Assessment of the municipal solid waste management system in Accra, Ghana: A ‘Wasteaware’ benchmark indicator approach

Abstract

This article assesses the performance of the city of Accra, Ghana, in municipal solid waste management as defined by the integrated sustainable waste management framework. The article reports on a participatory process to socialise the Wasteaware benchmark indicators and apply them to an upgraded set of data and information. The process has engaged 24 key stakeholders for 9 months, to diagram the flow of materials and benchmark three physical components and three governance aspects of the city's municipal solid waste management system. The results indicate that Accra is well below some other lower middle-income cities regarding sustainable modernisation of solid waste services. Collection coverage and capture of 75% and 53%, respectively, are a disappointing result, despite (or perhaps because of) 20 years of formal private sector involvement in service delivery. A total of 62% of municipal solid waste continues to be disposed of in controlled landfills and the reported recycling rate of 5% indicates both a lack of good measurement and a lack of interest in diverting waste from disposal. Drains, illegal dumps and beaches are choked with discarded bottles and plastic packaging. The quality of collection, disposal and recycling score between low and medium on the Wasteaware indicators, and the scores for user inclusivity, financial sustainability and local institutional coherence are low. The analysis suggests that waste and recycling would improve through greater provider inclusivity, especially the recognition and integration of the informal sector, and interventions that respond to user needs for more inclusive decision-making.

Sustainability Assessment of Waste Management System for Mexico City (Mexico)—Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process

“…The escalation of generation of residues has resulted in a shortage of disposal sites and higher waste management costs. In Accra, Ghana, the expenditure for municipal solid waste (MSW), for example, increased from 2013 to 2015 by 8% [1]. Other important waste management issues which developing countries must face include lack of proper governance instruments, inefficient resource use, overdependence on imported equipment, improper financing methods and application of technology, inequality in service stipulation, and deficient technical expertise [2].…”

Working with the Informal Service Chain as a Locally Appropriate Strategy for Sustainable Modernization of Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems in Lower-Middle Income Cities: Lessons from Accra, Ghana

“…Despite the expected improvements, the system was in a downward spiral, and five years after the implementation of the strategy, coverage under formal service provision chains had dropped from 60% to 55% [36]. During the same period, ISPs increased their client base and by 2016 were collecting more than a third of all MSW generated in the city, such that their activities had increased the overall collection coverage to 75% [3].…”

“…Partly as a result of this, between 2013 and 2016, the number of ISP units grew from 52 to 350 members. They are currently registered under the Ghana "Bola" Taxi Union with chapters in each of the ten recognized zones of the city (Figure 2), and were found in 2016 to be providing as much as 28% of waste collection in the city [3].…”

“…The authors, with support from local authorities, implemented locally responsive interventions that focused on the inclusion of informal service providers. In the process, the number of ISPs in Accra increased from 350 in 2016 to 600 in 2018 [3]. The increase is attributable to three factors:…”

“…In contrast, the MSWM system of most middle-income economies is characterized by low to moderate levels of collection coverage with significant amounts of uncollected waste on illegal dumps and beaches [3,4]. The solid waste generated by households on poor urban settlements is rarely collected, even though the waste collection service consumes more than 50% of municipal budgets [5].…”