WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RECYCLING

EDITOR’S NOTE

Hello Everyone, welcome to another edition of our newsletter.

Today’s topic is Waste Management and Recycling. I am sure we are familiar with this

topic as it is a very crucial aspect of our everyday life/activity; from household waste to

factory waste to chemical emissions, the list is endless! But it is not our intention to go

into details of how waste is generated but to enlighten you about the usefulness of these

“waste” and how, in more developed countries they are converted to useful useable items

again and again.

Therefore, this article emphasizes the importance of waste management and recycling in

the environment. The emphasis is on wealth generation, job creation and the prevention of

damage to natural resources, for example, the cutting down of trees to produce paper

where recycled waste can actually be used to produce such.

In summary what this article proffers is the 3Rs in waste management hierarchy namely:

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

We hope you will find this newsletter stimulating enough to take a cue from it!

Enjoy.

PATIENCE E.C. OKONTA

Waste management is one field that we have not been able to fully adopt in Nigeria. It is still a major area of challenge in our environment. Despite the establishment of the LAWMA by Lagos state Government (using Lagos as  case study), to evacuate dirt and keep the environment clean, there are still some locations in the state where their effect is not felt or that are eyesores to the public.

In other developed nations of the world, waste management and recycling has been a cogent means of revenue generation for the government and source of employment for people.
Waste management is therefore the process of collection, transportation and disposal of refuse/garbage, sewage and other waste products.

Some of the hazards of not managing waste is air pollution, blockage of sewages and drainages, unhealthy environment which aids the spread of airborne and water borne diseases and waste of raw materials.

Whereas the key function of facilities management is to control, preserve and sustain facilities, in this case, the environment at large, waste management is very crucial to maintaining our ecosystem.

In developed countries, waste is sorted using the waste recycling facility. Waste is separated into 4 categories: paper, organic waste, special waste and landfill waste. 

I must say that Unilag is one of the very few institutions that have imbibed the culture of separating their waste collecting bins. The other day I went to make certain findings, I noticed there were three bins with inscription on them at strategic places on the campus. On those bins, we have for paper, plastics and other non-identifiable items e.g. perishables, food agents, etc.   In some cases, you have bins for paper, glass, plastic and metal. When this is done, it makes it easier for waste collectors to sort the wastes and possibly recycle them, because the first step in recycling is the sorting of waste. What then is recycling? Recycling is the practice of reusing items that would otherwise be discarded as waste. It is the process of converting waste materials into reusable objects to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, energy usage, air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from land filling) by decreasing the need for "conventional" waste disposal and lowering greenhouse gas emissions compared to plastic production. (Wikipedia/recycling) A major advantage of recycling is the preservation of the natural resources such as trees used for paper production as mentioned in the above definition. However, it is not only paper that can be got from recycling;  leather bags, back packs, wallets, kitchen towels, head wares, bottle openers, children’s ecofriendly toys, under wears, buckets, food packs, etc. are all products of recycling . Like I mentioned earlier, when waste is properly disposed and managed in the community, the environment is healthy.                                            Let us look at recycling of water for example: In India, the growing demand for water for industrial, agricultural and domestic use is one of the country’s major development challenges. We all know India is the second highest populated country in the world but with very little water distributed over her landmass. Water scarcity which has become a major concern of the government has led to the recycling of water on a large scale using centralized systems of wastewater treatment by various public authorities.                Water is recycled for use and reuse in India.  Sewage water, water used in laundry, etc. are properly treated and disinfected. It can be used in flushing and gardening. Also rainwater is collected and stored for future use. (http://www.chemtech-online.com/water)        On the other hand, Nigeria is so blessed especially in the south western and south-south area that we do not have to recycle water! Well, except in the north, in which if we have proper waste water treatment mechanism in place, water problems in the north or any part of the country at all will be minute.                              From the above, we can see that the importance of recycling cannot be over emphasised for a developing economy such as ours.                                       Major steps have already been taken in the area of waste management and collection, the government needs only to go a step further by putting in place structures, production plants where these waste can be converted to raw materials that will be used for further production.   I saw a recycling centre on Simpson Street here in Ikoyi, although I cannot say if it is functioning but it’s a welcomed development and first step toward environmental development.                                                        Now, we have only talked about water comparing both India and Nigeria; but plastics can be recycled  to produce new plastics with different shapes and designs, nylon  and plant waste can be used to make papers, toilet rolls, napkins, more nylons and other household items we cannot  start listing here which we all see  around. I must not fail to mention this; I had the privilege of living in a particular local government in Plateau state for one year. I noticed scavengers picking up used cans and light tin containers (called aluminum scraps). I wondered what they were going to use them for but didn't have to wonder for long. Though I cannot say the processes or stages the cans were put through but I saw the end product of it. We all know these 3 legged local pot used in cooking for parties and other major events, that’s the product of the recycled cans and tins! I was awed and very impressed that such supposed unlearned individuals could come up with such creative ideas and they actually made the pots in different sizes. There is very great gain in waste management and recycling and so many resources to tap from it if only we can adopt it full time and on a large scale; I’m sure it will help boost our economy too. We can keep talking about waste management and recycling because it is very extensive but I hope I have been able to enlighten somebody reading this article of the relevance of managing waste and the benefits of recycling. The message in this article can be summarized in three words: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This is what environmental conservatism is all about. Desmond Majekodunmi of the conservationist movement pioneered the introduction of the 3Rs as a strategy for “saving” the environment and conserving resources. For more information on Great Heights Limited email us on info@greatheightslimited.com