Solid waste conversion and future promise of environmental management

Resumen o Introducción

Different scientific studies claim that solid waste has had diverse effects on both the natural environment and human society. Besides, lack of plausible solid waste handling systems is as well postulated to be a major challenge, mainly in developing countries. For instance, the waste handling systems found in Kigali, Rwanda, are substandard compared to those highlighted by different studies in developed countries such as Sweden and USA. In general, municipal authorities and other private companies, mainly in Rwanda, are keen to keep streets and some suburbs clean with the help of open landfill disposal system. They often collect and dump solid waste, mixed of organic and inorganic materials to the only municipal dump site located at Nyanza Hill in the outskirts of Kigali City.

The exploratory study conducted in Kigali, Rwanda tested the plausibility of briquetting, composting, incineration, cullet pulverisation, and plasma pyrolysis systems to handle solid waste. The study started with the review of various literatures on solid waste management, and thereafter surveyed 400 residents of Kigali City for their opinions. Computer software Web-Hipre was used to analyze public opinions on the five systems to handle solid waste. The results indicate briquetting as the optimal system to handle solid waste in Kigali City. Composting considered suboptimal; incineration, plasma pyrolysis, and cullet pulverisation systems were not considered.