MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

COURSE : BACHELOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

NAME : OJALA BOSCO

REG NO. : 19/U/22125/PS

TOPIC

Assessing the potential of recycling waste at different dumpsites in Makerere university.

Background

Solid waste management practices are an essential component of environmental infrastructure in humans.
settlements. These practices encompass all activities undertaken from the point of waste generation up to
the final disposal. In most of African urban areas, solid waste management is ultimately a responsibility.
of Municipal Councils while in most cases of rural areas the waste is handled and disposed at the
household level (Frank, 2006). Solid Waste Management (SWM) is major environmental issues.
particularly in municipalities of many developing countries that has been suffering from environmental.
problems.

Dumpsites are a global health and environmental emergency. More than 750 people have died
because of poor waste management at dumpsites in the first half of 2016 alone. Dumpsites
receive roughly 40% of the world’s waste and serve 3-4 billion people. As urbanization and
population growth continue, several hundreds of millions more people will be served by
dumpsites, mainly in the developing world. If the situation follows the business-as-usual
scenario, dumpsites will be generating 8-10% of manmade greenhouse gases by 2025.

The operation of dumpsites damages the health and violates the human rights of the hundreds of
millions of people that are living on or around them. Proper sanitation and solid waste
management sits alongside the provision of potable water, shelter, food, energy, transport and
communications as essential to society and to the economy. As such, closing the world’s
dumpsites will be required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

Without proper international community intervention, many poor countries will not be able to
close their dumpsites and upgrade their waste management systems and the vast health and
environmental impacts of dumpsites will only grow and expand. The International Solid Waste
Association (ISWA) believes that speaking about the change required is not enough. Now is the
time for tangible game-changing activities. ISWA is calling on everyone to cooperate and
contribute towards a world without dumpsites. As a first step, ISWA is calling on the
international community to cooperate, in every possible form, for the immediate closure of the
50 most polluting dumpsites in the world. This single, but not simple, target will immediately
improve: www.iswa.org
Generation 125 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) was generated in Africa in 2012,
which is expected to double by 2025. The growth in waste generation in Africa is expected to be
so significant, that any decrease in waste generation in other regions globally will be
overshadowed by Africa. Waste Collection services in most African countries are inadequate.
The average MSW collection rate is only 55%. disposal More than 90% of waste generated in
Africa is disposed of at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills, often with associated open burning.
19 of the world’s 50 biggest dumpsites are in Africa, all in Sub-Saharan Africa. Composition On
average, 13% of MSW generated in Africa is plastic and 57% is organic waste, the bulk of which
is currently dumped but which could provide significant socio-economic opportunities for
countries. recycling has emerged across Africa, driven more by poverty, unemployment and
socio-economic need than by public and private sector design. An estimated 70–80% of the
MSW generated in Africa is recyclable, yet only 4% of
MSW is currently recycled. www.unenvironment.org/ietc/resources

In Kampala, Uganda, about 28,000 tons of waste is collected and delivered to a landfill every
month. Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) records show that this represents approximately
40% of the waste generated in the city. The remaining uncollected waste is normally dumped in
unauthorized sites, causing health and environmental problems. However, the organic fraction of
domestic waste can provide an opportunity to improve livelihoods and incomes through fertilizer
and energy production. This study characterized the municipal waste generated in Kampala and
delivered to Kiteezi landfill between July 2011 and June 2012, that is, covering the dry and wet
months. On each sampling day, waste was randomly selected from five trucks, sorted and
weighed into different physical fractions. Samples of the organic waste from each truck were
analyzed for total solids, major nutrients, and energy content. During the wet months, the waste
consisted of 88.5% organics, 3.8% soft plastics, 2.8% hard plastics, 2.2% paper, 0.9% glass,
0.7% textiles and leather, 0.2% metals, and 1.0% others. During the dry months, the waste
consisted of 94.8% organics, 2.4% soft plastics, 1.0% hard plastics, 0.7% papers, 0.3% glass,
0.3% textile and leather, 0.1% metals, and 0.3% others. The organic waste on average had a
moisture content of 71.1% and contained 1.89% nitrogen, 0.27% phosphorus, and 1.95%
potassium. The waste had an average gross energy content of 17.3 MJ/kg. It was concluded that
the organic waste generated can be a suitable source of some plant nutrients that are useful
especially in urban agriculture. (Kinobe et al. 2015), (National Environment Management
Authority. 2007. State of Environment Report for Uganda 2006/2007.)

Problem statement

Solid waste problems and effect is globally felt by all nations but at different scales (UNEP, 2015).

As the levels of urban section continue to increase the urban population increases, levels of economic and
industrial activity increase and an increase in change of consumption patterns, these lead to increased
generation of solid waste, some of which are costly and difficult to manage. Consequently, poor solid
waste management causes serious environmental and health problems which affect the livelihoods of the
urban population and beauty of the urban areas as well as the financial budgets of urban local
governments because of the increased need of resources to manage the waste. Other wastes can be
recycled and be used for different purposes. However, indiscriminate disposal is a major nuisance
affecting most urban areas due to inadequate collection and sustainable disposal practices.

Dumpsite refers to a piece of land where waste materials are dumped say for example garbage
dump, rubbish dump, trash dump, waste-yard, wasteyard. Indiscriminate disposal is found in
scattered dumps of trashes along streets, in drainage channels, in open sewer lines in the suburbs.
Previous studies on waste management in Ugandan cities and East Africa showed that a greater
percentage of urban solid waste do not reach the legal disposal points but end up in the
environment and open indiscriminate dumping is the most common waste disposal method
(Okot-Okumu &Nyenje 2011; Oberlin 2011). This have resulted into poor sanitation leading to
spread of infectious diseases like malaria, typhoid and intestinal disorders etc. Many times,
people have suffered from ailments, with many of them originating from the unhygienic
conditions ( Abdulafatah et al.2019).

Makerere University, Kampala Uganda is the largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first
established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today,
Makerere University is composed of nine colleges and one school offering programs for about 36,000
undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduates. The main administrative block was gutted by fire in September
2020 and the cause of the fire is yet to be established.
The university consists of halls of residence A residence refers to the place where a person is
physically present and that the person regards as home; a person’s true, fixed, principal, and
permanent home, to which that person intends to return and remain even though currently
residing elsewhere (Salsbury, 2003). Based on WordNet (2003), a student residence is a college
or university building containing living quarters for students, hall of residence is a university
dormitory, while living quarters are housing available for people to live in. There are two forms
of Students’ Housing: We have On-campus and off-campus types of Students’ Housing. The On-
campus type is usually situated inside the campus while the Off-campus type is situated outside
the campus (Lawrence, 2016). Students’ Housing goes by many names, such as Halls of
Residence, (Amole, 2005), Student Dormitory (Kaya & Erkip, 2001), Catered Halls (Price et al.,
2003), University Housing (Bland & Schoenauer, 1966) and Hostels ( Dahlan, 2009; Khozaei ,
2010). According to Campus times (2014), Makerere University has 12 Halls of Residence. Six
are for male students, Three Halls for female students. Three Hostels are mixed. One at Mulago
hospital complex, accommodates medical students, another one at Kabanyolo is for Agriculture
students in third and hostels host a population of about 5000 resident undergraduates and 100
graduate students i.e., only 16% of students registered to the University. The rest of the students
reside outside the campus either in private hostels or commute from homes. There are 6 Halls of
residence/attachment associated with the male gender namely, Lumumba Hall, Mitchell Hall,
Livingstone Hall, Nsibirwa Hall, Nkrumah Hall and University Hall. The females are associated
with 3 Halls of residence/attachment, and they include Mary Stuart Hall, Africa Hall and
Complex Hall. (Thomsen, 2010)

The irony in this development is that the volume of solid waste generated from different halls of
residence and students is increasing enormously. I have been a student of Makerere university
for the last three years and over this time I have been observing the numerous developments
taking place on dumpsites. I have particularly been concerned about the situation in Makerere
university given the dumpsites were constructed and the way people dispose of waste. As a
student of environmental science, I have been motivated to make my contribution as a student of
Makerere university, by way of studying the solid waste management issue. It is my hope that
the findings of this study will give insight to the concerned parties to work more effective on the
management of solid waste in conformity to sustainable development practices.
The more we recycle, the less garbage winds up in our landfills and incineration plants. By
reusing aluminum, paper, glass, plastics, and other materials, we can save production and energy
costs, and reduce the negative impacts that the extraction and processing of virgin materials has
on the environment.

Research objectives

General Objective
The main objective of this study is to Assess the potential of recycling waste at different
dumpsites in Makerere university.

Specific objectives

 To map and quantify the different wastes dispersed off on different dumpsites in Makerere
university.
 To determine the cost benefit analysis (CBA) potential of the recycled items.
Research Questions
In this study therefore, I employ five broad research questions below;

1. What is the most percentage of waste generated from Makerere university?

2. How many dumpsites are in Makerere university?
3. What is the quantity and types of waste generated on the different dumpsites in Makerere
university?
4. What method would be more profitable in managing solid waste in Makerere university?
5. What are the major types of solid wastes generated in Makerere and how are these solid
wastes collected and dumped?
6. What are the factors that influence solid waste collection and dumping in Makerere
university?
7. What are the constraints and opportunities existing in solid waste management in Makerere?