2011 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN BOTSWANA LIU-IEI-TEK-A—12/01270—SE SHASHIDHAR SURESH I VINODHKUMAR VIJAYAKUMAR MASTER THESIS ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING LINKOPING UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN DEDICATED TO OUR BELOVED PARENTS AND THE ALMIGHTY GOD I II Abstract Waste is anything which is considered to be no longer useful to anyone. In reality, it actually possesses the ability to be the raw material for several other processes and applications. Improper handling of wastes could result in several environmental hazards such as air pollution, soil erosion, methane emissions, low birth rate and others. In developing countries, proper handling of wastes is one of the important topics to be focussed from an environmental perspective. This thesis aims to propose an improved waste collection system in Gaborone through investigating the current waste management practices in Gaborone from different perspectives. Several stakeholders were interviewed for gathering information related to the present waste legislations, waste collection, treatment, and disposal methods. A composition study was also conducted along with the other research teams in order to support the objective of this thesis. The results shows that the current waste management practices has certain flaws which the management has to overcome in order to avoid the environmental impacts caused by the waste generation in Gaborone. Basic Recycling and treatment facilities are absent in Gaborone. The local government do not have any updated plans for the proper handling of wastes. The obtained results are critically analysed to showcase the existing flaws in the waste management practices, and using the state of the art knowledge in waste management the research team suggests an improved waste collection system for Gaborone considering the economic and environmental conditions. Keywords: Solid waste management, Gaborone, waste collection, recycling III IV Acknowledgement First, we would like to thank our beloved parents and friends for their extended support and guidance throughout our master‘s studies in Sweden. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Linköping University for giving us an excellent opportunity to experience world class standards in education and in gaining knowledge in our field of study. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the staffs working in Linköping University who helped us directly and indirectly in our master thesis. We would like to specially thank Assistant Professor Joakim Krook in the Linköping University for his extended support in making this thesis into reality. We would also like to extend our special thanks to Associate Professor Mattias Lindahl in the Linköping University who took special interest in guiding us in all ways to make this thesis into reality. We would also like to thank Dr. Philimon Odirile in the University of Botswana for his guidance and support in the whole study in Gaborone. We are greatly thankful to the organizations SIDA and Åforsk for their financial support for the complete master thesis. We would also like to specially thank our other research teams who have worked on e-waste management in Botswana and waste composition studies in Gaborone for their friendly support in the composition studies at the Gamodubu landfill. Finally, we would like to thank the people of Botswana, the Department of Waste Management and Pollution Control, the Department of Environmental Affairs, The Gaborone City Council, NGO Somarelang Tikologo, Simply Recycle, Collect-A-Can, Computer Refurbishment Centre at the Botswana Television, The Gamodubu Landfill (Landfill manager, weighbridge operators, drivers) and the Government of Botswana for their valuable time and support in making this thesis into reality. Shashidhar Suresh Vinodhkumar Vijayakumar V VI Table of Contents 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Botswana and Gaborone ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Solid Waste Management in Botswana ....................................................................... 2 1.3 Aim .............................................................................................................................. 3 1.4 Scope and limitations .................................................................................................. 4 2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Research Design .......................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Theoretical studies and pre-planning ............................................................... 5 2.1.2 Field work and data collection ......................................................................... 6 2.2 Methods for first and second research question .......................................................... 6 2.3 Methods for third research question ............................................................................ 6 3 Theoretical Background ...................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Waste Management Hierarchy .................................................................................... 7 3.1.1 Waste Minimisation/Avoidance ...................................................................... 7 3.1.2 Reuse ................................................................................................................ 8 3.1.3 Recycle ............................................................................................................. 8 3.1.4 Recovery .......................................................................................................... 8 3.1.5 Disposal ........................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Integrated Sustainable Waste Management ................................................................ 8 3.3 Closing the Material Flows ......................................................................................... 9 3.4 Solid Waste Management in Developed Countries .................................................. 10 3.4.1 Sweden ........................................................................................................... 10 3.4.2 Finland ........................................................................................................... 11 3.4.3 Switzerland .................................................................................................... 12 3.5 Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries ................................................. 12 3.5.1 India ............................................................................................................... 12 3.5.2 Thailand ......................................................................................................... 13 3.5.3 Indonesia ........................................................................................................ 14 3.6 Waste collection systems in developed counties ...................................................... 14 4 Current waste management practices in Gaborone........................................................... 17 4.1 Identification of stakeholders .................................................................................... 17 4.2 Governmental bodies ................................................................................................ 17 4.3 Private Organisations ................................................................................................ 17 4.3.1 Simply Recycle .............................................................................................. 18 4.3.2 Collect-A-Can ................................................................................................ 19 4.3.3 Somarelang Tikologo ..................................................................................... 19 4.3.4 Dumatau Trading ........................................................................................... 20 4.3.5 Botswana Television ...................................................................................... 20 4.3.6 Gamodubu landfill ......................................................................................... 21 5 Waste collection, treatment and disposal in Gaborone ..................................................... 23 5.1 Identification of waste stratums ................................................................................ 23 5.2 Waste collection system in Gaborone ....................................................................... 23 5.3 Waste collection and treatment from different perspectives ..................................... 26 VII 6 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 29 6.1 Waste management practices in Gaborone ............................................................... 29 6.1.1 Waste legislations .......................................................................................... 29 6.1.2 Public Awareness ........................................................................................... 29 6.1.3 Waste Collection ...........................................................................................