Question

QUESTION ONE: CASE STUDY
Title: Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Kanzo Metropolitan Area, Sikaman
Kanzo is a metropolitan area in Sikaman, a least developed country in West Africa, which has experienced rapid
urbanisation over the past six decades. The population of Kanzo in 1965 was 45,000, which tripled in two
decades, and further reached 1.2 million in the year 2005. The National Development Planning Council
(NDPC), headquartered in Kanzo has estimated that the city’s population surpassed the threshold of 5 million
in 2019. City authorities have become worried, considering the current rate of urbanisation pegged at 3 percent
per annum. The population growth coupled with the rapid expansion of the city has resulted in an urban sprawl
and uncontrolled expansion from the adjourning municipalities. Also, there has been an increased crowding
resulting in higher occupancy ratios in existing housing units, and the infilling of vacant plots in existing
residential areas. According to the NDPC, over 70 percent of the population of Kanzo live in low income, high
density population areas which account for many of the slums in the city and its peripheral environs.

Kanzo generates over 3,000 tons of solid waste per day and only about 60 percent is collected by the waste
management organisations contracted through a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement. Of these, the
organic waste, made up of kitchen waste including food leftovers, rotten fruits, vegetables, leaves, crop residues,
animal excreta and bones constitute 65-70% whiles industrial waste made up of plastics, glass, metals, and paper
account for the remaining 30-35%. The high organic and moisture contents left in the open at prevailing high
temperatures require frequent removals, which place additional burden on an over strained collection system.
Experts have warned that the delays and inefficiencies in the solid waste collection system in Kanzo, is what
has accounted for the high incidence of cholera, typhoid fever, malaria, and other health hazards witnessed in
the metropolis. Especially in low income areas where the waste is not segregated but mixed due to inadequate
sanitation facilities, the problem becomes more compounded.
The lack of proper land use planning in Kanzo, also hinders effective sanitation and waste management
practices. As reported in the April 9, 2019 edition of the Daily Mail Newspaper, the lack of comprehensive
planning, the absence of planning controls, week enforcement of bye-laws, indiscipline, difficulty to apply
service charges, limited number of waste management organisations, and the lack of an adequate and well
maintained infrastructure in the urban, and industrial development processes is responsible Kanzo’s
environmental problems. The publication further outlines that the poor layouts, untarred and narrow nature of
the road networks particularly in slums, make it difficult for waste collection vehicles to reach some parts of the
city compound the situation. This uncontrolled urbanisation has resulted in an increase in the average travel
distance to be covered by collection vehicles and additional cost to waste management.
In January, 2020, resident associations from all sub-metropolitan areas of Kanzo staged a mammoth
demonstration at the city centre and presented a petition to the Office of the Mayor of Kanzo, Dr. E.M Hygiene,
to express their concerns on the unsustainable manner and poor solid waste management system, as well as the
environmental risks associated with the practice.
REQUIRED:

i. Identify any four (4) major causes of the poor solid waste management and sanitation problems
confronting the Kanzo Metropolitan Area.

ii. Discuss any three (3) environmental risks which the poor solid waste management practices may pose
to residents of Kanzo and suggest what the residents can do to help solve the problem.

iii. From the above case, use your knowledge in waste management to recommend three (3) sustainable
ways by which the City Authorities can solve this problem.

Answer 1

i) four major causes of the poor solid waste management and sanitation problems confronting the Kanzo Metropolitan Area.
1) Lack of comprehensive planning
2) the absence of planning controls
3) weak enforcement of bye-laws
4) indiscipline, difficulty to apply service charges etc.

ii) Discuss any three (3) environmental risks which the poor solid waste management practices may pose to residents of Kanzo and suggest what the residents can do to help solve the problem.
In the given scenario of Kanzo, the following are the major environmental risks
1) high incidence of cholera, typhoid fever, malaria, and other health hazards
2) only about 60 percent is collected by the waste management organizations
3) The high organic and moisture contents left in the open at prevailing high temperatures require frequent removals, which place additional burden on an over strained collection system.
For a proper solid waste management, the residents can also contribute something. The major thing people can do is reducing the wastage of items and reuse and recycling of plastic items and all. For food wastes and all the collecting organizations can place separate waste bins for different items. For plastic and metal items, the authorities can open recycling centers so that some people will get ob also. Another major thing is awareness. The authorities should give proper care on making the people aware of the needs and importance of waste management.

iii) recommend three (3) sustainable ways by which the City Authorities can solve this problem.
The first thing is reuse and recycle. Theis is the most important way through which solid wastes can be reduced to a large extend. If the authorities starts a recycling unit in that city itself and give employment to the people, then they will get motivated to contribute to the unit.
The second one is making the school students in cleaning programs. When school students became participants in cleaning programs, the parents will also get knowledge and importance of the cleaning process and practice.
Third thing the authorities can do is make people aware of birth control and reducing the urbanization because the hike in population and rapid urbanization are the major thing which lead to this waste dumping.