Showing posts with label waste management. Show all posts

Waste Management: Nairobi's Indifference Hurts!

STUDY RESULTS: NAIROBI RESIDENTS RELATIONSHIP AND PERCEPTION OF WASTE AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
By Christine M. Mahihu


How Green Are African Cities?
January 27, 2013.

It is no secret we have a waste management issues in our beloved capital city. Management issues at the City Council, now the County Council, the institution constitutionally responsible for waste collection and disposal, has contributed greatly to the sorry state of waste management in the City. However, what role do we as Nairobi citizens play? The purpose of this study was to help understand people’s perception of waste and it’s management.

The study was conducted to gauge how well informed Nairobi residents are on matters of waste management and also their attitudes towards waste. It has become very common to see piles of trash all over the city and when we receive heavy rains, streets flood making them impassable and traffic a nightmare. During the rainy season last year, the brand new Thika highway flooded after a spate of heavy rains. Social media was awash with complaints towards the Chinese construction company that won the tender to build the highway. A few however, wondered if it was drivers and pedestrians habit of throwing trash on the road that was the cause

“In this case, we must acknowledge our own responsibility for our flooded roads and leave the Chinese out of it. We cannot live first-class lives without developing first-class habits!” (Atwoli, 2013)

It is events like these that led us to carry out a mini study on Nairobi citizen’s perceptions of waste.

How many of us take responsibility for the waste suffocating our city? If not ourselves, who then do we point fingers at? According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), only 40% of total generated waste in urban centers reaches designated dumping areas. More than half (61%) of waste is generated by residents while 20% is from industries; meaning we the residents are responsible for the bulk of waste generated in Nairobi. It is estimated that by 2020, the waste generated in Nairobi daily will be approximately 5400 tones from the current 2,500 to 3,000 tons per day. If not dealt with adequately now, the issue is bound to get worse in the future.


How long does it take to biodegrade?
Summary of Results

From the findings it was clear the sampled city residents are fairly knowledgeable on issues related to waste management, however, less than 50% had knowledge on recycling of waste materials. There was little concern and or knowledge of where our waste goes among responders; only 36% indicated they knew where their waste ends up. Majority of the responders, regardless of their knowledge of where waste goes, said Dandora was the final destination. This is despite the fact it was declared full 13 years ago and is a health and environmental hazard, especially to those who live around it.

While most of our respondents agreed that everyone is responsible for waste generation, 88% placed waste management responsibility on the County Council, formerly City Council of Nairobi, and only a few took personal responsibility . Apart from blaming the whole system set up (public structures that deal with waste management), people also viewed culture and ignorance as a cause of Nairobi’s poor waste management. When it came to consequences of waste mismanagement, health was cited as the greatest concern among survey respondents as well as pollution and aesthetics. Perceptions of waste management differed slightly among age groups and economic class levels; older responders seemed more awareness while residents from low income areas took more responsibility.

Although this study was not fully representative, it gave a glimpse of how residents of Nairobi relate to waste. From the results, we recommend creating awareness on the waste disposal cycle and its benefits, especially among the youth. More encouragement of private sector and community based organizations to participate in waste management is also highly recommended. Exploring and expanding job creation opportunities in this field will go a long way in dealing with proper disposal and recycling of waste.


Waste Cycle

Education, especially in Primary schools, would also encourage participation in waste management so as to encourage early responsible behavior and active engagement with key players. We all need to be involved in the collection, disposal and recycling of our waste as this will also go a long way in keeping the institutions involved on their toes.

Regardless of all steps taken to deal with waste in the city, the biggest impact will be felt when residents take more responsibility in managing their own waste and demanding waste be disposed of in an effective, responsible way that protects the health of both the environment and the people that depend on it.

**Stay tuned for the full report to be published at a later date.
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Climate Change: What Does That Really Mean?



According to the World Bank June 19, 2013


As the coastal cities of Africa and Asia expand, many of their poorest residents are being pushed to the edges of livable land and into the most dangerous zones for climate change. Their informal settlements cling to riverbanks and cluster in low-lying areas with poor drainage, few public services, and no protection from storm surges, sea-level rise, and flooding.
These communities – the poor in coastal cities and on low-lying islands – are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change and the least able to marshal the resources to adapt, a new report finds. They face a world where climate change will increasingly threaten the food supplies of Sub-Saharan Africa and the farm fields and water resources of South Asia and South East Asia within the next three decades, while extreme weather puts their homes and lives at risk.
A new scientific report commissioned by the World Bank and released on June 19, explores the risks to lives and livelihoods in these three highly vulnerable regions.Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience (Read it in Issuu, Scribd, and Open Knowledge Repository) takes the climate discussion to the next level, building on a 2012 World Bank report that concluded from a global perspective that without a clear mitigation strategy and effort, the world is headed for average temperatures 4 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times, by the end of this century.

Small number, big problem
Communities around the world are already feeling the impacts of climate change today, with the planet only 0.8 ºC warmer than in pre-industrial times. Many of us could experience the harsher impacts of a 2ºC warmer world within our lifetimes – 20 to 30 years from now – and  4ºC is likely by the end of the century without global action.
The report lays out what these temperature increases will look like, degree-by-degree, in each targeted region and the damage anticipated for agricultural production, coastal cities, and water resources.
“The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat-waves, and more intense cyclones," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. "In the near-term, climate change, which is already unfolding, could batter the slums even more and greatly harm the lives and the hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the Earth's temperature.”
The report, based on scientific analysis by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, uses advanced computer simulations to paint the clearest picture of each region’s vulnerabilities. It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia that can lead to flooding in some areas and water scarcity in others, as well as affecting power supply.
“The second phase of this report truly reiterates our need to bring global attention to the tasks necessary to hold warming to 2ºC,” said Rachel Kyte, the Bank’s vice president for sustainable development. “Our ideas at the World Bank have already been put into practice as we move forward to assist those whose lives are particularly affected by extreme weather events.”
Open Quotes
The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat-waves, and more intense cyclones. Close Quotes
Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group
Jim Yong KimPresident, World Bank Group
Sub-Saharan Africa
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the researchers found food security will be the overarching challenge, with dangers from droughts, flooding, and shifts in rainfall.
Between 1.5°C-2°C warming, drought and aridity, will contribute to farmers losing  40-80 percent of cropland conducive to growing maize, millet, and sorghum by the 2030s-2040s, the researchers found.
In a 4°C warmer world, around the 2080s, annual precipitation may decrease by up to 30 percent in southern Africa, while East Africa will see more rainfall, according to multiple studies. Ecosystem changes to pastoral lands, such as a shift from grass to woodland savannas as levels of carbon dioxide increase, could reduce food for grazing cattle.
In South East Asia, coastal cities will be under intense stress due to climate change.
A sea-level rise of 30 cm, possible by 2040 if business as usual continues, would cause massive flooding in cities and inundate low-lying cropland with saltwater corrosive to crops. Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, a global rice producer, is particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise.  A 30 cm sea-level rise there could result in the loss of about 11 percent of crop production. At the same time, storm intensity is likely to increase.
The study also describes rising ocean acidity leading to the loss of coral reefs and the benefits they provide as fish habitats, protection against storms, and revenue-generators in the form of tourism.  Warmer water temperatures and habitat destruction could also lead to a 50 percent decrease in the ocean fish catch in the southern Philippines, the report says.
Water scarcity in some areas and overabundance of water in others are the hallmarks of climate change in South Asia, the researchers found.
Inconsistences in the monsoon season and unusual heat extremes will affect crops. Loss of snow melt from the Himalayas will reduce the flow of water into the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra basins. Together, they threaten to leave hundreds of millions of people without enough water, food, or access to reliable energy. Bangladesh and the Indian cities of Kolkata and Mumbai will be confronted with increased flooding, intense cyclones, sea-level rise, and warming temperatures. 
World Bank’s response
In his first year as president of the World Bank, Jim Kim has raised the profile of climate change in speeches and in conversations with leaders around the world, as well as within the institution. The Bank is currently working with 130 countries on climate change; it doubled its lending for adaptation to $4.6 billion in 2012 and put $7.1 billion into mitigation, in addition to its work with carbon finance and the Climate Investment Funds; and it now includes climate change in all country assessments.
The Bank is also developing a Climate Management Action Plan, informed by theTurn Down the Heat reports, to direct its future work and finance through a climate lens. Among other things, the Bank will:
•             Help countries develop strategic plans and investment pipelines that integrate the risks and opportunities of climate change.
•             Provide the tools that countries and cities need to better assess and adapt to climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions tracking, energy use and efficiency assessments, and assessments of resilience.
•             Create best practices and norms through its projects for making infrastructure resilient, not just today but decades into the future.
•             Use its convening power, financial leverage and targeted climate funds to increase support for clean energy, low-carbon development, and climate resilience.
In order to help countries build resilience, the Bank will prioritize the most vulnerable areas, manage water availability and extremes, and increase its efforts to meet growing food demand. It will work with the world’s largest emitters to lower their impact through carbon emissions and short-lived climate pollutants. Its specialists are working on ways to help governments end fossil fuel subsidies while protecting the poor, connect global carbon markets, and make agriculture and cities climate-smart and resilient.
 “I do not believe the poor are condemned to the future scientists envision in this report,” Kim said. “We are determined to work with countries to find solutions.”
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Waste and Water Management: What A Trashy Affair!


There are worse ills than the awful stench that assaults you if you are around the Dandora Municipal Dump site.

The area occupied by this site was once a limestone pit but is now home to decaying domestic, industrial, medical and agricultural refuse.

How did the the Dandora Municipal Dump site come to be? 

The Dandora Municipal Dumpsite was put in place by the City Council of Nairobi to hold waste generated by the (now) 3.5 million inhabitants of Nairobi.

The Dump site reached capacity long before 2004, the year it was to be decommission and to date the City Council has yet to develop and implement an alternative site or method for managing the waste generated by the inhabitants of Nairobi or its environs.

8 years were spent putting together a plan for the decommissioning of the Dandora Municipal Dump site, but conflict between the Council and the Kenya Airports Authority  over the relocation of the dump site to Ruai have ground to a halt. The dump site continues to be used despite being in contravention  with the Constitution of Kenya and a "raft of Laws and Court Judgements".


How has the environment been impacted?

The waste at the Dandora Municipal Dump site has polluted the soil, water and air directly affecting more than 200, 000 people in surrounding settlements of Korogocho, Babadogo, Lucky Summer and Dandora.

How have the residents of the adjacent settlements been affected?



There is evidence that people living near the dump site suffer from respiratory diseases, endocrine complications and cancer. Majority of the children in the area have heavy metal concentrations in their blood.

What does the law have to say on the matter?

The Local Government Act, Section 201, confers legal responsibility of solid waste management to the City Council of Nairobi.

The Public Health Act provides that the Council has to employ all lawful, necessary and practicable measures to keep their jurisdiction clean and sanitary to prevent occurrence of nuisance or conditions liable to be injurious or dangerous to human health.

The Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) 1999, explicitly prohibits discharge or disposal of any waste in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment or ill health to any person. The Act prohibits, ... disposal of waste at any site not established in accordance with a license issued by the Authority ...disposal of toxic waste into or near a water resource or the atmosphere.




Despite the obvious damage to the environment and the people that live and work around the Dandora Municipal Dump site, all relevant authorities have failed to act to resolve the stalemate that prevents the City Council from moving the site, prompting it to improve its waste management practises. All of us, every one of us, continues to let the situation continue to deteriorate. We continue to let an additional 850 tonnes of waste be dumped there and still we do nothing.

What are we waiting for? How long will we let this trashy affair continue?



**All information contained in this post was pulled from the Trash and Tragedy report published by Concern Worldwide (2012). Go here to review the full report.
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