Author(s)

S. Buso, M. D. V. Nakin & A. Abraham

Abstract

Solid waste management has become one of the key problems in the world and has ranked in the top five of the most challenging problems for city managers. However, it receives little attention compared to other urban or municipal management issues. The aim of this study was to identify the manner in which solid waste was managed and the response planning to waste generation and disposal with challenges that were faced by five local municipalities in the O.R. Tambo District Municipality. This was archived by mapping waste management activities such as street bin distribution, illegal dumping and municipal landfill sites through the recording of coordinates and picture taking using GPS and digital cameras, respectively. Map analyses and production was done using ARCGIS 10.1 software. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationship between bin distribution and illegal dumping. The calculated results showed no correlation between bin distribution and illegal dumping. There were also differences on waste conditions, bin distribution and illegal dumping in towns of the five local municipalities. A total of nine landfill sites were found with four licensed and five illegal. The results suggest not only the placement of bins close to waste generation points, but also the use of different sizes of bins depending on waste generation volumes. The establishment of waste minimisation programs, environmental education, awareness campaigns, workshops and law enforcement

Keywords