Hazardous and toxic waste management in Botswana: Practices and challenges

Abstract

Hazardous and toxic waste is a complex waste category because of its inherent chemical and physical characteristics. It demands for environmentally sound technologies and know-how as well as clean technologies that simultaneously manage and dispose it in an environmentally friendly way. Nevertheless, Botswana lacks a system covering all the critical steps from importation to final disposal or processing of hazardous and toxic waste owing to limited follow-up of the sources and types of hazardous and toxic waste, lack of modern and specialised treatment/disposal facilities, technical know-how, technically skilled manpower, funds and capabilities of local institutions to take lead in waste management. Therefore, because of a lack of an integrated system, there are challenges such as lack of cooperation among all the stakeholders about the safe management of hazardous and toxic waste. Furthermore, Botswana does not have a systematic regulatory framework regarding monitoring and hazardous and toxic waste management. In addition to the absence of a systematic regulatory framework, inadequate public awareness and dissemination of information about hazardous and toxic waste management, slower progress to phase-out persistent and bio-accumulative waste, and lack of reliable and accurate information on hazardous and toxic waste generation, sources and composition have caused critical challenges to effective hazardous and toxic waste management. It is, therefore, important to examine the status of hazardous and toxic waste as a waste stream in Botswana. By default; this mini-review article presents an overview of the current status of hazardous and toxic waste management and introduces the main challenges in hazardous and toxic waste management. Moreover, the article proposes the best applicable strategies to achieve effective hazardous and toxic waste management in the future.

Hazardous and industrial waste composition and associated management activities in Caspian industrial park, Iran

“…Many studies on hazardous and industrial waste from specific industries have been concentrated on waste characterization and management activities (Curran and Williams, 2012;Das et al, 2012;Mmereki et al, 2014). In fact, the first step for planning and developing a more adequate system of waste management is to study the quantity, type, and composition of industrial waste.…”

Introductory Chapter: Overview of Household Hazardous Waste Management in the African Context

“…In much of the African continent, waste disposal facilities are unregulated or uncontrolled. Although no figures have been provided in countries like Botswana, it has been observed that a significant proportion of HHW disposal occurs with inadequate control or treatment [8]. It is a common practice to dispose of HHW wastes in unregulated landfills, conventional landfilling.…”

“…Other harmful effects of HHW include air pollution, which may be caused by the release of mercury, lead, cadmium and nickel into the atmosphere from burning batteries [1]. In most of the African countries, inadequacies of the policy frameworks include lack of capacity and governance [8]; fewer resources available to deal with environmental health issues arising, limited expertise and knowledge on HHW management technologies, inappropriate HHW classification and characterization and municipalities have not created their own HHW database. On the other hand, developed countries have dedicated substantial economic resources to regulate the production, treatment and disposal of HHW [9].…”

Assessment of Medical Waste Management in Health Centers of Maroua-Cameroon

“…The landfills were located at a distance away from the health facilities. The main idea of the landfill is storage and containment of the waste deposited into it (Mmereki et al 2017;Mmereki et al 2014]. However, how the landfills were operated in sharp contrast to normal procedures.…”