Planning for sustainable municipal solid waste management
Practical Action
Are waste generators willing to segregate waste or participate in door-to-door collection?
What is used for waste storage in homes at present?
Information gathered at this stage can also be useful for planning other aspects of SWM (e.g.
primary collection).
Waste needs to be stored in homes before being collected. Households generally prefer the
storage period to be as short as possible because - particularly in warmer climates - waste begins
to decompose and smell quickly. Household waste storage containers should have lids to protect
the waste from the rain, to control odour and keep rodents, birds, cats and dogs away.
Attitudes and behaviour
The attitudes and behaviour of waste generators can have significant impacts on solid waste
management. For example they may cooperate and segregate waste, or they may dump mixed
waste indiscriminately on the streets. Awareness raising campaigns using messages such as
'Reduce -- Reuse -- Recycle' can be used to change attitudes and modify behaviour amongst
householders and businesses. These can be an important aspect of solid waste management.
Successful campaigns could result in reduced wastage in homes, encourage reuse (for example
of plastic bags), promote separation of recyclable materials for giving/selling to waste collectors,
and even lead to home composting of organic waste (see 'Organic waste composting' technical
brief). Each of these reduces the burden on the solid waste management system, and can result
in environmental improvements.
Engaging waste generators may lead to community-led SWM initiatives. These can be effective
vehicles for improving the cleanliness of neighbourhoods, gaining widespread support and
increasing rates of resource recovery.
Primary collection
Why is planning this important? Primary collection is what helps ensure waste enters the waste
management process without ending up on streets or blocking drains. Careful planning is
required to ensure solutions address a range of stakeholder needs.
Primary collection may be undertaken by waste generators themselves, domestic helpers or paid
waste collectors. Key planning questions include:
Are householders and other generators using any collection service at present? If so are
they happy with this, and if not is there a demand for it? Are people willing to pay for
this service?
How can the coverage of existing waste collection activities be increased and/or new
initiatives be started?
How can waste collection from poor as well as richer areas be ensured?
Often primary collection (as indicated by on Figure 1) is undertaken by informal-sector
entrepreneurs who charge a fee for periodic removal of waste. NGOs and small businesses
occasionally also fill this role, and on rare occasions, it is undertaken by municipalities. Because
it is suited to labour-intensive approaches, this SWM function is particularly appropriate for
providing employment to the poor. Primary collection can result in higher rates of resource-
recovery from businesses and households, particularly where generators are segregating
recyclable and organic waste.
The vehicles used for primary collection are often small and low-cost, such as wheelbarrows,
handcarts or tricycles carts (see 'Human and animal powered waste collection vehicles' technical
brief for more detail). These enable access to small sidestreets and can be used on uneven
surfaces.
Embracing the informal sector
Informal sector workers are important stakeholders in solid waste management. They are an
existing skilled and motivated workforce, which can sometimes be utilised as part of a
sustainable and equitable solid waste management initiative. In some instances conflicts of
interest may arise as SWM systems are improved and formalised. It is important to be able to
make informed decisions about how to address and resolve them if necessary. Understanding the
informal sector should be part of any baseline assessment.
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