About Yonge Nawe

Programmes

Resources

Press Information

Membership

Links

Search

Contact Us
 

A clean environment means reduced public health problems, as well as less pollution of our soil and water resources.  The Swazi National Solid Waste Management Strategy (2003) recognises the need for an integrated strategy to address the problems of waste in both urban and rural areas.  In recent weeks this column has discussed options for reducing and reusing waste.  Another key part of this is the provision of facilities for waste disposal: in Swaziland this means our dumpsites. 

Waste disposal can cause some of the worst environmental pollution, and represents a missed opportunity to get the most out of our resources.  For these reasons it is often seen as the least preferable option for managing our wastes.  However we must be realistic; waste needs to be managed today, yet it will take time for public and industry attitudes to wake up to the reality and necessity of minimising and recycling waste.  Also, there will always be a residue of waste that cannot be recycled which needs to be disposed of. 

The immediate challenge for Swaziland is ensuring that this residue of waste is safely collected and transported to adequate locations for disposal.  At present our waste disposal is blighted by illegal dumping, or disposal at dumpsites that do not have adequate systems for minimising environmental and social harm.

We are not alone in this problem.  Low standard final disposal of solid waste (“open dumping”) is the most widespread form of waste disposal throughout the world.  About three-quarters of the countries around the world use this method of disposal.  It thrives because of the mistaken belief that it is the easiest and cheapest disposal method to use in those countries with economies in difficulties or where there is insufficient political will to allocate adequate public resources to improve the prevailing disposal practices.

The deposition of wastes along roadsides and on riverbanks and on marginal lands and then ‘hoping’ it will go away is both naïve and dangerous.  It is inevitable that chemical and biological contaminants in waste will pollute the surrounding natural environment and find their way back to humans to affect health, quality of life and working activities.

The traditional thinking in the minds of many municipalities is that open dumping is acceptable because they cannot do anything else. This attitude is misplaced since there are many small improvements that can be made, often at little or no cost, which together can improve noticeably a land disposal operation.

Commonly, using the staff, equipment and finance currently available in a different way can make significant improvements.  The improvement of waste disposal practices is a step-by-step approach.  The approaches taken vary depending on local circumstances but all changes introduced should represent a progressive improvement over open dumping.  It is best to identify those parts of the present land disposal operation that are unsafe or unsanitary and adopt ways to improve them using local materials and resources.

In summary we should realise that disposal of waste at dumpsites is a necessity of a modern integrated waste management system.  However there are currently huge problems with how we go about this dumping in Swaziland.  If we follow a principle of ‘keep it simple’ we can make significant improvements at every dumpsite – improvements which will improve the quality of life of local residents, and reduce environmental damage.

Back to Newspaper Columns

Back to Press Information