Developing countries are facing a great challenge to collect, treat and dispose their waste in a more sustainable way. Today, most of the produced waste ends up on landfills, where they pose a great threat to the environment and human health. Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, faces the same issues as other cities in developing countries; waste management is run poorly and most waste ends up on the cities largest landfill, Dompoase, which will be full in a few years time. Issues such as low financial resources, bad urban planning and a growing population aggravate the implementation of a more sustainable development. Since most solid waste in developing countries is organic, composting is a good option towards a more sustainable waste management. There are numerous amounts of articles stating that decentralized composting is the best option for developed countries. Decentralized compost facilities are less costly to install and maintain, they require less technology and decrease the cost of waste transportation. Transportation poses a large expense when it comes  to waste management in developing countries. There is an advantage in integrating a more sustainable waste management in to the existing waste infrastructure since cities often are densely built up and there is a shortage of land. Therefore this thesis has investigated the possibilities of having waste sorting stations and decentralized compost facilities at public dumping sites in the Bantama area, one of ten sub--‐metros in Kumasi. Based on literature and observations during field visits in the Bantama area, a classification scheme was developed. The classification scheme was designed to simplify identification and differentiation of the sites. It contains thirteen criteria to consider when planning for organic waste sorting stations and decentralized compost facilities. Suitable sites for sorting stations and decentralized compost facilities were selected by a SQL analyzes in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The analyzes was based on the classification scheme. The result shows that of twenty--‐one public dumpingsites, seven were suitable as sorting stations and two sites were suitable for a decentralized compost facility. The expectation is that in due time and with infrastructure improvements, more than only seven communal sites can become sorting stations. When it comes to sites for composting the result reveals an issue in many cities  there is just not enough land to build as many decentralized facilities as would be necessary to recycle all organic waste. However, due to the advantages of having decentralized facilities, the recommendation is that Kumasi should start with a decentralized approach and as finance and technological skills exists the organic waste management can extend to also include larger facilities. Further this thesis shows the advantage of having decentralized composting when it comes totransportation costs. A transport analyzes was done in a GIS,  which showed the difference intransportation distances between having decentralized and centralized composting. The result showed that waste recycled close to its source, i.e. having decentralized waste management, is transported shorter distance compared to having centralized composting and  thus saving on cost for transportation.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T18:57:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6676.pdf: 2910641 bytes, checksum: 429f708ea681f9c94b08e56cc8abc077 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-18 / Are there successful composting experiences of municipal solid waste (MSW)? Is it possible to have alternative solutions for urban organic waste different from the conventional model of centralized composting plants? Answering these questions was the main objective of this work. The state of São Paulo was the focus of the research. Methodology included a survey of primary and secondary data of centralized and decentralized composting experiences in São Paulo and semi-structured interviews with managers in face to face, telephone or e-mail contacts. Six modalities of composting and fifteen treatment routes of organic waste with source separation had been identified, as well as factors boosting and restricting the development of composting activities in the State. The results showed the diversity of alternatives for organic waste recovery in urban areas, pointed out gaps that benefit final disposal groups and revealed the lack of public support to the composting activities undertaken by several actors in the State. The study concludes that decentralizing activities, diversifying technological routes of composting and stimulating social, public and private entrepreneurs can accelerate the diversion of MSW from landfills and dumps. Such actions can also contribute to urban and rural agriculture and enable implementation of a rational culture of solid waste management. / Existem experiências bem sucedidas com compostagem de resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU)? É possível implantar soluções para os resíduos orgânicos urbanos, alternativas ao modelo convencional de usinas de triagem e compostagem? Responder a estas perguntas foi o principal objetivo deste trabalho. O estado de São Paulo foi o foco da pesquisa. A metodologia incluiu o levantamento de dados primários e secundários acerca de experiências paulistas de compostagem centralizada e descentralizada e entrevistas semiestruturadas com gestores, em contatos pessoais, telefônicos ou via correio eletrônico. Foram identificadas seis modalidades de compostagem e quinze rotas de tratamento de resíduos orgânicos com separação na fonte, além de fatores que impulsionam e que restringem o desenvolvimento de atividades de compostagem no estado. Os resultados desvelam a diversidade de alternativas para valorização de resíduos orgânicos em meio urbano, apontam brechas para a atuação de grupos que lucram com a disposição final e revelam a falta de apoio e incentivo público às atividades de compostagem empreendidas por diversos atores no estado. Conclui-se que a descentralização da atividade, a diversificação das rotas tecnológicas de compostagem e o estímulo aos empreendedores sociais, públicos e privados pode acelerar o desvio de RSU dos aterros sanitários e lixões, contribuir para a agricultura urbana e rural e permitir a implantação de uma cultura racional de gestão de resíduos sólidos.