Rethinking of the Solid Waste Management System of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Document Type : Review Article(s)

Authors

College of Environmental Science and Engineering, UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

10.32598/JAEHR.9.1.1198

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management is an important component of urban services that is often handled by local governments. Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia faces rapid urbanization leading to overcrowding and the development of shantytowns and poor neighborhoods. The general aim of this study was to appraise the present dry waste service provision of Addis Ababa. This study used an integrative literature review method with critical analysis to investigate the current solid waste management status in Addis Ababa. The results of this study show that the delivery of the service does not keep pace with the city's solid waste generation and the city's municipal disposal of solid waste is found in actual, low status and spatial coverage. This humble status of city garbage management is also heightened by three critical factors, i.e. poor institutional structure, inadequate disposal site and transfer station, and poor households' solid waste handling practices. Besides, the city households dominantly created decomposable solid wastes (60%) through generation amount of 0.45 kg/person/day and the main source are residential wastes, which account for 76% of the total waste. The sudy concluded that, the main problem with the incompetence of this sector in the city was the lack of trained labor and inadequate service delivery. In order to improve the status, there should be awareness creation, improvement of the city government, and implementation of an incorporated method to the management of metropolitan solid waste that respects and involves all stakeholders in the metropolis. 

Keywords


  1. Chinasho A. Review on community based municipal solid waste management and its implication for climate change mitigation. Am J Sci Ind Res. 2015; 6(3):41-6. https://www.scihub.org/AJSIR/PDF/2015/3/AJSIR-6-3-41-46.pdf
  2. Singh GK, Gupta K, Chaudhary Sh. Solid waste management: Its sources, collection, transportation, and recycling. Int J Environ Sci Dev. 2014; 5(4):347-51. [DOI:10.7763/IJESD.2014.V5.507]
  3. Kaza S, Yao LC, Bhada-Tata P, Van Woerden F. What a waste 2.0: A global snapshot of solid waste management to 2050. Washington DC: World Bank; 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30317
  4. Abdel-Shafy HI, Mansour MSM. Solid waste issue: Sources, composition, disposal, recycling, and valorization. Egypt J Pet. 2018; 27(4):1275-90. [DOI:10.1016/j.ejpe.2018.07.003]
  5. Cheru M. Solid waste management in Addis Ababa: A new approach to improving the waste management system [BSc. thesis]. Helsinki: Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences; 2016. https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/121490/Cheru_Meaza.pdf
  6. Simpson E. Sustainable development goals worth sharing. OIDA Int J Sustain Dev. 2016; 9(3):115-22. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/politicalsciencepub/130/
  7. Wilson DC, Rodic L, Modak P, Soos R, Carpintero Rogero A, Velis C, et al. Global waste management outlook. Osaka: United Nations Environment Programme; 2015. https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-waste-management-outlook
  8. Rodić L, Wilson DC. Resolving governance issues to achieve priority sustainable development goals related to solid waste management in developing countries. Sustainability. 2017; 9(3):404. [DOI:10.3390/su9030404]
  9. Birara E, Kassahun T. Assessment of solid waste management practices in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. Pollution. 2018; 4(2):251-61. [DOI:10.22059/POLL.2017.240774.311]
  10. Guerrero LA, Maas G, Hogland W. Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste Manag. 2013; 33(1):220-32. [DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2012.09.008] [PMID]
  11. Ziraba AK, Haregu TN, Mberu B. A review and framework for understanding the potential impact of poor solid waste management on health in developing countries. Arch Public Health. 2016; 74:55. [DOI:10.1186/s13690-016-0166-4] [PMID] [PMCID]
  12. Fesseha SN, Bin F. The assessment of solid waste products management in Ethiopians municipal urban areas. Int J Soc Sci Manag. 2015; 2(2):165-79. [DOI:10.3126/ijssm.v2i2.12468]
  13. Mohammed A, Elias E. Domestic solid waste management and its environmental impacts in Addis Ababa city. J of Environ Waste Manag. 2017; 4(1):194-203. https://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/citations/88700
  14. Evans D, Kowanko I. Literature reviews: Evolution of a research methodology. Aust J Adv Nurs. 2000; 18(2):33-8. [PMID]
  15. Mazloomi S, Vaez Madani BS, Hosseini M, Majlessi M, Amarlooei A. Analyzing the costs of collection and transportation of municipal solid waste using WAGs and Arc GIS: A case study in Tabriz, Iran. J Adv Environ Health Res. 2015;3(4):258-65. [DOI:10.22102/JAEHR.2015.40210]
  16. Srivastava V, Ismail SA, Singh P, Singh RP. Urban solid waste management in the developing world with emphasis on India: Challenges and opportunities. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol. 2015; 14(2):317-37. [DOI:10.1007/s11157-014-9352-4]
  17. Erami S, Pashaei T, Shahmoradi B. Developing a questionnaire on Strategies for increasing housewives’ participation in source separation of municipal solid waste based on the theory of planned behavior. J Adv Environ Health Res. 2015; 3(1):1-7. [DOI:10.22102/JAEHR.2015.40179]
  18. Lu H, Sidortsov R. Sorting out a problem: A co-production approach to household waste management in Shanghai, China. Waste Manag. 2019; 95:271-7. [DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2019.06.020] [PMID]
  19. Das S. Bhattacharyya BK. Optimization of municipal solid waste collection and transportation routes. Waste Manag. 2015; 43:9-18. [DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.06.033] [PMID]
  20. Henry RK, Yongsheng Zh, Jun D. Municipal solid waste management challenges in developing countries--Kenyan case study. Waste Manage. 2006; 26(1):92-100. [DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2005.03.007] [PMID]
  21. Abebe MA. Challenges and practice of plastic bottles, paper and carton generation and collection in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia. Eur J Res. 2018; 5-6:12-29. http://journalofresearch.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/12-29.pdf
  22. Amdebrhan E. The assessment of solid waste management in Addis Ababa: The case of Kirkos Sub-Cities [MA. thesis). Addis Ababa: Mary's University; 2014. http://repository.smuc.edu.et/handle/123456789/2772
  23. Beyene H, Banerjee S. Assessment of the pollution status of the solid waste disposal site of Addis Ababa city with some selected trace elements, Ethiopia. World Appl Sci J. 2011; 14(7):1048-57. https://www.idosi.org/wasj/wasj14(7)11/16.pdf
  24. Miezah K, Obiri-Danso K, Kádár Z, Fei-Baffoe B, Mensah MY. Municipal solid waste characterization and quantification as a measure towards effective waste management in Ghana. Waste Manag. 2015; 46:15-27. [DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.009] [PMID]
  25. Tessema M. Overview of Addis Ababa city dry waste management system [Internet]. 2010 [Updated 2010 February]. Available from: https://www.un.org/esa/dsd/susdevtopics/sdt_pdfs/meetings2010/icm0310/2b-2_Tessema.pdf
  26. Tassie K, Endalew B, Mulugeta A. Composition, generation and management method of municipal solid waste in Addis Ababa city, central Ethiopia: A review. Asian J Environ Ecol. 2019; 9(2):1-19. [DOI:10.9734/ajee/2019/v9i230088]
  27. Gyimah P, Mariwah S, Antwi KB, Ansah-Mensah K. Households’ solid waste separation practices in the Cape Coast in Metropolitan area, Ghana. GeoJournal. 2021; 86:567-83. [DOI:10.1007/s10708-019-10084-4]
  28. Getinet Z. Solid waste management practice and factors influencing its effectiveness: The case of selected private waste collecting companies in Addis Ababa. Paper presented at: Proceedings of the 8th Multi-Disciplinary Seminar. August 2016. http://repository.smuc.edu.et/handle/123456789/3019
  29. Kibrekidusan S. Evaluation of Addis Ababa’s in-house solid waste management activities, threats and prospects: the Yeka sub-city case [MA thesis]. Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University; 2017.
  30. Tilaye M, van Dijk MP. Private sector participation in solid waste collection in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) by involving micro enterprises. Waste Manag Res. 2014; 32(1):79-87. [DOI:10.1177/0734242X13513826] [PMID]
  31. Tilaye M. Informal micro-enterprises and solid waste collection: The case study of Addis Ababa. Ethiop J Soc Sci Humanit. 2014; 10(1):101-25. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ejossah/article/view/109615
  32. Alene NB. Politicizing waste collection and disciplining waste collectors: A critical analysis of waste management practice in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2003-2012) [PhD. dissertation]. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto; 2015. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/75611
  33. Zewdu A. Municipal solid waste management and characterization in Aksum and Shire-Endaslassie towns, North Ethiopia. J Environ Earth Sci. 2014; 4(13):81-8. https://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JEES/article/view/14231
  34. Bogale D, Kumie A, Tefera W. Assessment of occupational injuries among Addis Ababa city municipal solid waste collectors: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2014; 14:169. [DOI:10.1186/1471-2458-14-169] [PMID] [PMCID]
  35. Regassa N, Sundaraa RD, Seboka BB. Challenges and opportunities in municipal solid waste management: The case of Addis Ababa city, central Ethiopia. J Hum Ecol. 2011; 33(3):179-90. [DOI:10.1080/09709274.2011.11906358]
  36. Desta H, Worku H, Fetene A. Assessment of the contemporary municipal solid waste management in urban environment: The case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. J Environ Sci Technol. 2014; 7(2):107-22. [DOI:10.3923/jest.2014.107.122]
  37. Lema G, Getachew Mesfun M, Eshete A, Abdeta G. Assessment of status of solid waste management in Asella town, Ethiopia. BMC Public Health. 2019; 19(1):1261. [DOI:10.1186/s12889-019-7551-1] [PMID] [PMCID]
  38. Gedefaw M. Assessing the current status of solid waste management of Gondar town, Ethiopia. Int J Sci Technol Res. 2015; 4(9):28-36. https://www.ijstr.org/final-print/sep2015/Assessing-The-Current-Status-Of-Solid-Waste-Management-Of-Gondar-Town-Ethiopia.pdf
  39. Abebe MA. Social impact of solid waste temporary storage area in Addis Ababa city. Int J Sci Eng Sci. 2017; 1(10):1-6. http://ijses.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/147-IJSES-V1N9.pdf
  40. Mazhindu E, Gumbo T, Gondo T. Waste management threats to human health and urban aquatic habitats - A case study of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In: Fernando L, Rebellon M, editors. Waste Management: An Integrated Vision. London: IntechOpen; 2012. [DOI:10.5772/48077]
  41. Lausselet C, Cherubini F, del Alamo Serrano G, Becidan M, Strømman AH. Life-cycle assessment of a waste-to-energy plant in central Norway: Current situation and effects of changes in waste fraction composition . Waste Manag. 2016; 58:191-201. [DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2016.09.014] [PMID]
  42. Hashemi H, Safari M, Ebrahimi A, Khodabakhshi A. Increasing of leachate quality using an integrated aerobic membrane bioreactor. J Adv Environ Health Res. 2015; 3(1):27-32. [DOI:10.22102/JAEHR.2015.40182]
  43. Akaateba MA, Yakubu I. Householders’ satisfaction towards solid waste collection services of zoomlion Ghana LTD in Wa, Ghana. Eur Sci J. 2013; 9(32):198-213. https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/2023
  44. National Toxic Network. Burning waste for energy it’s not stacking-up: Exposing energy technology in Australia [Internet]. 2013 [Updated 2013 August]. Available from: https://ntn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/NTN-waste-to-energy-incineration-report-2013.1-1.pdf
  45. Eurostat. GDP per capita in PPS [Internet]. 2020 [Updated 2021 February 15]. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/tec00114
  46. World Energy Council. World energy resources. London: World Energy Council; 2013. https://www.worldenergy.org/assets/images/imported/2013/09/Complete_WER_2013_Survey.pdf
  47. Tayework A. Evaluation of energy potential from solid medical waste at Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital [MSc. thesis]. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University; 2018. http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/18611
  48. Papargyropoulou E, Lozano R, Steinberger JK, Wright N, Ujang ZB. The food waste hierarchy as a framework for the management of food surplus and food waste. J Clean Prod. 2014; 76:106-15. [DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.020]
  49. Suryawanshi S, Vlad AM, Lin HM, Mantia-Smaldone G, Laskey R, Lee M, et al. Plasma microRNAs as novel biomarkers for endometriosis and endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2013; 19(5):1213-24. [DOI:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-2726] [PMID] [PMCID]
  50. Teferi ZA. Slum regeneration and development of sustainable communities: A case of Addis Ababa [PhD thesis]. Australian: Curtin University; 2017.
  51. Kassie KE. The problem of solid waste management and people awareness on appropriate solid waste disposal in Bahir Dar City: Amhara region, Ethiopia. ISABB Journal of Health and Environmental Sciences. 2016; 3(1):1-8. https://academicjournals.org/journal/ISABB-JHE/article-abstract/5F8EE9559300
  52. Khajuria A, Yamamoto Y, Morioka T. Estimation of municipal solid waste generation and landfill area in Asian developing countries. J Environ Biol. 2010; 31(5):649-54. [PMID]
  53. Minale M, Worku T. Anaerobic co-digestion of sanitary wastewater and kitchen solid waste for biogas and fertilizer production under ambient temperature: Waste generated from condominium house. Int J Environ Sci Technol. 2014; 11(2):509-16. [DOI:10.1007/s13762-013-0255-7]
  54. Dika G, Nemie A, Birhane E. Household’s willingness to pay for improved solid waste management in Gulelle Sub city, Addis Ababa. Energy Environ Eng. 2019; 6(1):1-7. [DOI:10.13189/eee.2019.060101]
  55. Gadallah WBH. Impact of waste on environment in Ombada locality, Khartoum State, Sudan [MSc. thesis]. Sudan: Sudan University of Science & Technology; 2016.
  56. Bjerkli CL. Urban services and governance: The case of solid waste management in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [PhD. dissertation]. Trondheim: Norwegian University of Science and Technology; 2013. https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/handle/11250/265502