Public health implications of poor solid waste management

Introduction

It is estimated that 80% of all sickness in the world is attributed to poor environmental factors (House-Wright and Mihelaic, 2002; Skimkim et al, 2005; WHO, 2007). Environmental related diseases represent an enormous global public health challenges particularly in developing countries and impoverished communities (WHO. 2007; Skimkim et al, 2005)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that 1.2 billion people globally lack basic access to drinking water sources, while 2.4 billion people have inadequate sanitary facilities which accounts for many water related acute and chronic diseases. Some 3.4 million people, many of them young children die each year from water-borne and poor sanitation diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. caused by microbial contaminated water supplies, inadequate sanitary facilities and poor waste disposal facilities in developing countries (WHO, 2005; UNICEF, 2008) and Nigeria is not exempted. WHO (2007) estimated that 13 million deaths recorded annually are due to preventable environmental causes.

Rapid increases in the volume and types of solid and hazardous waste as a result of continuous economic growth, urbanisation and industrialization is becoming a problem for national, state and local government to ensure effective sustainable management of waste (UNEP, 2009). Solid waste management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing state and local agencies in Nigeria (Ogwueleka, 2009).

Abumere (2000), posits that in Nigeria, the issue of greatest environmental concern today is the management of solid waste in the city. In most cities in Nigeria, hills and mountains of uncleared wastes are often seen. It is perhaps important to note that two major reasons for this phenomenon. Firstly, is the rapid rate of population growth which not only affects waste volume but also makes solid waste management strategies incapable of keeping pace with the rate of solid waste generation. Secondly, is that poor waste management is further aggravated by the mismatch between the volumes of waste generated and he dwindling resources to manage waste (Mogborukor, 2006).

Health and wellbeing of humans cannot be separated from the natural environment (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; WHO, 2008). Human health and environmental issues has become a major concern in the world and has received considerable recognition since 1970 (WHO, 2008). In its broadest sense, environmental health comprises of those aspect of human health, diseases and injuries that are determined or influenced by factors in the environment (WHO, 1997). Many of the threats to human health are an intrinsic part of the ecosystems (WHO, 2008). The impact of a transformed environment causes considerable harm to the sustainability of human health (Rapport et al, 1998). If wastes are not cleared from the cities effectively, they will not only cause environmental and human health hazards but also constitute a drag on our drive for overall economic development (Mogborukor, 2006). Hence proper environmental management is the key to avoiding the preventable illness which are directly caused by environmental factors.

Classification of solid waste

According to the classification of the American Public Works Association (APWA, 2009) solid waste comprises of two major groups.

Combustible items such as cartons, boxes, papers, grass, plastic, bedding and cloths.
Non-combustible articles e.g. ashes, cans, metals, furniture, and glasses.

These two broad groups can further be sub-divided or classified according to how and where they are generated.

Classification of solid waste

According to the classification of the American public works association (APWAY 2009) solid waste comprises of two major groups.

Combustible items such as cartons, boxes, papers, grass, plastic, bedding and cloths.
Non-combustible articles e.g. ashes, cans, metals, furniture, and glasses etc.

These two broad groups can further be sub-divided or classified according to how and where they are generated.

Garbage: This term is used to denote or designate those putrescible wastes resulting from growing, handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food. This type of waste attracts and breeds flies and other insects, rats, and emits odour.
Rubbish: This comprises all non-putrescible waste except ashes. That is combustible and non-combustible substances such as cans. Paper, glass, scraps metals, beddings, and cardboard etc. Rubbish is frequently responsible for creation of nuisance when it becomes scattered by the wind and careless handling.
Ashes: When wood or coal is used as source of energy, ashes are the residue collected after combustion. It should be noted that ashes are still being generated in large quantity in Ika South Local Government Area today because large segment of the population still depends on either wood or coal as fuel.
Street sweeping: These consist principally of materials won from street surfaces, dirt, and other materials, dropped leaves, sweeping from side walk and bit of waste papers.
Bulky waste: This type of waste includes such items as wood furniture, material furniture, refrigerators, rubber tyres and abandoned automobiles.
Municipal waste: Municipal wastes consists of street litter, discarded auto bodies, power plants residues, dead animals such as cats, dogs, fishes, and abandon trucks.
Industrial waste: This includes waste from industries, such as sawdust, paper, and iron industries. These waste cause cancer to public health due to obnoxious odour, pollution of water and air.
Hospital waste: These are special waste arising from hospitals and medical laboratories, these wastes includes discarded dressing materials, swabs, bandages, articles, such as syringes needles, and encasing plaster that have been removed from limb and placentas
Agricultural waste: These are waste emanating from agricultural farms e.g. corncob, plantain, and banana skin etc.
Demolition/construction waste: This waste arises from demolition of houses and construction sites. This includes rubbish, bricks, concrete blocks, sand, roofing sheets, iron rods, planks etc.

(APWA, 2009)

Solid waste management

Jimoh et al. (2000) define solid waste management as the collection, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste in such a way as to render them innocuous to human, animal life, ecology and the environment in general. Stanley (1998) suggested that stationary dustbin should be placed at strategic positions in. our communities. These are used to store refuse generated from the house and surrounding premises.

Process of solid waste management

Waste generation

Waste are usually generated from industries institutions, commercial centres, homes etc. Waste generation depends on a lot of factors which include as the nature of economic activities on the people, level of effluence, the behaviour and attitude of the people toward waste.

Waste storage

The house refuse containers/bins are usually metal or plastic containers. Before a container can be use for refuse storage at home or companies, it must satisfy the following conditions (APWA, 2009).

Storage containers must be provided with tight fitting covers. These cover should be capable of completely enclosing the refuse contained in them. This is to ensure that the refuse are not scattered by dog weather or accessible to flies and other vermin.
The container must be durable, light, easily removed, emptied and easily cleaned so as to increase its life span and avoid accumulation of purtrescible materials and water which would encourage the breeding of flies.The storage of refuse is faced with several problems. The distribution of waste storage containers / bins had been grossly in adequate in the recent time.

Consequently upon the short supply of these bins at their designated points, residents hide under this to dump their refuse in the public drains, road verges, water course and other unauthorized places (APWA, 2009).

Waste collection

Richard (2004) emphasizes that waste collection system for apartment, houses, stores, office buildings and industries plants use large standardized steal containers that arc emptied regularly by special trucks that are equipped to lift and empty the containers into compaction compartments. In industrial plants a large container may be equipped with its own compaction mechanism for compressing the waste as it is received. Succinctly put, the importance of reface collection in effective solid waste management cannot be over emphasized. This point is buttressed by the fact that collection of refuse requires large lab our force, equipment and adequate planning for success to be achieved in this regard.

Waste transportation

Transportation of refuse is effective by various means of transportation. This includes manual two wheel trucks. This is used by commercial refuse collector to transport solid waste from the homes of their clients to the refuse depots from where it is removed to the disposal site.

Recently, specially made heavy duty trucks or vehicles such as tippers, Lories are usually used for the removal of the refuse to the disposal site. The major problem facing these trucks is that they are very few and in bad condition.

Solid waste disposal

How and where solid waste is finally disposal off is a determinant factor in effective solid waste management. There is no gainsaying that offensive odour and other environmental nuisance are common phenomena in a badly managed disposal site. Waste also attracts numerous insects particularly flies which feed on unprotected waste matters. In view of the above, proper, effective solid waste management is sinquanon towards ensuring healthy environment that will prevent diseases and promotes health. To achieve this, refuse must be sanitarily dispose off.

The choice of a disposal method/site is determined by various factors or conditions. These conditions play overriding role in the selection of a disposal method to be adopted in a particular community. They are as follows (Unuraye and Olojoba, 2005).

Availability of land
Availability of equipment
Component of waste
Availability of funds
Availability of trained manpower
Rapid population growth.

Solid waste treatment/disposal

The method of solid waste treatment/disposal adopted in a community which must be guided by economic as well as sanitary consideration. It is important to note that many methods can be employed in the final disposal / treating of refuse depending on the component of such refuse. These methods are enumerated below by (Unuraye and Olojoba, 2005):

Sanitary landfill
Composting
Incineration
Dumping at sea.
Controlled tipping
Burying
Reclamation
Open dumping
Hog feeding

Sanitary landfill: According to Oreyomi (2009), sanitary land fill is the method of disposal of solid waste by spreading them in their layer, compacting them into smallest practical volume and covering them with earth daily or more frequently in a manner that will minimize environmental pollution. The advantage of this method is that when properly practiced include;

Elimination of fire hazards, rodents and insects control.
Different types of refuse can be disposed off at a time.
It is very simple to operate.
It is very economical.

The disadvantage of this method is that if not properly practiced, it can degenerate into an ordinary open dump.

Composting: Is the natural decomposition of moist solid, organic matter (refuse and semi dried sewage) by the use of aerobic or anaerobic microorganism under controlled environmental condition (Ghana, 2007).

The end product of this decomposition is a sanitary, nuisance free, human-like materials called compost that can be used as soil conditioner and as a partial replacement for fertilizers due to its poor solid organic waste may be carried out in many wastes which have similar operation, but the main difference being how quickly the end product is obtained.

Incineration: As a solid waste management method is a controlled combustion process for burning solid residues containing little or non- combustible materials. Incineration is an old age method of solid waste disposal which is a volume reduction process. It residue consist of non- combustible material and lead to atmosphere pollution and it is also dangerous if there are explosive substances which have not being soaked, out. Incinerators are generally built with burnt brinks and sited at or in convenient sports at suitable distance time in dwelling places, (Ghana, 2007).

Recycling: This involves processing used material (waste) into new products to prevent wastage of potentially useful materials, reduce air pollution from incineration and water pollution (from lend filling) recycling is a key component of modern waste management and is the component of reduce, reuse, recycle “waste hierarchy”. Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastics, textiles and electronics. Although similar in effect the composing or other reuse of biodegradable waste such as food or garden waste not typically considered recycling. Although material to be recycled are either brought to a collection centre or picked up from the curb side then socked, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing. In a strict sense recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same material for example used office paper.

Open dumping: This is where refuse is dumped on open lands. Open dumping receives waste of all description in a community. Dumping require little or no planning maintenance and unskilled personnel if any. As the name denote, open dumping is an unsanitary act and should not be encouraged because the process is uncontrolled. It allows raw garbage to pile up without treatment. Flies in dumps have been implicated in the transmission of diseases like typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery etc. Open dumping has been connected to tire outbreak which can spread to bushes and farm lands, flooding, etc.

Implication of poor waste management on public health

Insect/flies infestation:

According to Aibor and Olorunda (2007), indiscriminate dumping of refuse always results to heaps of refuse in the community (e.g. Ika South Communities). Such heaps are attractive to insects/flies thereby forming breeding site which results to increase in their population. The insects/flies feed from these heaps and in the process helps to transmit diseases causing organism to man. Insects and flies are the vectors of diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever, hepatitis and paratyphoid to mention but a few.

Rodent infestation:

Ichide (2003) asserted that refuse serve as a major source of food to rodents. This is why they are found mostly around or in refuse dumps. Rodent thrive well in heaps that contain much garbage contents and their presents will help in the transmission of diseases such as Lassa fever, trichinosis, rat bite fever, salmonellas, plague etc. These are deadly diseases that can lead to epidemic.

Odour nuisance:

According to World Health Organization (WHO) (1971), poor refuse management will result to objectionable striking odour emitting from biodegradable materials. Such odour vitiates fresh air which makes one uncomfortable and the environment unconducive for human habitation.

Water pollution

Olugbenga et al. (2007) asserted that when rain water peculates rough a pile of solid waste, it picks up toxic (depending on the nature of the refuse in question) or may contain infective agents or contains some poisonous metals e.g. lead, arsenic, cadmium, copper, zinc and leached into water body. Most of these lead to diseases when consumed.

Soil pollution

According to Jimoh (2000), the presence of indiscriminate dumping of refuse on land causes soil pollution. The pollution alters the natural state of the soil. Most f the deposits are hazardous and it will be prone to soil contamination which has adverse effect on man when such is put into agricultural use.

Air pollution

Aibor et aI. (2007) lamented that people often burn refuse in the open space leading to air pollution. During this open burning some of the dangerous gases are released into the atmosphere such as methane, nitrogen (iv) oxide, sulphur dioxide which could lead to respiratory tract infection.

Fire hazard

Wikes (1990) pointed out that hot ashes dumped in an uncontrolled refuse site have caused serious fire outbreak. Deliberate and open dumping of refuse in most cases resulted to lire disaster. This situation can also result to soil depletion and degradation.

Flooding

According to Ichide (2002), pointed that improper solid waste management could result to flooding. Indiscriminate dumped refuse are washed into community drains leading to blockage and this impede easy flow of water. In the process such water flows into nearby surrounding causing flood to occur in such community. Flooding could lead to loss of lives and properties.

Aesthetic condition

Conway and Ross (1991) pointed out that unsightly condition posed by refuse dumped indiscriminately around the community depreciates the aesthetic quality of the community.

Problem of solid waste management

Solid waste management has become intractable problem in many urban cities and town of our country. Problems confronting effective solid waste management in these town are multidimensional and can be attributed to the under mentioned factors;

Urbanization: More influence of people means more refuse to be generated and more refuse to be disposed off (Oreyomi 2008). This increase in population due to urbanization has aggravated the problem of solid waste management.
Centralization: The problem which over centralization of solid waste management into the hands of a single body have caused, cannot be over-emphasized.
Lack of foresight: There is lack of fore sight by the government in authorities saddled in our urban area (WAHEB, 1991). The inability to adequately plan for the challenges posed by population explosion with the aim of managing the waste that accompany ever-increasing social-economical development activities is responsible for the menace of indiscriminate waste disposa.
Equipment: Short supply of adequate equipment has brought a setback to waste disposal system in our towns and cities. Heavy duty vehicles and other heavy equipment such as mechanical shovels, storage containers are grossly inadequate most of the time. Since these equipments are not available, they are not easily substituted to get work going. The resultant effect is inefficiency in waste management (Agunwamba et al., 2001).
Lack of funds: Inadequate funds have undoubtedly impeded effective solid waste management.
Shortage of manpower: There is no gainsaying that manpower requirement for affective solid waste management is intensive and multi disciplinary. Shortage of trained personnel to plan and manage refuse disposal system is a major problem of proper refuse disposal. On many occasions, old men who are unskilled form the bulk of the employees. These men are grossly underpaid. This will no doubt lead to inefficiency.
Location of disposal site: The new waste disposal site are now located at the outs kite of the town which might be too far from collection points.

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