Sustainable Solid Waste Management - Composting of Local Organic Waste in Addis Ababa

Solid waste management is one of the top priority problems in Addis Ababa. The waste management situation in AA can be characterized by inadequate collection service coverage, limited recycling activities, inadequate landfill disposal and inadequate or no management of hazardous and healthcare waste. A large portion of waste is dumped illegally on the streets, river sides, and public areas and burnt in the streets and back yards due to lack of knowledge toward waste and its value. On the other hand limited information is available on the quantity of waste generated and its impact. Therefore, this project intends to assist the government and other institutions efforts in raising the public awareness, providing up-to-date and reliable information for planners and decision makers. Additionally, it will have a component of improving and promoting organic waste composting through demonstration, market assessment and training. Like in many other low-income countries AA is facing the problems resulting from inadequate Solid Waste Management (SWM) practices. According to the City Managers Office (2008), poor SWM is one of the top ten priority problems of AA. Reliable data regarding the amount and composition of waste generated and collected in AA is very limited. According to prior data collections the waste generated per capita and day is estimated with approx. 0.15 to 0.25 kg per capita and day (Yami Birke, 1999 and Municipality of Addis Ababa, 2002). As stated by the Municipality of Addis Ababa (2002), the density varies from 205 to 370 kg/m3 (in average 333 kg/m3). Up to now this data is used by various institutions for planning and research purposes. Therefore, getting up-to-date and reliable data on the waste generation rates and the characteristics of the waste stream is of paramount importance for future planning activities. The possibility of converting urban wastes or a substantial portion of these into organic fertilisers (compost) is an adequate way of closing the nutrient cycle as occurs in nature. If the nutrients are not recirculated, it will lead to a lack of nutrients and humus in the affected soils, as well as to related problems such as soil degradation and erosion problems. Composting of the organic fraction of waste and the subsequent application of compost in peri-urban agriculture (UA) is therefore considered to be a solution in the course of development cooperation projects. Various reports estimated the biodegradable fraction of the solid waste in AA is 60-80 % of the waste stream (Municipality of Addis Ababa, 2002). The overall objective is to provide first hand and up-to-date information on the problem of solid waste for decision makers and planners in AA. Introducing and implementing source-separated waste collection at household (HH) level for resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts; and promoting composting of organic solid waste and raising public awareness on the problem of solid waste are among the major objectives of this project.