The State of Solid Waste Management in The Gambia

1. The State of Solid Waste Management in The Gambia – a

review

July 2015

Written as part of the Building Capacity for Sustainable Waste Management for Coastal Communities through Women and Youth Livelihoods project delivered in partnership with Brikama Area Council, The Gambia; Womens’ Initiative The Gambia; led by Concern Universal Gambia and Senegal.

Funded by the European Union Written by: Mike Webster WasteAid UK Registered Charity Number 1160263

1.   INTRODUCTION 1  

2.   THE CHALLENGE OF BETTER WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SUB=SAHARAN AFRICA – AN OVERVIEW 2  2.1   Problems caused by inadequate MSWM 2  

3.   WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL IN THE GAMBIA 4  3.1   Administration of Solid Waste Management 4  

3.2   Associated legislation 5  

3.3   Current solid waste situation in West Coast Region – an overview 6  

3.4   Financing of waste management 7  

3.5   Collection and transfer within in urban areas 8  

3.6   Disposal 13  

3.7   Diversion of material from the residual waste stream 18  

3.8   Behaviour Change Aspects 23  

3.9   Technical training in waste and resource management 24  

4.   MATERIAL FLOWS, STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS AND MAPPING 26  4.1   Material flows 26  

4.2   Waste Stakeholders – The Gambia 27  

4.3   Stakeholder analysis 28  

5.   PREVIOUS RESEARCH 31  

6.   CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION 32  6.1   The Current State of Waste and Recycling in The Gambia 32  

6.2   Challenges and Opportunities 32  

7.   BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INTERVIEWS 34  7.1   Interviews 34  

7.2   Bibliography 34  

1. INTRODUCTION

This review is the first of a series of reports produced as part of the Building Capacity for Sustainable Waste Management for Coastal Communities through Women and Youth Livelihoods project funded by the GCCA support project to The Gambia for integrated coastal zone management and the mainstreaming of climate change.

The aim of it is to:

• Understand previous research and project work within relevant fields in The Gambia, ensuring that this project builds upon thisk and avoids replication.

• Understand the current state of Solid Waste Management (SWM) within The Gambia with a view to identifying suitable intervention points for this and future projects, placing it in a wider sub-Saharan African context, using Brikama Area Council as an example.

• Identify key stakeholders within the waste and recycling sector within The Gambia, with a view to adding value and providing appropriate support to improve health, employment and environmental outcomes from waste management.

2. THE CHALLENGE OF BETTER WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SUB=SAHARAN AFRICA – AN OVERVIEW

Waste collection costs can represent over 70% of the solid waste management budget of many municipalities in developing countries (UNEP, 2009, Rotich et al., 2006 and Tchobanoglous and Kreith, 2002) and about 60% or less for OECD countries (Brunner & Fellner, 2007). Despite being a major drain on municipal budgets, many households in many cities receive no Solid Waste Management (SWM) collections services at all, with the result that much waste ends up in the environment - 30-60 per cent of all urban solid wastes remain uncollected and less than 50 per cent of the population is served (UNEP-IETC, 2009). Although the ultimate responsibility to manage solid waste is a legally prescribed municipal task in most countries, solid waste management (SWM) services are inadequately provided in many municipalities in the developing world. A large portion of residents does not receive waste collection services and most of the disposal sites are poorly operated (Diaz et al., 2007, Ball, 2007 and Gonzenbach and Coad, 2007) and the waste produced by burgeoning cities is overwhelming local authorities and national governments alike (Tacoli, 2012 and Yousif and Scott, 2007). Limited resources result in the perpetuation and aggravation of inequalities already being experienced by the most vulnerable of populations (Konteh, 2009 and UNDP, 2010). Formal private sector involvement remains low in general due to various reasons such as insufficient legal guidance, low sector development, restricted funds and lack of know how to sustain waste management services. Hence, in many developing countries waste collection and material recovery activities are taken over by the Informal Waste Sector (IWS) to a large degree. Collection, transfer and transport practices are affected by improper bin collection systems, poor route planning, lack of information about collection schedule (Hazra and Goel, 2009), insufficient infrastructure (Moghadam et al., 2009), poor roads and number of vehicles for waste collection (Henry et al., 2006). Organizing the informal sector and promoting micro-enterprises were mentioned by Sharholy et al. (2008) as effective ways of extending affordable waste collection services.

2.1 Problems caused by inadequate MSWM Due to low industrialization, the complexity and quantity of waste in developing countries (countries whose indexes in terms of living standard, industrial development, Gross National Income, etc. is low relative to other countries) is not similar to that of the developed ones (Abd Manaf et al., 2009 and Moghadam et al., 2009). However the currently applied methods to manage MSW involve open dumping, open burning which have a negative impact on both the environment and the human health and in some rare cases landfills (Nemerow et al., 2009). In most developing countries, the inadequate treatment of MSW poses a serious threat to the environment (Pin-Jing, 2012 and Perkoulidis et al., 2011). Activities such as collection, temporal storage, transportation, processing, treatment and disposal (Nemerow et al., 2009) which are at the responsibility of municipalities (Abdrabo, 2008 and Moghadam et al., 2009) are not performed due to lack of organization, financial resources, complexity and system multi dimensionality (Burntley, 2007, Guerrero et al., 2013 and Sujauddin et al., 2008). It is well documented that uncontrolled ways used to get rid of household solid waste face many environmental changes (rain, sun, wind), that contribute in creating unsanitary conditions, waste leachate and spread of odours, all of which pose a threat to public health and cause environmental pollution (Thanh et al., 2010, Edjabou et al., 2012, Musleh, 2002, Abdrabo, 2008 and Moghadam et al., 2009), health hazards including injuries; 58% of the interviewed children have been injured from glass disposed in the streets (Al-Khatib, 2009).

Uncollected solid waste is a serious public health issue in many developing countries, with both direct effects on child health, and indirect effects through blocked drains causing the spread of water-borne diseases and widespread flooding (Wilson et al., 2013); UN-Habitat health data shows that rates of diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections are significantly higher for children living in households where solid waste is dumped, or burned in the yard, compared to households in the same cities that receive a regular waste collection service. Examples include a major flood in Surat in India in 1994, which resulted in an outbreak of a plague-like disease, affecting 1000 people and killing 56. Annual floods in East and West African, and Indian cities are blamed, at least in part, on plastic bags blocking drains (UNEP-IETC, 2009). Poor handling and disposal of solid waste are major causes of environmental pollution, which creates breeding grounds for pathogenic organisms and the spread of infectious diseases (Boadi 2005). In September 2014 a major cholera outbreak in Accra, Ghana was linked directly to the cessation of municipal collections in slum areas (Ghana Water and Sanitation Journalists, 2014). There are also risks to operatives - waste management procedures in developing countries are associated with occupational safety and health risks. Gastro-intestinal infections, respiratory and skin diseases as well as muscular-skeletal problems and cutting injuries are commonly found among waste workers around the globe (Bleck and Wettberg 2012).

3. WASTE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL IN THE GAMBIA

3.1 Administration of Solid Waste Management

Administration of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) systems takes many different organizational forms across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) but there are a number of key consistencies. At the highest level is the Ministry of Environment or its equivalent. In some countries responsibility for MSWM rests with the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Planning and Development. In many cases this ministry is charged with setting standards for MSWM based on laws enacted by the legislature. It is also through this ministry that international cooperation in MSWM is delivered (UNEP, 2009.

The Gambia is no different. The hierarchy of MSWM is as follows:

Roles of Governmental and Municipal Stakeholders are detailed below (1)

Stakeholder Responsibilities

Ministry of Environment Climate Change Water & Wildlife

The natural resources and environment sector seeks to maintain a sustainable system of management and utilization of The Gambia’s resources with the active participation of local communities to enhance poverty eradication in a manner that ensures the maintenance of the integrity of our ecosystems for the benefit of future generations.

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare

This is the lead Ministry with responsibility for overall coordination, creating an enabling environment for sanitation interventions of all stakeholders in the different sectors and regions and monitoring sanitation standards in households, schools and public facilities:

• It enforce health policies and legislations to promote improved sanitation and proper hygiene practices

• Promotes sanitation social marketing approaches to promote good hygiene and prevention of sanitation related diseases

• Ensures a comprehensive health services deliveries Prosecute offenders of the Public Health Act and Regulations Provide technical backstopping through posting of PHO to the LGAs for improving the sanitation service

1 MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE THE GAMBIA NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SANITATION AND HYGIENE 2011 - 2016

Government  Ministries  

Na/onal  Environment  

Agency  Eight  Municipal  

Govts  

deliveries Guide development partners‟ interventions and ensure a coherent sector approach

Ministry of Local Government and Lands

• Supervise the implementation of the Local Government Act (which lays out responsibilities around solid waste management) Enforce legal regulations on land administration and use

• Enforce physical planning regulations and housing developments

• Provide the technical backstopping to the lined departments under the Ministry Network and collaborate with development partners to improve service deliveries.

Municipalities and Local Government Areas(LGAs)

• Implement the Local Government Act Work with communities to collect rates and taxes from the respective Local Government Areas

• Provide social amenities and support to the needy in the LGA Build and rehabilitate roads and causeways within the localities

• Provide water, solid waste and excreta disposal facilities within the Local Government Areas Manage a waste collection system in the respective LGAs

• Prosecute offenders of the LGA regulations and Acts.

National Environment Agency (NEA)

• Enforce the National Environmental Management act Implement policies and legislations on environmental management and standards

• Develop thorough regulatory instruments and enforce legal standards for effluent disposals

• Implement environmental education & conservation programmes

• Monitor, identify and control the importation and use of toxic and hazardous materials to the public and the environment

Under the Local Government Act (2002), municipalities are responsible for the collection and disposal of municipal waste.

The banning of plastic bags, from July 1st, on environmental grounds, was issued by presidential decree on the 10th April.

3.2 Associated legislation

The National Environment Management Act (1994) is a conglomeration of laws and regulations applicable to environmental protection in the Gambia. The laws and

regulations concern public health and pollution control as well as natural resource management:

• The National Environment Agency (NEA) was set up in 1994 by the National Environment Management Act (NEMA). The Act empowers the Agency, inter alia, to identify and classify materials, processes and wastes that are dangerous to human or animal health and the environment. NEMA has not however made adequate provision for basic sanitation and hygiene services supply and enforcement.

• The Waste Management Bill (2007) is designed to complement the National Environment Management Act (NEMA), by filling the enforcement gaps in the existing environmental legislation in the area of waste management, and thereby ensuring that NEMA environmental protection principles are complied with in respect of international principles and standards on waste management.

• The Anti-Littering Regulation (2008) considers indiscriminate littering as a public offence. It also introduced a nationwide monthly cleansing exercise, locally known as “Set-Setal”, to promote proper environmental sanitation and hygienic practices among the population.

• The Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Act (2008) establishes the Public Utilities Regulatory Agency (PURA) as a regulator for public utilities such as electricity, telecommunications, drinking water supplies, wastewater and waste management. PURA‟s institutional mandate also permits it to recommend and administer a licensing system for public utilities, the periodic assessment of tariffs imposed on customers and the efficiency of service delivery. The agency has established a National Consumer Parliament to provide a platform for consumer-supplier interaction in evaluating service delivery, responding to consumer complaints and so on.

3.3 Current solid waste situation in West Coast Region – an overview

Solid waste management has been devolved to the local government authorities through the 2002 Local Government Act.

Technically, a distinction can be made between municipal solid waste on the one hand (generated from households, offices, schools, public places, etc.) and industrial, medical and hazardous waste on the other hand (generated from industrial plants, health facilities, energy generating plants, etc.). In general, Municipal Cleansing Services provide for the collection, disposal and treatment of municipal waste.

3.3.1 Municipal waste

For the collection of solid waste, a situational analysis study undertaken in (2009) by the National Environment Agency reported that despite the recent acquisition of new tractors by both the Banjul City Council (BCC) and the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), “the capacity of Cleansing Services in these areas is still insufficient”.

In regards to the disposal of solid waste, the inadequacy of disposal facilities throughout the country is of a serious concern. There is evidence of indiscriminate disposal of household and communal waste, although adequate sites have been identified in the growth centres (generally 5-6 km away from the cities) by the National Environment Agency (NEA) after geological tests had been conducted. In the Greater Banjul Area (GBA), there are two waste disposal facilities:

1. The Mile 2 Dumpsite is used for the disposal of 250 Tonnes of waste produced per day by Banjul;

2. The larger Bakoteh Dumpsite receives the garbage generated by in the Kanifing Municipality (Waste Strategy Report, 2003).At the time of writing, Tambana is receiving MSW from Brikama Town and surrounding areas but there is little evidence of any remediation or containment measures.

The issues and concerns associated with these sites are covered in detail in 3.6.

For the treatment of the solid waste, generally the collected refuse is burnt at the dumpsites. Wherever possible, the rubbish may also be burnt where it is generated (school, health centre, factory, etc.). Some re-using of the waste occurs at the main dumpsites ― i.e. Mile 2 and Bakoteh Dumpsites (BCC and KMC Municipalities) through scavengers, who collect metallic items, plastic material, glass bottles, electrical devices, books, etc. Children are frequently involved in such activities.

3.3.2 Hazardous, Industrial and Clinical Wastes

Hazardous and industrial waste differs in many respects from solid waste in terms of the issues, management, health and environmental impact. With the exception of clinical waste, no official data exists in regards the generation, production rates and management strategies of hazardous waste in The Gambia, in order to ensure compliance with operational and discharge standards (Waste Strategy Report, 2003). In addition, serious steps need to be taken in addressing the problems arising from the large amounts of oil sludge from NAWEC Power Station in Kotu, the liquid caustic soda discharge from Gambega Factory as well as those from the multitude of car repair garages scattered all over the neighbourhoods throughout the country.

Clinical waste on the other hand, consisting of sharp items which have been in contact with open wounds (syringes, knifes), is generally kept in ‘safe boxes’ at the health facilities. The 25 safe boxes are collected by regional health officers at more or less regular intervals (e.g. 4 to 12 weeks). They are brought to the Medical Research Centre (MRC), where they are incinerated. Larger health facilities, like Ahmadiya Hospital, have their own incinerators.

3.4 Financing of waste management

3.4.1 Municipal collections

In many African countries, the central government generally finances Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) and other municipal activities through taxes collected by the Treasury. Even municipal property taxes and direct taxes on household refuse collection flow to the coffers of the central government. These funds are then allocated across the different central government ministries and to the municipalities. MSWM is then funded by allocations from the responsible ministry for capital projects and special projects (such as public education) and by municipal allocations for operation and maintenance (2).

There have been a variety of shifts in municipal funding in the first half of 2015. Waste is funded in The Gambia as follows:

- Historically, municipalities have collected monthly waste collection fees from commercial properties within their areas. The current waste management fee within Brikama Area Council (BAC) for a commercial premises is GMD200/mth (3). Interview with waste management staff at BAC indicate that this does not cover the collection costs and hence the area that receives collection is restricted to

2 United Nations Environment Programme Division of Technology, Industry and Economics Newsletter and Technical Publications <Municipal Solid Waste Management> Regional Overviews and Information Sources Africa – topic: “Financing” 3 At the time of writing, this is equivalent to approximately £3.30

certain high pressure areas (typically markets and certain institutions such as colleges and hospitals).Market fees (D5/day in BAC) are also levied, mainly to cover waste collection.

- For several months in early 2015, the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) collected waste management fees from commercial premises due to concerns around municipal accountability. In practice this led to a drying up of funds passed to municipalities to collections (where they do exist) and led to problems paying collectors and for fuel. As of early June, this has now passed back too municipalities.

Investigation with Brikama Area Council indicates:

- Gross underfunding of solid waste collection, the 2013/14 allocation to the entire collection and disposal operation was GMD 3,363,573 ( 4). With an estimated population of 700,000, this is around £0.05 per person per year.

- Serious cuts in the funding, indicated by a reduction from GMD 5,936,496 the previous year to the above figure, a cut (excluding inflation) of 43% year on year.

- Within BAC and KMC, there is no direct collection of waste collection fees to fund collection and disposal – all funding is provided via central budgets.

3.5 Collection and transfer within in urban areas

Most major cities in Africa have an established municipal waste collection system. Collection is carried out by human and animal drawn carts (wheelbarrows, pushcarts), open back trucks, compactor trucks, and trailers. Collection rates across the continent range from 20-80% with a median range of 40-50% (5).

In cities across West Africa, vehicle breakdown rates reach as high as 70%, reducing the rate of collection. Where collection is performed by non-mechanical means, the volume of material to be collected often exceeds the capacity of the collection system. Pre-collection is carried out by community groups in some areas not served directly by municipal vehicles. For example, in Cotonou, Benin, such a group is authorized to pre-collect the waste and deposit it in communal bins for later removal by the municipality.

In most cities collection is provided by the municipality. Private operators also provide service on a fee basis to households and commercial establishments. In Cairo, the Zabbaleen is a group that has traditionally specialized in MSW collection and now operates as a cooperative to perform this service with authorization from the municipal authority. However, though such cooperatives might do much to improve municipal sanitation, they are not common in other African cities.

The lack of reliable collection service undoubtedly takes a toll on the public health and aesthetics of African cities. As the urban share of the population grows on the continent this problem is likely to increase. Collection is a key link in the chain of MSWM from the point of generation to ultimate disposal. In any initiative to upgrade waste management service, sustainable, contextually appropriate collection should be a major focus of attention.

3.5.1 Brikama Area Council An urban/peri-urban local authority on the West Coast Region of The Gambia, Brikama Area Council have also been struggling to manage collection of waste

4 Brikama Area Council 2014 Budget. At the time of writing, this is equivalent to approximately £43,000 5 Solid Waste Management Sourcebook/2.1 Topic b: Collection and transfer, UNEP (2015)

materials from within their Local Government Area. The key driver is the increase in population. The population of the Gambia has seen an almost six fold increase since 1963 to 1,882,450 in 2013, with the population in Brikama LGA growing at the highest average national rate of 6.1% per annum(6) - an increase over 300,000 to the population of Brikama LGA between 2003 to 2013 population to 699,704. The LGA alone now accounts for approximately 37% of the entire national population.

Map: Brikama Local Government Area is shown in pink, around Brikama town

More broadly, The Gambia is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa(7), with the urban area comprising around 16% of the land area and 50% of the national population and that pollution by poor solid waste management is endemic within the municipalities of Banjul, Kanifing and Brikama. This problem is repeated in Farafenni, Soma, Bansang, Basse, Barram Kerewan and Kaur. 8

3.5.2 Municipal collections

Interview with senior management of both BAC and KMC indicated that:

- Municipal collections in the Brikama Area Council, in common with the other municipalities covering the Greater Banjul Area (9) are limited to high footfall areas, including particular shopping streets and markets. The mandate of the BAC Environmental Sanitation Unit, for instances, is to promote Environmental Sanitation. Most growth centres, public places and abattoirs were cleaned on a ‘periodic basis’.

6 The Gambia 2013 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Results, Gambia Bureaus of Statistics/UNFPA, 2013 7 State of the Environment report – The Gambia (2010) 8 State of the Environment report – The Gambia (2010) 9 Kanifing Municipal Council, Brikama Area

Photo: Dumping of waste at Brikama market – this is one of the few sites regularly serviced by municipal waste collection services

- In many areas there is no provision by BAC of waste collection services, despite payment of fees. Of premises interviewed in the Senegambia Strip, for instance, a high profile area frequented by tourists, no collections were delivered by BAC. Commercial properties received private collections and street-cleaning was managed the by Gambia Tourist Board. Lack of provision of a waste collection service to commercial properties, despite the payment of a fee, regardless of its small magnitude, was identified during interviews with commercial property owners as a major barrier to further participation in paid-for recycling services. Businesses pay the municipality for a service they do not receive, they then have to pay a private collector to deliver the service, depending on size of business between D350 – D20, 000 per month. Increased payment for a separate recycling service was unlikely to gain much traction.

Interview with the Brikama Area Council Environment and Sanitation Manager provided an understanding of the level of BAC capacity and indicated the capacity and staffing levels of collection and cleansing teams (often working interchangeably): Staffing level of labourers

Town/Community within Brikama Area No. of labourers/cleaners Kalahgaie 2 Kanilai 2 Mayork H/P 1 Bwiam 2 Pirang 1 Kbuneh Health Centre 2 Lamin Mkt 3 Old Yundum Mkt 3 Busumbala Mkt 2 Neana Kunku 3 Welingara Mkt 3 Sanchaba Sulay JObe 2 Brufut 2 Tujereng 1 Sanyang 1

Gunjur 2 Trankil 1 Bondali Health Post 1 Sukuta 5

Vehicles BAC possesses a total of 14 vehicles. At the time of writing, 8 vehicles were operational, 6 vehicles grounded waiting for maintenance. Operational vehicles were:

• BAC35, covers: Hotels, Brusubi, Housing Estate, Brufut Gdns, Brikama • BAC 37 Covers Airport, Lamin village, Yaranbamba Estate, Brikama • BAC 39: Trankil and Brikama Kabilo • BAC 25: Brikama Market and Car park • BAC 10: Skip bin carrier: Busumbala, SS Jobe, Lamin, Wellingara, Nema

Kunku, Kanilai, Bwiam • BAC 40: Septic tank emptier – BAC toilets and govt institutions • BAC 41: Shovel for uncontrolled dump sites • BAC 39: Compactor

At the time of writing, grounded vehicles included BAC7 (the manager’s vehicle), and RCVs BAC11, BAC12, BAC14, BAC263, BAC36.

Each of these collection vehicles have a capacity of approximately 5 tonnes and are able to manage one collection and tip run each day, giving BAC a theoretical maximum capacity of 40 tonnes waste collection per day, assuming all tractors are functional, have fuel and there is no weekly, religious or public holiday.

Picture: The entire functioning fleet of waste collection tractors at BAC – June 2015. Each have an estimated capacity of 5 tonnes per day.

3.5.3 Private collections

There are a number of private waste collectors operating in West Coast Region. Examples include:

- Ippas Atlantic

- ACS

- Metro Trash & Recycling Co. Ltd.

- Kanifing Industrial Estate, Banjul area

- Batch Rubbish Collection Services Gambia Ltd.

- Deffal Environmental Services

Large scale commercial collectors offer a service costing typically D350 per month or a weekly collection from residential properties. The cost for a medium sized restaurant or shop is also around D350. They also service households if requested.

In many urban areas within Brikama LGA, and more broadly across urban and peri-urban areas in The Gambia, private collectors deliver a variety of collection services to households and commercial properties:

- Smaller scale collectors, known colloquially as “donkey men” offer household collections

Photo: Private collectors offer a weekly service in residential areas

Photo: Illegal dumping is widespread.

There are no privately run or managed disposal sites – in each case Bakoteh or Mile 2 is used (or Tambana for those contractors in the Brikama locale). These are however limited in scope to urban areas. Furthermore, there is little regulation as to where they tip and within each area. According to the staff from BAC, use of informal and illegal dumping sites is widespread by private contractors.

3.5.4 Lack of collection capacity and rural areas At the time of writing this repot (June 2015), BAC possess eight tractor and trailers for waste collection. Neighbouring Kanifing Municipality possess ten. Using a conservative waste generation rate of 0.5 kg per capita, in line with UNEP urban estimates (10), and using recent population estimates (11), around 350 tonnes of solid waste is produced within BAC alone per day. Previously used estimations (Waste Strategy 2003) have estimated between 350-400 tonnes pa produced within Brikama. This indicates the scale of lack of capacity within the municipality to collect material. Interview with senior officers within Kanifing Municipality and Brikama Area Council, the two largest municipalities in The Gambia, accounting for more than 40% of the entire population, indicates that collections capacity by the municipalities is no more than 10% of waste arising’s. Given the informality of the private collection sector, it is not possible to make an accurate estimate of collection capacity. Observation of domestic collection is that it is weekly from households, with companies such as Metro trash delivering a service to the Greater Banjul Area. Certain high profile areas, such as the Tourism Development Area (TDA) (12), receive daily collections from a specialised cleansing time. It is, in the view of the author, reasonable to assume that no more than a quarter of waste is actually collected by one agency or another. Evidence collected neighbouring Kanifing Municipality collected by Project Lighthouse at Bakoteh dump indicates a collection capacity by private collectors similar to that of the municipality. Furthermore, expectations of collection reliability are so low that it is the policy of the Gambia Tourism Board to ban street litter or recycling bins from the TDA, preferring tourists to drop litter to be collected by their street-cleaning teams. Observation and interview indicates that the collections that do take place are heavily concentrated in the urban areas, with little private sector collection takes place in rural areas (unsurprising given lower rural incomes), where tourism profile is lower and where incomes are unable to sustain private collections.

3.6 Disposal

3.6.1 Landfills and dumpsites

The overwhelming majority of landfills in Africa are open dumps ( 13 ). These facilities are generally located at the perimeter of major urban centres in open lots, wetland areas, or next to surface water sources. Though many municipalities have statutory requirements for the construction and maintenance of

10 DEVELOPING INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN: Volume 1: Waste Characterization and Quantification with Projections for Future (UNEP 2010) 11 The Gambia 2013 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Results, Gambia Bureaus of Statistics/UNFPA, 2013 12 An area of land along from the coastline which has a width of about 800 metres. It is set aside by the Gambia Government for present and future tourist developments. Generally residential land in this area cannot be purchased by private individuals to build houses. Any proposed commercial developments such as hotels and bars usually have to pass through the Gambia Tourism Authority. 13 Solid Waste Management Sourcebook/2.1 Topic e: Landfills, UNEP (2015)

landfills these are generally not enforced. In most instances the landfills are owned and operated by the same public agency that is charged with enforcing the standards.

Often a lack of financial and human resources, coupled with absent enabling policies, limit the extent to which landfills can be built, operated, and maintained at minimum standards for sanitary practice. Thus, landfills are generally sited based on considerations of access to collection vehicles rather than hydrological or public health considerations. This practice ranges from cities in the more arid regions of the North such as Algeria, Libya, and Sudan to those in higher rainfall central countries such as Cameroon and Zaire. This is also the case in the Greater Banjul Area, where the Bakoteh dump (see above for location) has clearly been chosen for convenience and proximity rather than public health or environmental considerations.

Bakoteh

Bakoteh dump, located in neighbouring Kanifing Municipality but close to Brikama LGA borders is widely used by vehicles within Brikama. Since 2003 there have been plans to convert Bakoteh into a composting site, recycling centre and waste transfer stations, with the landfill role being transferred to Tambana adjacent (2003 Waste Strategy). The Bakoteh Dump Site is the only official dump site serving the Kanifing Municipality. 14

The location of the site is clearly undesirable, due to its proximity to residential areas (notably a large children’s home opposite the main entrance), lack of containment, and widespread use of burning on the site.

A 2012 project delivered by German INGO Lighthouse Project, funded a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project to establish a landfill and bio gas Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit at Bakoteh. At the time of writing, this is still awaiting funding with ongoing commitment sought. Waste data is an issue in The Gambia as in common with many countries, including OECD, globally with very few records are collected. Kanifing Municipal Council has, in association with The Lighthouse Project Gambia, developed a valid database for the volume and the flow of waste, generated in the KMC area.

The database is covering the period October 2010 to present, and provides an analysis of waste flow and waste volumes at the Bakoteh dumpsite on a systematic empirical basis as long-term study. The data acquisition will be continued systematically. The data base follows a permanent review process to enhance the data collection for reducing bias factors. African cities move to upgrade their MSWM systems, obtaining these data will be vital to their design of well integrated systems.

In 2009, World Bank funded fencing and improvements, costing $4.2M as part of a larger $15M programme, including:

- Clearing of 8 hectare site; preparation of land filling area;

- grading;

- compaction;

- construction of gravel access roads;

- construction of a boundary fence; Construction of a guard house.

14 Introduction of a recycling system for sustainable municipal solid waste management: a case study on the greater Banjul area of the Gambia E. S. Sanneh • Allen H. Hu • Y. M. Chang • Edrisa Sanyang, (April 2011)

On a site visit to the dumpsite, apart from some fencing, very little evidence of any sort of engineering at the site was noted, with no containment, biogas collection, clear leakage into adjacent natural ponds and creeks and no use of cells.

A secondary, sanitary landfill has been recommend for opening at Tambana but at the time of writing this has not yet happened.

Photo and map: Bakoteh dumpsite within the Greater Banjul Area – the suburban location is obvious

Photo: Leakage of leachate into local watercourses is clear – there is now system of lining or containment

Photo: Bakoteh; Rudimentary sorting can be seen on the left of the image; the preponderance of green waste being dumped by a private collector, smoke emissions

proximity to urban areas and the dwellings of waste pickers that live on the site

Photo: Waste-pickers and livestock clear from this image

Photo: Proximity to dwellings and uncontrolled burning clear in this image

Tambana

The Tambana dumpsite is mainly used by vehicles servicing Brikama and surrounding townships, as indicated by the vehicles sampled during the waste composition analysis.

It has been selected as the preferred site for a sanitary landfill for the entire Greater Banjul Area. However, at this time Tambana, is an open unregulated dump located at a former sand quarry. Further to a visit in February 2013 conducted by CU and BAC, it was noted and observed that there were no containment measures (liner, use of landfill cells, leachate treatment, offtake of landfill gas), that multiple types of waste were dumped together (municipal, hazardous and clinical) and that therefore the site represented a significant risk for nearby residents and the local and regional environment and via greenhouse gas emissions from landfill gas, to the global environment.

Furthermore, an Environmental Impact Assessment of the Greater Banjul Area Water Supply System indicated the unsuitability of the Tambana site. With its location in the vicinity (1.7 km) of the 10 new boreholes additionally supplying the GBA and Brikama with drinking water, this site represents a serious threat for the drinking water supply, considering the possibility of contamination of the groundwater over the next 10 years15.

 

15 MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE THE GAMBIA NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SANITATION AND HYGIENE 2011 - 2016

 

Photo: The lack of any containment is clear at Tambana

Although a full national dumpsite survey has not been taken, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that there are no sanitary landfill sites within The Gambia, given that Bakoteh and Tambana are the most developed sites within the country and do not have even basic remediation measures.

3.7 Diversion of material from the residual waste stream

3.7.1 Composting

Given the high proportion of organic waste found in typical waste streams across SSA, alongside the demand for locally produced cheap organic fertiliser, there should be ample scope for the development of composting across the continent. Two industrial composting plants operated in Dakar, Senegal and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire during the 1970s. These were financially unsuccessful, plagued by mechanical problems, and ultimately closed.

The technology works better with a well segregated MSW stream, requiring separate disposal containers and collection systems. Yard waste may provide a suitable candidate for composting. However this is likely to be a labour intensive venture with unproven commercial viability. In the suburbs of larger South African cities such as Durban, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, there are community composting centres. Residents drop off their garden waste and it is composted and resold for household sized gardens.

In peri-urban areas throughout Africa, NGOs, community based organizations, and economic interest enterprises also promote composting of MSW. These projects are generally highly labour intensive with a low capital investment. The compost produced

is largely for self-consumption or for sale to households or businesses such as hotels in the city.

In Brazzaville (Congo) peri-urban farmers practice small scale composting, applying the compost to their fields. There are operating composting systems in Benin and Cameroon. Anaerobic digestion and the recovery of methane are also promoted by several NGOs such as the Biomass Users Network (BUN) in Zimbabwe. However, these systems primarily target rural, agricultural areas and focus on the use of animal wastes rather than MSW. Overall, even though the organic content of the MSW in the typical African city may exceed 70% (wet basis), centralized composting, anaerobic digestion, and gas recovery are not significant components of African MSWM practice.

Within The Gambia, there is limited evidence for composting. Specific examples include nurseries using fish waste from Tanji port and mixing with groundnut shells.

Photo: Seedlings grown in groundnut shell/fish waste compost with old cement bags used as growing bags.

However, this happens on a case-by-case basis and there is little evidence for systematic use of composting either as a waste disposal option or use as fertilizers on a medium or large scale.

Interview indicates further ad-hoc use of waste as fertilizer/food, the example of fisherwomen within Kartong community sell fish waste to chicken farms. However, the method of disposal for most organic waste is either dumping and/or unregulated burning.

3.7.2 Formalised recycling efforts across Africa

There are few formal systems of materials recovery through public agencies or the private sector in Africa. Instead, materials recovery, including source separation and recycling, is largely the domain of the informal sector. The activity is focused on components of economic and/or social value and occurs at several levels.

Within The Gambia, at the household level in low income peri-urban areas, resource recovery begins with the reuse of plastic bags, bottles, paper, cardboard, and cans for domestic purposes. The rate of reuse in this instance is high, and these materials enter the waste stream only when they are no longer fit for domestic use. This observation was supported by the results of a Waste Composition Analysis (WCA) undertaken at Tambana dumpsite in April 201516. In high income areas, recovery is carried out by domestic servants and/or wardens. Rather than reusing the materials directly, they sell their bottles, plastics, cardboard, and paper to middlemen or

16 See the second report in this series.

commercial centres that pay for these materials. The extent to which these transactions occur depends on the availability of marketable end uses for the materials. Waste pickers provide informal collection services recovering additional material at the curb and at dumps and landfills.

At Bakoteh dumpsite it was observed that waste pickers are organized into specialized groups with a permit to operate at the landfill. In other cases, they are individuals seeking to recover items for personal or commercial use. Glass bottles are largely returned to their point of sale for direct reuse by the beverage industry. A deposit system has maintained a high return rate continent wide, including The Gambia, where the majority of soft and alcoholic beverages are produced and distributed by Banjul Breweries Ltd.

In the majority of cities, the glass content of the MSW stream would not be sufficient to support a glass recycling industry, as was found Waste Composition Analysis. Instead, the bottles not used for beverages are diverted from the waste stream and used as containers in the home. Other glass items are discarded with the rest of the MSW stream.

Where there is a market, plastics are recycled by waste pickers, some of whom have modular pelletizers to process the material prior to sale. The material is then sold to local plastic product manufacturers. These plants use granulated or pelletized virgin plastics for the manufacture of packaging material and extrudable utensils and furniture. Waste pickers with rag-pulling equipment shred, clean, and re-knit this material as all-purpose utility cloths for resale. There are some HDPE water pipe manufacturers within the GBA that purchase LDPE plastic film and HDPE containers at the rate of D5/kg.

3.7.3 Other recycling/recovery systems

Within The Gambia, there is no formalized collection of any kind of municipal waste for recycling or composting, either delivered by local authorities or private contractors. However, there are a number of areas where materials reuse or recycling does take place, generally supported by a thriving second hand markets, with the evidence a notable absence from the municipal waste stream, evidenced by the lack of these materials in the Waste Composition Analysis undertaken as a separate part of this project17. Areas of note include:

o Recycling of aluminium cans into locally fabricated pots and pans for onward sale in local markets

17 Please refer to Report 2: Waste Composition Analysis – Brikama Area Council

o HDPE containers (colloquially known as “20 Gallon” are either purchased directly from waste producers or recovered from mixed waste). These are sold onto HDPE water pipe producers within the SerreKunda industrial area who typically use around 20% recycled content within their production processes.

o Reuse of glass beverage containers via a deposit scheme (a bottle of soft drink will typically cost D15, with a deposit of D10).

o Prior to the arrival of a single Indian scrap metal merchant in Serrekunda around 5 years ago, rusting metal was a common site throughout The Gambia. Since then, this is largely collected for onward sale to local scrap merchants and the international scrap market (at the time of writing, the price paid to householders for all ferrous metals was D5/kg). Street collectors of scrap metal are a common site, with their cry of “ferrai, ferrai!”

Photo: The only major scrap exporter in The Gambia

o Reuse of PET bottles is widespread, again evidenced from their near total lack from our WCA, despite their ubiquity in the wider economy. There are thriving second hand markets for them in most large markets.

3.7.4 Refuse Derived Fuel activities

A number of attempts to develop RDF within The Gambia have been made, with varying levels of success:

- Greentech Industries, with UNDP support, have imported a biomass briquetting machine to briquette groundnut shells from Denmark, a prevalent wastestream given local groundnut production. This produces a briquette (pictured) to be burnt in co-developed stoves. This is still in the development stage. Issues that have arisen are:

o The high capital costs (around $0.25M) for the machine, and need for constant electricity (an issue in The Gambia);

o Challenges ensuring access to the gasifier stoves required for efficient starting and burning of the briquettes

Photo: Greentech Groundnut Processing including required improved stoves and output briquette

- In 1982 a groundnut shell briquetting plant was installed in the GPMB (Gambia Produce Marketing Board) factory at Kaur (200 km up the River Gambia from Banjul ) aiming to substitute wood and charcoal use in the urban areas of the country. The plant, financed by DANIDA, operated by Gambia Peanut Marketing Board and supplied by DGSMI, now stands idle. It is clear that the new fuel has had little impact on domestic fuel users. Sales were low, and briquettes have only managed to retain a small market amongst higher income groups who have access to private transport and can therefore collect briquettes directly from the GPMB depot near Banjul. The packing, local distribution and marketing of briquettes has not proved to be a very attractive economic proposition with relatively cheap and abundant wood available throughout the urban areas. Also, during the original campaign to popularise the briquettes, users had the expectation that briquettes were the 'new charcoal'. This certainly caused disappointments to people who tried briquettes with their traditional coalpots and were dismayed with volumes of acrid smoke issuing from their kitchens18.

- Local NGO Paper Recycling Skills Project The Gambia have received funding to develop a briquette making technology based on locally available materials, focussing on paper. At the time of writing the programme appeared somewhat moribund with little activity. The programme relies on the availability of paper, which as our WCA showed was a marginal material within the broader waste stream, generally only available from specific institutional waste streams (e.g. government departments). Furthermore, the briquettes can only be used with a specific gasifying stove.

The following conclusions can be drawn from ongoing experiences:

- Easy access to material sources is crucial, alongside a good understanding of what material is produced, its seasonality, volumes and locations. Existing RDF schemes have focussed on very specific material streams (paper, groundnut) that may be prevalent in certain areas or associated with certain activities. Low cost access to a given material is crucial if a reprocessing activity is to be financially sustainable, including fuel and purchase costs (if these exist). The prevalence of a material and its presence as a “problem” is also a further driver behind its improved management. If a material is not ubiquitous then perhaps it should not be the focus for waste-associated projects.

- The RDF should be able to slot into existing cooking regimes and stove systems. Populations display a certain degree of conservatism around cooking habits and new fuels are always treated with a certain degree of scepticism. Accordingly thorough product testing and understanding of a fuels’ acceptability is crucial before embarking on large scale production.

3.8 Behaviour Change Aspects Until the late 1980s, solid waste management policies and programs in most African cities were formulated and implemented by government agencies without significant public participation. Political and social changes across the continent, including the rise of NGOs, have fostered an increased awareness of environmental issues among the public. Urban populations have become more involved in the issues surrounding MSW. Resistance to MSW incinerators in countries like CÔte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and South Africa reflects an emerging involvement of the public in the debate and policy formation process of

18 Intermediate Technology Development Group Newsletter (1982)

MSWM. The key to changing MSWM practice at the consumer level is to make the distinction between public awareness and public education. An informed public can do much to improve the effectiveness of municipal waste management programs. Public engagement around waste management within The Gambia is led on a state level by the National Environment Agency (NEA). A number of campaigns to encouragement improved cleanliness and waste management have been launched in the last decade:

- Set Settal: This is a monthly (sometime fortnightly) nationwide campaign to improve public cleanliness. Movement via car is forbidden, with the view that the public should be cleaning their compounds and the surrounding areas. There are however challenges around the disposal of waste collected, particularly in public spaces. Public participation is apparently variable. This campaigns offers the opportunity to link into municipal collection of materials, including residual waste and recyclables

- NEA Plastic Recycling: A number of plastic recycling containers can be found along

major thoroughfares in larger conurbations, such as Serrekunda and Banjul. These are however unused and not serviced.

There is a clearly a number of challenges around public behaviour regarding improved waste management:

- Public littering is widespread, without a network of public bins to use there is no reason to use them.

- Burning of waste and plastics is also widespread. Women’s Initiative the Gambia have been at the forefront of community sensitization to reduce this burning and the provision of alternatives, however a large scale campaign us yet to be supported by central Government.

There will therefore be clear behaviour change challenges in encouraging the use of source segregated recycling systems. Attitudes towards recycling in The Gambia are considered in the third report in these series of reports.

3.9 Technical training in waste and resource management Various academic departments at universities across Africa provide training in the engineering principles of MSWM. In addition, most countries have sufficient resident personnel to develop and manage effective MSWM systems that are appropriate for local conditions and resources. These can be enhanced as the pool of human and other resources grows with time. However, the evolution of MSWM systems requires an enabling policy and administrative environment to be successful. Thus, in connection with MSWM in Africa, training and human resource development are subordinate issues to institutional and organizational change and to appropriate infrastructure development. Training and human resource development generally focuses on the training of process and operations personnel. For example, drivers may be trained to operate a new compactor truck or other piece of equipment donated by an international aid agency. However, to be sustainable, such education would need to be supplemented by training of support staff in the maintenance and repair of this equipment. Landfill staff, where available, may be trained in the daily operations of spreading and covering the lifts. However, equipment failures or the practice of open waste picking may quickly render such training ineffective. Waste Management has historically been taught at the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI), although at the time of writing the course was apparently cancelled. In 2014 a six-week course funded by the Spanish Government was delivered for 30 students, and historically the Gamjobs project supported waste management training at the GTTI. There is however no ongoing support for such a programme. Following this project, GTTI have indicated interest in practical training to be delivered by local partner Women’s Initiatives the Gambia.

Interview with senior public health and sanitation staff at BAC concluded that there is no formal training within The Gambia around:

o Practical waste management collection and disposal, including public health impacts of poor waste management, logistics, proper landfill

o Theory of improved waste management, including waste legislation, waste management technology, the waste hierarchy, recycling.

 

 

4. MATERIAL FLOWS, STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS AND MAPPING

4.1 Material flows

Measurement of absolute material flow rates are beyond the scope of this study. However, it is a useful exercise to understand indicative material flows within The Gambia. Evidence for these flows are taken from the research reports in this prokect, namely the Waste Composition Analysis and Focus Group worl

Overall flow rates have been indicated below and indicate intervention areas.

Disposal routes in The Gambia

Producers Residential Commercial

Pre-disposal diversion – glass container take-back; PET reuse; scrap collection, HDPE containers

Material recovery from waste stream (waste picking): metals; PET; HDPE containers

Disposal to municipal dump Dumping in informal

dumps

4.2 Waste Stakeholders – The Gambia

Waste Producers Residential

Upscale neighbourhoods

Blue collar neighbourhoods

Commercial Markets Tourism

Development Area

Fishing ports Light industry Government

depts. Hospitals

Legislation/Policy/Enforcement

Ministry of Environment

National Environment

Agency Gambia Tourism

Board (TDA)

Waste Collection Local

Government Small scale collectors

Waste collection companies

Scrap collectors Waste Disposal

Local Government

Local communities –

informal dumping

Re-use Drinks

retailers/wholesalers

PET retailers

Recycling Aluminium Recyclers

HDPE pipe manufacturers Scrap metal merchants

Composters

Flow of waste and secondary materials

4.3 Stakeholder analysis

Waste Producers Residential

Upscale neighbourhoods

Blue collar neighbourhoods

Commercial Markets Tourism

Development Area

Fishing ports Light industry Government

depts. Hospitals

Legislation/Policy/Enforcement

Ministry of Environment

National Environment

Agency Gambia Tourism

Board (TDA)

Waste Collection Local

Government Small scale collectors

Waste collection companies

Ferri collectors

Waste Disposal Local

Government Local

communities – informal dumping

Re-use Drinks

retailers/wholesalers

PET retailers

Recycling Aluminium Recyclers

HDPE pipe manufacturers Scrap metal merchants

Composters In

fluen

ce

Interest

4.4 SWOT Analysis of SWM in the Gambia

Strengths

• high political commitment towards general environmental sanitation

• existence of an Anti-Littering Regulation, existence of a Waste management Bill and Strategy, existence of a Hazardous Chemicals Regulation

• existence of an Environmental Quality Unit at the National Environmental Agency (NEA), for the monitoring of hazardous waste.

• existence of relevant sector policy and legislative instruments and the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to stimulate and promote quality sanitation and hygienic practices augur well for the development of the sector. Institutional weaknesses associated with the sector, if not properly identified and addressed, could in turn lead to constraints that may inhibit the ability of the sector to take advantage of some opportunities in its global environment.

• National commitment to sanitiation through regular set-setal activities

Weaknesses

• fragmentation of institutional responsibilities for sanitation and hygiene issues resulting in over-lapping and duplication of responsibilities, lack of effective coordination and collaboration among otherwise would-be partners

• a very poor perception of sanitation especially among senior public officers resulting in the low priority accorded to it in national development blueprints, agenda and public budgets

• poor infrastructural capacity and human capability and competence to manage the existing sanitation infrastructure and institutions

• the lack of a comprehensive national system to facilitate the regular and systematic collection, documentation, storage, dissemination and application of sanitation data

• inadequate integration of sanitation issues in other economic and social sectors, including the schools, public facilities and mass public meeting points such as car parks, fish landing sites, border posts, etc.

• inadequate dissemination of policies, legislations and regulations on sanitation to enhance understanding of their values to stakeholders

• poor institutional capacity for monitoring and evaluation of policies

• lack of appropriate managerial, technical and professional capacity and competitive competence in sanitation and hygiene issues hence reducing their capacity to be

• Lack of linkages and networking among institutions and a mentality of almost total dependence on the public budget on the part of key actors involved in sanitation. However, there are other funding sources that could be tapped to realize the implementation of the Strategy, such as household-financing, micro-finance, the contributions of other development partners such as NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies the global environment of the sanitation sector is constantly spinning out opportunities as well as threats. The ability of the sector to identify these threats and devise counterstrategies to minimize

their adverse effects, as well as take advantage of the opportunities and translate them into positive outcomes, would ensure an added value and dimension to the process of sanitation social marketing and hygiene promotion in The Gambia.

Opportunities

• availability of different channels for behaviour change communication including traditional opinion leaders, print and electronic media and traditional communicators;

• the work of community-based organizations, international/national NGOs and United Nations System Agencies in sanitation and hygiene

• new public/private/third sector approaches supporting municipalities to deliver better waste services

Threats

• rapid urbanization due to massive rural exodus which in turn gives rise to overcrowding and illegal settlements in slums particularly in Greater Banjul Area

• floods and the resultant disasters posed to settlements and assets

• indiscriminate settlement of populations along natural drainage ways due to the weak implementation of the Physical Planning Act

• civil conflict in the sub-region resulting to the influx of refugees

• inadequate knowledge of proper sanitation and hygienic practices among the populations especially the rural and illiterate

• indiscriminate dumping of solid waste materials

5. PREVIOUS RESEARCH

There is a paucity of literature on solid waste in The Gambia. Key publications include:

• The first study on solid waste in the country of any kind was undertaken by the World Bank in the GBA under the Poverty Alleviation and Capacity Building Project, providing a waste strategy and survey document.

• A waste assessment exercise undertaken on behalf of ITDG (now Practical Action) in the Greater Banjul Area in 1999. Whilst we do not consider it within the scope of this exercise to undertake a full waste compositional analysis, we do consider it appropriate to understand the current waste streams of the Brikama LGA locale, and we feel it reasonable to expect that composition of consumption (and hence waste) chains to have altered since 1999, particularly given changes in global e-waste (computers, mobile phones) and plastic packaging markets.

• Lighthouse Gambia undertaking a waste recording exercise with KMC, including a thorough database of all waste vehicle deliveries at Bakoteh dump since 2010.

There is however little ongoing study or consideration of volumes, locations and types of waste produced.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION

6.1 The Current State of Waste and Recycling in The Gambia

There are a variety of conclusions that can be drawn as to the current state of the waste and secondary resource sector within The Gambia:

- Most waste is simply not collected, posing serious threats to public health and the local environment. There has been a shift to private sector collections in some parts other Greater Banjul Area but in many others, local informal dumpsites are a regular occurrence and a threat to public health.

- The local authorities are under extreme strain as to current collection and disposal capacity. Interview indicates that Kanifing Municipal Council currently has 12 tractor trailer units to serve the entire KMC area; Brikama Area Council currently has 8 tractor trailer units. Using accepted waste arising methodologies, estimates that 350 tonnes of waste is produced daily within BAC

- There is a lack of financial flow from waste creator to collection and disposal via municipal fees and taxes. Many taxes remain uncollected. Those that are collected do not reflect the cost of treatment.

6.2 Challenges and Opportunities

There are a variety of key points that are clear from this report and the research outlined therein:

6.2.1 Lack of collection capacity

Lack of collection capacity underlines the importance of:

- Supporting growth in municipal collection capacity – support to develop sustainable revenue collection systems that reflect the cost of collection and disposal and the volume of waste produced by different waste producers, commercial and residential;

- Growing the capacity of those communities unlikely to receive a collection in the near future, and unable to pay for private collections, to deal with their own waste. This requires several key actions:

o Understanding how to minimise harm by developing collection and disposal regimes that deposit waste in a manner and locations that minimised adverse public health and environmental consequences;

o Understanding how to maximise value from potentially recyclable materials, in order that a business case around collection and reprocessing is developed.

o Sensitizing communities on the potential harm and benefits of improved solid waste management.

6.2.2 Funding issues

Where they are collected, commercial waste fees are unrealistically small. However, this still leads to dissatisfaction amongst private sector as these fees to not lead to even a skeleton collection for most commercial waste producers. Municipalities should consider a review of:

- Fee structures and undertake a service review to fully understand the costs and fee base required to ensure a sustainable service;

- Matching any increases in fees with delivered service.

6.2.3 Small scale reprocessing of waste in the global south and potential for application in The Gambia

It is our view that municipalities should follow the lead of Brikama Area Council and embracing waste-to-wealth schemes that encourage entrepreneurs to reprocess waste fir private profit, thereby creating a demand for waste materials

6.2.4 Building the capacity of local government and other actors to improve management of waste

It is our view that a sustained programme of awareness raising and training should take place to increase general awareness of the harm that poor waste management can cause and the potential economic benefits arising from better management.

6.2.5 Improved information systems

Quality data is a problem for waste managers across the world and The Gambia is little different. The Gambia Lighthouse Project19 has established a systematic waste flow database in collaboration with KMC to understand the volume and the flow of waste, generated in the KMC area. We would recommend that this is:

- Observed and analysed, to understand trends and actual volumes and tonnages;

- Imitated in neighbouring authorities, to improve understand of waste tonnages, nature, sources, seasonality and volumes.

We would also recommend mapping, using novel, cost effective satellite imagery, dump areas, to improve understanding of actual waste flows, into dumps legal and illegal, formal and informal. This could also be used to target those in the least appropriate and most sensitive areas from a public health and environmental point of view.

19 See http://www.prolightgambia.org/projects.html for more details

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INTERVIEWS

7.1 Interviews

Bakary Jadama – Environment and Sanitation Manager, Brikama Area Council

Dawoda Badjie – National Environmental Agency - Senior Environmental Manager

Doudou Jallow -Environment and Sanitation Manager - Kanifing Municipal Council

Isatou Ceesay – Director, Women’s Initiative The Gambia

GT Board – Fatou Beyai Raji – Director of Product Development

7.2 Bibliography

Developing Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan Training Manual Volume 1 :Waste Characterization and Quantification with Projections for Future, United Nations Environmental Programme, International Environmental Technology Centre (2009)

Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities, UNHABITAT (2010) Wilson, D.C., Kangojera, J.B., Soos, R., Briciu, C., Spies, S., Whiteman, A.D., Schwehn, E., Smith, S.R., 2013a. Operator models for delivering municipal solid waste management services in emerging and developing countries. In: Proceedings of ISWA World Congress 2013, 7–11 October, International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Vienna, Austria.

Optimization of waste collection and disposal in Kampala city J.R. Kinobea, T. Bosonaa, G. Gebresenbeta, C.B. Niwagabab, B. Vinneråsa Habitat International Volume 49, October 2015, Pages 126–137

Integration of the informal sector into municipal solid waste management in the Philippines – What does it need? Johannes G. Paula, , , Joan Arce-Jaquea, Neil Ravenab, Salome P. Villamorb, Waste Management, Volume 32, Issue 11, November 2012, Pages 2018–2028

Municipal solid waste management challenges in developing countries–Kenyan case study RK Henry, Z Yongsheng, D Jun - Waste management, 2006 - Elsevier

Handbook of Solid Waste Management, Second Edition by: George Tchobanoglous, Frank KreithRotich et al., 2006

Setting priorities for waste management strategies in developing countriesPH Brunner, J Fellner - Waste Management & Research, 2007 - wmr.sagepub.com

Ghana Water and Sanitation Journalists, 2014: Journalists appalled by Cholera related deaths in Accra: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/GWJN-appalled-by-Cholera-related-deaths-in-Accra-321931

Solid waste management and the Millennium Development Goals B Gonzenbach, A Coad - Collaborative Working Group on Solid Waste , 2007 - cd3wd.com

Urbanization, gender and urban poverty: paid work and unpaid carework in the city C Tacoli - 2012 - Citeseer

Governing solid waste management in Mazatenango, Guatemala: Problems and prospects DF Yousif, S Scott - International Development, 2007 - online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk

Urban sanitation and health in the developing world: reminiscing the nineteenth century industrial nations FH Konteh - Health & place, 2009 – Elsevier

Waste collection in developing countries–Tackling occupational safety and health hazards at their source D Bleck, W Wettberg - Waste management, 2012 – Elsevier

Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Practices and challenges LA Manaf, MAA Samah, NIM Zukki - Waste management, 2009 – Elsevier

Municipal solid waste management in Rasht City, Iran MRA Moghadam, N Mokhtarani, B Mokhtarani - Waste Management, 2009 - Elsevier

Environmental engineering: Solid waste management in Kolkata, India: Practices and challenges T Hazra, S Goel - Waste management, 2009 - Elsevierenvironmental health and safety for municipal infrastructure, land use and planning, and industry NL Nemerow - 2009 - books.google.com

Scheinberg A, Wilson D.C. and Rodic L. (2010). Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities. Earthscan for UN-Habitat

Municipal solid waste management in Indian cities–A review

M Sharholy, K Ahmad, G Mahmood, RC Trivedi - Waste management, 2008 - Elsevier

Odor compounds from different sources of landfill: characterization and source identification JJ Fang, N Yang, DY Cen, LM Shao, PJ He - Waste Management, 2012 - Elsevier

Assessment of economic viability of solid waste service provision in small settlements in developing countries: Case study Rosetta, Egypt MAK Abdrabo - Waste management, 2008 - Elsevier

Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries LA Guerrero, G Maas, W Hogland - Waste management, 2013 – Elsevier

Household solid waste characteristics and management in Chittagong, Bangladesh M Sujauddin, SMS Huda, ATMR Hoque - Waste Management, 2008 - Elsevier

Household solid waste generation and characteristic in a Mekong Delta city, Vietnam NP Thanh, Y Matsui, T Fujiwara - Journal of Environmental Management, 2010 – Elsevier

Solid waste characterization in Kétao, a rural town in Togo, West Africa ME Edjabou, J Møller… - Waste Management & …, 2012 - wmr.sagepub.com

Solid waste characterization, quantification and management practices in developing countries. A case study: Nablus district–Palestine IA Al-Khatib, M Monou, ASFA Zahra… - Journal of environmental …, 2010 - Elsevier

Assessment of economic viability of solid waste service provision in small settlements in developing countries: Case study Rosetta, Egypt MAK Abdrabo - Waste management, 2008 - Elsevier

Development of a decision support system for the planning of municipal solid waste composting and recycling programs KD Barlishen, BW Baetz - Canadian Journal of Civil …, 1995 - NRC Research Press

The recycling of solid wastes: Personal values, value orientations, and attitudes about recycling as antecedents of recycling behaviour JA McCarty, LJ Shrum - Journal of Business Research, 1994 - Elsevier

Sustainable recycling of municipal solid waste in developing countries AM Troschinetz, JR Mihelcic - Waste management, 2009 – Elsevier

Developing Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan Training Manual Volume 1 :Waste Characterization and Quantification with Projections for Future, United Nations Environmental Programme, International Environmental Technology Centre (2009)

Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities, UNHABITAT (2010) Wilson, D.C., Kangojera, J.B., Soos, R., Briciu, C., Spies, S., Whiteman, A.D., Schwehn, E., Smith, S.R., 2013a. Operator models for delivering municipal solid waste management services in emerging and developing countries. In: Proceedings of ISWA World Congress 2013, 7–11 October, International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Vienna, Austria.

Optimization of waste collection and disposal in Kampala city J.R. Kinobea, T. Bosonaa, G. Gebresenbeta, C.B. Niwagabab, B. Vinneråsa Habitat International Volume 49, October 2015, Pages 126–137

Integration of the informal sector into municipal solid waste management in the Philippines – What does it need? Johannes G. Paula, , , Joan Arce-Jaquea, Neil Ravenab, Salome P. Villamorb, Waste Management, Volume 32, Issue 11, November 2012, Pages 2018–2028

Municipal solid waste management challenges in developing countries–Kenyan case study RK Henry, Z Yongsheng, D Jun - Waste management, 2006 - Elsevier

Handbook of Solid Waste Management, Second Edition by: George Tchobanoglous, Frank KreithRotich et al., 2006

Setting priorities for waste management strategies in developing countries PH Brunner, J Fellner - Waste Management & Research, 2007 - wmr.sagepub.com

Ghana Water and Sanitation Journalists, 2014: Journalists appalled by Cholera related deaths in Accra: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/GWJN-appalled-by-Cholera-related-deaths-in-Accra-321931

Solid waste management and the Millennium Development Goals B Gonzenbach, A Coad - Collaborative Working Group on Solid Waste , 2007 - cd3wd.com

Urbanization, gender and urban poverty: paid work and unpaid carework in the city C Tacoli - 2012 - Citeseer

Governing solid waste management in Mazatenango, Guatemala: Problems and prospects DF Yousif, S Scott - International Development, 2007 - online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk

Urban sanitation and health in the developing world: reminiscing the nineteenth century industrial nations FH Konteh - Health & place, 2009 – Elsevier

Waste collection in developing countries–Tackling occupational safety and health hazards at their source D Bleck, W Wettberg - Waste management, 2012 – Elsevier

Municipal solid waste management in Malaysia: Practices and challenges LA Manaf, MAA Samah, NIM Zukki - Waste management, 2009 – Elsevier

Municipal solid waste management in Rasht City, Iran MRA Moghadam, N Mokhtarani, B Mokhtarani - Waste Management, 2009 – Elsevier

Environmental engineering: Solid waste management in Kolkata, India: Practices and challenges T Hazra, S Goel - Waste management, 2009 - Elsevier environmental health and safety for municipal infrastructure, land use and planning, and industry NL Nemerow - 2009 - books.google.com

Scheinberg A, Wilson D.C. and Rodic L. (2010). Solid Waste Management in the World’s Cities. Earthscan for UN-Habitat