Waste management: What is the way forward? Part I

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:21:11 GMT

Monday, April 21, 2008

Gambia’s Waste Problem

It used to be that most everything was reused or recycled in Gambia, now it seems we have become a buy and throw-away society. With a small land base and the Gambian River as one of its major food sources, Gambia can least afford to continue with its present waste accumulation.

If you are not aware of the problem, just take a walk along the shoreline of the Atlantic or the banks of the Gambia River where you will see all types of waste washed onto the shore line and the banks.

You will see waste like Styrofoam, plastics and items of old clothing, shoes and more. Or you can just look around you. We throw trash any where. Even at the beach where we leave our food containers to be washed away by the Atlantic.

If we continue in the current pattern of accumulation of waste, the next generation will have to address waste from millions of plastic containers and bags, electronics and computer parts, synthetic fabrics and apparel and the list goes on. These things are not biodegradable and as they photo-degrade over hundreds of years they release chemicals into the environment.

Other hazardous products that end up in our waste stream batteries, automotive fluids; and hazardous household waste, (HHW), such as, oil-based paints, pesticides, and automotive fluids.

These products are toxic and can be harmful to the environment and public health. For instance batteries contain lead that can end up in fish or leak onto soil potentially exposing humans, particularly children, to lead. Lead causes reduced learning, hyper-activity and behavioral problems, including violence.

To protect the public health, city governments, supported by the state, need a HHW and business hazardous waste (BHW) collection program. Toxins from waste can pollute our soil and surface and ground waters. Soil contamination poses human health risks through children playing on dumps or through scavenging, or reuse of dump sites. Ground water is the source we tap for wells and bore holes.

Surface waters include rivers, lakes, ponds and oceans. Waste pollution can potentially contaminate marine life in the Gambia River and Atlantic Ocean, thereby releasing toxins into our food chain.

Walking around the back streets of any Greater Banjul city you find what appears to be illegal dumps. Human health risks center on illegal dumps’ ability to provide breeding places for insects, rodents, and other pests.

Dumpsites with tires are prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Tires can hold large quantities of stagnant water. This water allows the mosquitoes – which might carry malaria or other dangerous diseases – to breed 100 times faster than normal. Illegal dumps can contaminate surface and ground water. Depending on location, dumps can keep water from draining which may lead to flooding. Illegal dumps can also pose a fire risk; disrupt wildlife habitats, and present physical hazards to human health.

The waste problem is very complex. American and European countries primarily depend on landfills and incineration (burning) to handle their waste. However, these practices have created communities who are sick and dying from exposure to the chemical pollution caused by landfills into the soil, surface and ground waters, and air pollution caused by incineration.

Author: Abdoulie John

MALI: Children scrape by on scrap

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:00:50 GMT

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Seyba Traoré, aged 11, and his brother Moumini, 9, set out each morning with big bags slung over their shoulders to sort through the capital’s many rubbish dumps in search of scrap metal - car or motorbike parts, old lamps, curtain-rods - any old iron objects will do.

They sell on their haul each afternoon at 12 US cents per kilogram to a buyer they know only as Hamdallaye.

”Sometimes we can earn up to US$4.80 a day, and if there is a large pile of scrap we can make even more,” Seyba told IRIN. "Thanks to this money, we can eat well, and we have clothes.”

Moumini and Seyba are just two of the many children who dominate the supply-side of the increasingly lucrative scrap-metal trade. It is common to see children bicycling around the capital laden with heavy pieces of iron to bring to shops that are opening up all over the capital to buy and then sell on the scrap.

Ousmane Traoré, 13, left his parents in his village of Kelaya, 160km from Bamako, to become a scrap scavenger. "It's tiring, this work, I have to sort through all sorts of rubbish and it smells bad, but what can I do? I earn my living in this rubbish and I can save a bit of money for my parents at home.”

Higher profit margins

As the industry grows the profit margins are getting higher each year, even for the children. Shopkeeper Madou Sanogo has been buying scrap in Boulkassoumbougou, a neighbourhood in Bamako, since 2002. “When I started you could buy 1kg from a supplier for 1 US cent, now it’s 12 US cents it really is a booming industry.”

But it is the buyers - mostly adults - who are reaping most of the benefits. Sanogo continued: “I buy the scrap at 12 US cents per kilogram and will sell it on to buyers for double that.”

Sanogo first got involved through his brother, who was a mechanic and collected scrap in their yard. “One day I met an Indian man who bought the whole lot and asked me to look for more. That’s when I had the idea of opening this shop… We signed a contract and now they regularly pick it up,” he said.

Many of the buyers come from other West African countries, and some from as far as India to export the metal for resale.

“Better than begging”

“If I collect enough metal”, Yacou Coulibaly, who owns a scrap shop, told IRIN, “I can re-sell it to a Côte d’Ivoire businessman for a small profit… with a trailer full of scrap I can make a US$600 profit.”

And some of this money ends up benefiting the state. According to an adviser in the mayor’s office, many buyers are setting up legitimate businesses, paying US$335 for a licence, and contributing an average of US$7.20 in taxes per month.

“They also help clean up the city by clearing piles of scrap metal that litter the streets,” Coulibaly said.

However, as the business has internationalised and the wages have increased, the market is getting overcrowded. “Now it is difficult to find enough iron, whereas before, that wasn’t the case. Our supplies are dropping bit by bit,” he complained.

Despite the difficulties, many buyers and sellers are pleased to be involved. As Coulibaly put it, “I think this is better than begging.”

Source: IRIN http://www.irinnews.org

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Waste management: What is the way forward? Part I

MALI: Children scrape by on scrap