Resource recovery from urban waste: Options and challenges for community-based composting in sub-Saharan Africa

Municipal authorities in developing countries are facing immense challenges in managing both solid and liquid waste in a sustainable way. Recycling is not yet high on their agenda although they appreciate the potential of composting for waste volume reduction. This offers an entry point to introduce organic waste recycling as a component of sustainable integrated sanitation which has the potential of a win-win situation by reducing waste flows, ensuring environmental health, supporting food production and creating livelihoods. However, due to several constraints recycling attempts have often a short life time. This paper tries to analyse related reasons by drawing from a larger study in Ghana and a survey of compost stations in different parts of Africa. It concludes with a framework for the analysis and the planning of recycling interventions in the context of sustainable sanitation, looking in particular at community-based options for solid waste and human excreta.

In many cities in SSA, municipal resources are not even sufficient for waste collection and safe disposal. Composting, independently of the concept of resource recovery, appeals significantly to waste managers as it can reduce the waste volume and related transportation and disposal costs by about 50%. This is an important entry point to promote the concept of resource recovery for the benefits of agriculture as an integral part of waste management schemes, and implemented in conformity with local needs and constraints. Efforts so far were in several cases of limited success due to a number of recurrent planning mistakes which the suggested planning framework tries to address. The related feasibility study in Ghana pointed at limitations related to market demand but also at options for win-win situations. One of the important issues is subsidy sourcing. This should consider besides savings also the opportunity costs of non-action, which can be very high, as seen for emergency waste removals in cases of disease outbreak and poor performance of the tourist sector.