NTS019: Solid Waste Management

Date: 11^th – 22^nd February 2013 (2 Weeks)

About the course

Rapid increase in volume and types of solid and hazardous waste as a result of continuous economic growth, urbanization and industrialization, is becoming a burgeoning problem for national and local governments to ensure effective and sustainable management of waste. Growing quantities of waste demand additional capacities for transportation, storage, treatment and disposal. While appropriate technology and environmental concerns have to be considered, social aspects and community involvement are equally important. Solid waste management is one among the basic essential services provided by municipal authorities in a country to keep urban centres clean. However, it is among the most poorly rendered services since the systems applied are unscientific, outdated and inefficient; population coverage is low; and the poor are marginalized. This has led to waste being littered all over leading to insanitary living conditions.

This course covers concepts and principles applied in the management of solid waste to protect human health and the environment and the conservation of limited resources through resource recovery and recycling of waste material. It will also look into solid waste characterization including quantity and quality, waste collection and transport, treatment technologies, financial, social and institutional aspects, landfilling (design, construction, operation, sitting, monitoring, remedial actions and closure of landfills), cleaner productions: reduce, reuse, recycle and hazardous, health care and other special waste.

Course Objectives

• Identify and understand the concepts of reduction, reuse and recycle.
• Understand the design and operation of a resource recovery facility
• Understand the design and operation of a waste-to-energy facility
• Understand the process of developing an Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) system taking into consideration waste characterization and quantification.
• Understand the process of developing an Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) plan.
• Looking into strategies to deal with special wastes and emerging waste streams including hazardous and health care waste, E-waste, waste agricultural biomass and waste plastics.
• Describe the components of a landfill and processes which take place in a landfill.
• Describe the most common waste processing techniques and their application areas.

Who can benefit from the course?

This course is designed for mid-career professionals dealing with planning, promoting, designing, operating or managing solid waste systems for people in urban, peri-urban, slum or rural areas. They will typically be employed by government departments, private companies, NGOs, universities, research institutions, aid agencies or international bodies.