LETTERS: Focus on waste generation, not disposal

If you run a quick check of your household waste bin before releasing it to the garbage collectors, you are likely to find out that only a small portion of the content qualifies as real waste that should be disposed of.

Africa is increasingly facing the challenge of urbanisation. The urban population is increasing at a high rate. In 2030 Kenya could be sharing 40-60 population in urban centres and rural areas with urban centres expected to grow in numbers and sizes too. This will mean more generation of urban wastes.

Urban waste management is the next frontier both in the political and environmental arena. Political arena because most governors face big questions on how they will manage waste in our large urban centres and cities like Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Machakos, Kakamega, Thika, Nyeri, Kisii among other towns.

In the environmental arena it’s an issues because poorly managed waste pollutes lands, waters and air, at most polluting and contaminating underground water permanently.

What is the best possible solution to the waste problem? It takes me back to the top of the opinion; you cannot solve waste problems by looking at where to take the waste. Waste management should focus mainly at the waste producers. People should be made aware of how not to generate waste.

In Europe and North America there are several bigger cities, larger than Nairobi.

I can name 100 at least bigger than Nairobi, in terms of even purchasing power, but these cities do not have waste problems. Why? The waste producers know their role in waste production. They consume only what they should.

In Kenya, typical problem is that where can people make money in waste business. Buy more trucks, purchase land. There is no creativity in managing waste in Kenya.

The 4Rs in waste management are known all over the world and our county governments know about them but they are ignored because there is no money to make in Reduce, Reuse, Recycling and Recovery.

The first R which is reduce is the most effective way of waste management. In this, you and I reduce the waste we produce.

Why should you get into a wedding, serve four chapatis, eat two and you throw the other two while you could have served two, and let the other two be kept for use tomorrow?

Why should you print this opinion, when you can read it online and let it be online than to print it and discard the print? In reducing waste production, we reduce the bulk of burden on our landfills.

The second R is re-use, where the plastic bottles come into play as they are the biggest of wastes in our landfills.

Manufactures should either make them expensive or a way should be found in a manner that the buyer finds a way of taking it back for re-use. These are inorganic wastes that take lots of years to degenerate.

Recycling. We just refuse to think on how to recycle waste. Take for example our waste water, through the sewer lines. Waste water problems are all over in our urban areas.

It is difficult for county governments that end up releasing waste water into the water bodies.

Urban waste water is the largest waste in volumes that is easy to manage.

READ: Managing plastic waste requires a holistic approach

The water from all households in Nairobi can be recycled and pumped back to the system to be used for less domestic use like washing clothes, cars, and other functions other than consumption as drinking water.

The sludge could be refined as fertilisers to make our dry lands productive again.

Recovery is not necessarily a waste management strategy as the material will still be thrown but at least it lengthens the duration of a product being called waste, for example, using waste tyre to make ‘Akala’ footwear or using a plastic bottle to carry milk or paraffin next time.

It’s high time Kenya’s urban waste management authorities changed strategies on waste management, focused on waste producers through public awareness, waste segregation, and the 4Rs to have resilient urban centres.

Apopo Lentana,Safety and environment expert.