Source: Simon Otim and Jakob Lederer (2010)

This KEF-Forum KEF-Forum discusses waste and waste related hazards in countries of the South.

Although the waste topic has partly disappeared from the media in the last few years due to more spectacular environmental topics - just think of Al Gore, who went heavenward on a hoisting platform during his presentations to demonstrate the rapid increase in the CO2 concentration in our atmosphere - it has lost none of its explosiveness.
In five ocean maelstroms (>www.sueddeutsche.de), some of which the size of several hundred square kilometres, huge amounts of plastic waste accumulate. In the 'big Pacific waste maelstrom' (>www.spiegel.de) one kg of plankton is opposed by six kgs of plastic waste on the surface. Waste, however, is not only a problem for the environment; plastic that is eaten by fish also gets into human stomachs via the fish counters; waste that is burnt or deposited in an improper way can cause severe damage to people's health and more and more areas are uninhabitable for decades because they are contaminated by poisonous waste. Let alone that non-recycled rubbish is pure waste in a world where resources are running short.
Unfortunately the extent of the problem can hardly be quantified due to the shortage of reliable data. Only for the OECD countries complete, detailed and accurate figures about type and size of the piles of rubbish produced exist. For worldwide data one has to rely on extremely inaccurate and relatively old estimates of the UN:

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Source: UN

Nevertheless the figures show clearly that Africa and Asia contribute relatively little to our growing piles of rubbish (in relation to their population, of course). Whereas the Middle East even caps North America and Europe despite modest HDI figures. In view of these clear figures one must of course not forget that only the rubbish that is collected is included in the statistics. In many African and Asian countries a considerable amount of rubbish is disposed of "privately" (See interview with Jakob Lederer.).
In our topic we try to examine the problems of the growing amounts of waste in developing countries from various angles. For the first time we therefore highlight a project financed by the KEF within a forum topic. The goal of the KEF project P177 is the development of a user-focused knowledge base for communal waste management in Busia (Uganda). Detailed information about the project can be found in a short description and an interview with Jakob Lederer (Vienna University of Technology). Roland Linzner (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna) also presents a project financed by the KEF, which deals with composting in Guinea, and Antony McMichael presents the influences of the urban environment on people's health.

Source: project team - B. Bisa (DED)

Partner country: Uganda

Project number: 177

Duration: 2010 bis 2011

Blogwebsite:  http://eastern-uganda-environment.blogspot.com/

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Interview with Jakob Lederer

Wir sprechen mit Jakob Lederer, Assistent am Institut für Wassergüte, Ressourcenmanagement und Abfallwirtschaft der TU Wien, über ein KEF-finanziertes Projekt rund um Abfallwirtschaft in Uganda. Er erklärt uns die besonderen Herausforderungen der sich die Abfallwirtschaft in Entwicklungsländern stellen muss, erzählt von seinen Erfahrungen in Uganda und bringt uns seinen sehr speziellen methodischen Zugang näher. Außerdem erfahren wir wieso viele Batterien in Uganda ihr Dasein in Trockentoiletten beenden und wieso das möglicherweise ein Problem sein könnte.

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Source: Roland Linzner

Decentralised Composting of Market Waste and Use in Urban Agriculture; Conakry, Guinea

Roland Linzner
Published: Urban Agriculture magazine, number 23, April 2010

Roland Linzner is research fellow at the Institute of Waste Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. This article is about composting and management of urban organic waste and refers to a project which was financed by KEF.
It is estimated that two out of three people will live in urban centres in West Africa within the next 20 years. According to UNOWA (2007) more than ninety per cent of the urban population lives under substandard conditions. An important issue is the management of urban solid organic waste. Currently, these wastes contribute to urban pollution, while large amounts of nutrients are lost.

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Source: www.africaportal.org

The urban environment and health in a world of increasing globalization: issues for developing countries

Anthony J. McMichael
Published: Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2000, 78 (9)

Anthony McMichael is professor at the Australian National University. At the time this article was published he taught at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Urban living is the keystone of modern human ecology. Cities have multiplied and expanded rapidly worldwide over the past two centuries. Cities are sources of creativity and technology, and they are the engines for economic growth. However, they are also sources of poverty, inequality, and health hazards from the environment. Urban populations have long been incubators and gateways for infectious diseases. The early industrializing period of unplanned growth and laissez-faire economic activity in cities in industrialized countries has been superseded by the rise of collective management of the urban environment. This occurred in response to environmental blight, increasing literacy, the development of democratic government, and the collective accrual of wealth. In many lowincome countries, this process is being slowed by the pressures and priorities of economic globalization. Beyond the traditional risks of diarrhoeal disease and respiratory infections in the urban poor and the adaptation of various vector-borne infections to urbanization, the urban environment poses various physicochemical hazards. These include exposure to lead, air pollution, traffic hazards, and the ‘‘urban heat island’’ amplification of heatwaves. As the number of urban consumers and their material expectations rise and as the use of fossil fuels increases, cities contribute to the large-scale pressures on the biosphere including climate change. We must develop policies that ameliorate the existing, and usually unequally distributed, urban environmental health hazards and larger-scale environmental problems.

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This KEF-Forum is work in progress.
Live radio broadcast: July, 15, 2011. 8:00pm - 9:00pm.
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