lazer, as margens do represamento da hidrelétrica Água Vermelha, onde existem \"condomínios\" e/ou ranchos, destinados ao lazer e ao turismo de veraneio. Com a antropização destas áreas, através deste fim de ocupação, surgem questões relevantes, tais como: preservação do meio ambiente, saneamento, infra-estrutura, etc. São de especial interesse, neste estudo de caso, os resíduos sólidos ali gerados, as consequências por elas ocasionadas e as possibilidades para seu melhor aproveitamento, ou destinação final, e consequentemente redução dos impactos potenciais, segundo os atuais paradigmas ambientais e de sustentabilidade. / The human\'s productive activities has produced solid waste in huge quantities and complex materials, not being different with leisure and tourism activities that has produced lots of those residues, mainly in small communities, that has as attractions its property, environment and landscape. So, this work presents in its spot on sanitation and environmental subjects, specifically on solid waste. The project points are on tourism and leisure areas, that are found by the \"Água Vermelha\" Lake\'s margins, that is formed by the hydroelectric dam, where there are lots of ranch\'s condominiums which destination to leisure and summer tourism. With the human colonization and intervention for occupation, important themes arise, such as: environmental preservation, sanitation, infrastructure and etc. It\'s very important the study of the solid waste produced, its consequences its better utilization or final destination, with goals to reduce the potential environmental impacts that has paradigms for its environmental sustenance.

Thesis (MPA.) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / Refer to the document

Globally, gastrointestinal (GI) infections by enteric pathogens are the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of five (≤5). While GI pathogen exposure in households has been rigorously examined, there is little data about young children’s exposure in public domains. Public areas in low-income settings are often used for waste disposal practices beyond human feces disposal, including trash dumping in open drainage canals and unused lots. If young children play in public domains unattended, they might be exposed to interrelated and highly concentrated microbial, chemical, and physical hazards. This study performed structured observations at 36 public areas in a transitioning internally displaced persons community in Haiti, to document how often young children play in public areas and to quantify behaviors that might lead to illness and injury. Children ≤5 yrs played at all public sites, including toddlers (92%/sites) and infants (44%/sites). Children touched and mouthed trash (metal, glass, plastic), food and other objects from the ground, ate soil (geophagia), drank surface water; as well as touched latrines, animals, animal feces, and open drainage canals. Hand-to-mouth contact was frequent and significantly different among developmental stages (infants: 18/hr, toddlers: 11/hr, and young children: 9/hr), providing evidence that children could ingest trace amounts of GI pathogens and other contaminants on hands. These findings demonstrate that water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions need to consider the unique risks posed by public domains that contribute to GI infection in young children. Furthermore, this highlights the need for waste related interventions to address the broader set of civil conditions that create unsafe, toxic, and contaminated public environments where young children play.

This doctoral dissertation examines how the symbolic character of a relocated capital city influences and intersects with local conditions to shape the governance structure and relations in service delivery. The focus is on Abuja, the new capital city of Nigeria, and the sector studied is solid waste management. Abuja was planned to avoid the numerous problems facing other Nigerian cities. Contrary to the intention of government and planners, the city now houses the fastest growing slum in the country. There are various possible explanations for these outcomes but this study pays particular attention to the conception of Abuja as a symbol of national unity. The ‘good governance’ agenda is often promoted by the World Bank and donors as a way of handling the numerous challenges facing African governments, including service delivery. A major expectation of the agenda is that local governments manage the urban development process in conjunction with an array of institutions ranging from the private sector to community groups and households. An underlying notion is that of a minimalist national state. This is not the case in Abuja, where governance is conducted at higher levels and the municipal council remains largely invisible. This is manifested in solid waste management, where the municipal council has no jurisdiction over the sector. In addition, community groups and households play very minimal roles in the governance of services. Drawing on the concept of space and place, the study concludes that the types of institutions found and their roles and relations are shaped by the national function of the city and the local power relations. The study draws on primary and secondary data. Interviews were conducted with state officials, community leaders, households and interest groups, such as the private sector. Secondary data were obtained from government documents, studies and newspaper reports.

The bioreactor landfill is an emerging concept for solid waste management that has gained significant attention in the last decade. This technology employs specific operational practices to enhance the microbial decomposition processes in landfills. However, the unsupervised management and lack of operational guidelines for the bioreactor landfill, specifically leachate manipulation and recirculation processes, usually results in less than optimal system performance. Therefore, these limitations have led to the development of SMART (Sensor-based Monitoring and Remote-control Technology), an expert control system that utilizes real-time monitoring of key system parameters in the management of bioreactor landfills. SMART replaces conventional open-loop control with a feedback control system that aids the human operator in making decisions and managing complex control issues. The target from this control system is to provide optimum conditions for the biodegradation of the refuse, and also, to enhance the performance of the bioreactor in terms of biogas generation. SMART includes multiple cascading logic controllers and mathematical calculations through which the quantity and quality of the recirculated solution are determined. The expert system computes the required quantities of leachate, buffer, supplemental water, and nutritional amendments in order to provide the bioreactor landfill microbial consortia with their optimum growth requirements. Soft computational methods, particularly fuzzy logic, were incorporated in the logic controllers of SMART so as to accommodate the uncertainty, complexity, and nonlinearity of the bioreactor landfill processes. Fuzzy logic was used to solve complex operational issues in the control program of SMART including: (1) identify the current operational phase of the bioreactor landfill based on quantifiable parameters of the leachate generated and biogas produced, (2) evaluate the toxicological status of the leachate based on certain parameters that directly contribute to or indirectly indicates bacterial inhibition, and (3) predict biogas generation rates based on the operational phase, leachate recirculation, and sludge addition. The later fuzzy logic model was upgraded to a hybrid model that employed the learning algorithm of artificial neural networks to optimize the model parameters. SMART was applied to a pilot-scale bioreactor landfill prototype that incorporated the hardware components (sensors, communication devices, and control elements) and the software components (user interface and control program) of the system. During a one-year monitoring period, the feasibility and effectiveness of the SMART system were evaluated in terms of multiple leachate, biogas, and waste parameters. In addition, leachate heating was evaluated as a potential temperature control tool in bioreactor landfills. The pilot-scale implementation of SMART demonstrated the applicability of the system. SMART led to a significant improvement in the overall performance of the BL in terms of methane production and leachate stabilization. Temperature control via recirculation of heated leachate achieved high degradation rates of organic matter and improved the methanogenic activity.

The current thesis presents an exploratory study on municipal solid waste generation and minimization in Sweden, with a focus on their connection to basic socio-economic parameters. The fundamental goal of the study is to investigate into correlations and interdependencies between waste generation, waste minimization and basic socio-economic characteristics on municipal level, and to search for models for explanation of waste management parameters through socio-economic factors. Theoretical background involves reasoning on the role of municipal waste management in sustainable development, and extensive analysis of framework, legislation and organization of municipal solid waste management in Sweden. Practical part presents correlation analysis of data, which proved that socio-economic parameters do not explain differences in waste management performance of Swedish municipalities; however they are closely connected to differences between municipalities in aspect of presence of waste-related data.