CHAPTER THREE
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT, THE APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
• Sorting: The issue of sorting of refuse at source into various containers should be encouraged, i.e. bottles, cans, plastic, papers, organic matters have to be sorted into different coded containers to allow easy disposal. Individuals generate some income from sales of such items, thereby increasing employment, alleviating poverty and living a non-dependable life.
• Collection: This is the sole responsibility of the government. Constitutionally, the Local Government is supposed to be in charge but due to the huge funding that the services required, the State Government, through the environmental protection agency, is in charge.
Frequency of collection, especially from house to house, should not be less than twice a week. Where traffic hold up is experienced during the day, refuse should be removed at night through the transfer station.
Unnecessary delay in refuse removal often tempts people to dump refuse into unauthorized places especially public drains, open places, corners and high ways. The various flood disasters in some cities in the country, e.g. Ogunpa flood disaster, were traced partly to the blocking and choking of public drains due to indiscriminate refuse dumping into them.
• Transportation: The issue of transportation needs to be treated appropriately. The right type of vehicle should always be used. A variety of refuse transportation vehicles are available in the market, e.g. Skip, Kuka, Dinosaur, Side Loaders etc. In a large urban area, where good maintenance and repair facilities are available and manual labour expensive, the compactor vehicle (Mammoth) is preferable for use over the conventional tipper It is a common sight to see tippers carrying solid wastes to land fill sought sites and to the large part of the wastes they would have been dispersed before reaching the disposal site. The effects on the environment are best imagined.
In urban areas, mechanized transport has invariably replaced manual or animal-driven vehicles e.g. Cart or animal carts. However, in old cities, some parts of urban areas may not be accessible by road and a skeleton service by mammal or animal drawn cart may be required, and same system could be applied in the rural communities.
The cost of purchasing vehicle is very high, taken into consideration that the average cost of a compactor vehicle in today’s market is about N15 million while a tipper of average size costs up to N5million.
Such very expensive piece of equipment should be properly maintained and looked after by qualified professionals.
F. Disposal: Disposal is the ultimate fate of all solid wastes management, whether residential waste, school waste, industrial waste, incinerator residue or other substances from the various solid waste processing plants that are of no further use to the society. This issue is not only a problem in Nigeria, but even some countries in Africa and around the globe equally have the same problem in dealing with this matter.
Emeka Jilly Ejiowhor
08039495237
