Title: A baseline scenario of municipal solid waste management

Authors: Patrick Aaniamenga Bowan; Sam Kayaga; Julie Fisher

Addresses: Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Wa Polytechnic, P.O. Box 553, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana ' Water Engineering Development Centre (WEDC), School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, Liecs, UK ' Water Engineering Development Centre (WEDC), School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, Liecs, UK

Abstract: The baseline scenarios of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) activities that will expose the specific challenges militating against sustainable waste management in many developing countries are not properly documented or not understood. This paper established a baseline scenario of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in Ghana, through material flow analysis and understanding of MSW handling practices, using the Wa Municipality as a case study. The study was theoretically based on empirical observation and an exploratory design. The findings showed that sustainable waste management has remained elusive because MSWM in the case study area and Ghana in general, consist of some waste collection, transportation and open dumping, where the entire amount of waste is open dumped without pretreatment. The sorting of waste at the generation sources, and the provision of adequate MSWM infrastructure, through an integrated solid waste management system can ensure sustainable waste management in the country.

Keywords: baseline scenario; municipal solid waste; sustainable waste management; open dumping; integrated solid waste management; Wa Municipality; Ghana.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2020.110394

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2020 Vol.26 No.4, pp.438 - 457

Received: 17 Sep 2018
Accepted: 04 Jun 2019
Published online: 19 Oct 2020 *

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