Vol. 11(8), pp.

393-412, August 2017

DOI: 10.5897/AJEST2017.2340
Article Number: 60C213665187
ISSN 1996-0786
African Journal of Environmental Science and
Copyright © 2017 Technology
Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
http://www.academicjournals.org/AJEST

Review

Waste management in the case of Bahir Dar City near

Lake Tana shore in Northwestern Ethiopia: A review
Biruk Abate Fenta
Faculty of Chemical and Food Engineering, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Biotechnology Institute, Bahir Dar
University, P.O. Box 26, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Received 7 April, 2017; Accepted 26 May, 2017

Urbanization is a global phenomenon with more pronounced consequences on waste management in

developing countries. The rate of infrastructure development is mostly outpaced by the rate of waste
generation. Bahir Dar city, as a rapidly urbanizing city in the southern part of Lake Tana, is not an
exception. On top of production of more wastes, the waste management practice is challenged by low
prioritization of waste management, limited revenues for financing waste management with the ever-
increasing population of this city. This paper reviewed the current waste management system in Lake
Tana basin taking Bahir Dar as case. The mechanism of Bahir Dar municipality to coordinate the public
and private sectors in the city has played a vital role in waste management. However, the daily
monitoring of waste management by the community development section has not been sufficient. It is
also observed that the liquid waste has an effect on the lake and its resources. Effective involvement of
both private and public sectors should improve waste management and provide door-to-door collection
and facilitate drainage disposable canals. Therefore, an integrated solid and liquid waste management
practice should be implemented for the City Lake Tana basin and also for the surrounding environment.
This has to include development plans for improving sustainable sanitation and disposal of the sewage
system, and adopt the best practices of waste management for the City-Lake Tana basin ecosystem.

Key words: Development plan, finance, municipality, urbanization, wastes.

INTRODUCTION

Waste was an early problem of mankind, and a growing problems associated with improper management of solid
one that is of major concern to every nation of the world waste include diseases transmission, fire hazards, odor
(Allende, 2009; Genemo and Yohanis, 2015). It is an nuisance, atmospheric and water pollution, aesthetic
issue mostly witnessed in urban areas as a result of high nuisance and economic losses (Jilani, 2002). In the
surge in population growth rate and increase in per capita previous old years’, solid waste management systems
income thus posing a danger to environmental quality have involved complex and multi- faceted trade-offs
and human health (Javaheri, 2006). The most common among a plethora of technological alternatives, economic

E-mail: abatebiruk@gmail.com. Tel: 251910584469.

Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 International License
394 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

instruments, and regulatory frameworks. These changes in the slum areas of most African cities (Hammer, 2003).
resulted in various environmental, economic, social, and Traditionally, administrations in African states permitted
regulatory impacts in waste management practices which uncontrolled dumping in abandoned quarry sites with no
not only complicate regional policy analysis, but also provision for sanitary landfill, causing huge health
reshape the paradigm of global sustainable development problems (Martin, 1992; Hammer, 2003). A large part of
(Ana et al., 2010). the problem is inadequate financial and data resources
Municipal solid waste management has thus become a for site selection and management (Mwanthi et al., 1997).
major issue of concern for many underdeveloped nations, Waste management is an all-encompassing term which
especially as populations increase (Bartone, 2000). The describes several distinct processes. It includes the
problem is compounded as many nations continue to elimination or reduction of waste, recycling of waste
urbanize rapidly. For instance, 30 to 50% of population in material, the treatment and distraction of waste, that is,
most developing countries is urban (Thomas, 1998) and physically destroying, chemically detoxifying or otherwise
in many African countries, the growth rate of urban areas rendering waste permanently harmless and disposing or
exceeds 4% (Senkoro, 2003; Samuel and Enoch, 2014). depositing the material into the air, water or land (Ward
When the governments of African countries were asked and Dubos, 1972). Most of the municipal waste models
by the World Health Organization to prioritize their identified in the literatures are decision support models
environmental health concerns, results revealed that solid and they are based on cost benefit analysis, life cycle
waste was identified as the second most important assessment and multicriteria decision making (Morrissey
problem (after water quality), less than 30% of urban and Browne, 2003).
populations have access to proper and regular garbage The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Solid
removal (Senkoro, 2003; Samuel and Enoch, 2014). Waste Management (FDRE SWM) Proclamation No. 513
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued (2007) defines Solid Waste and Solid Waste
many regulations and limitations to control unfriendly Management (SWM) as follows: ‘Solid Waste’ implies
environment projects, among this regulation one is landfill anything that is neither liquid nor gas and is discarded as
site criteria, and also many agencies in different countries unwanted. ‘Solid waste management’ means the
of the developed world were established to control this collection, transportation, storage, recycling or disposal of
process (EPA, 1996). Developing countries just started to solid waste, or the subsequent use of a disposal site that
establish such agencies and institutions in this field is no longer operational. The term ‘municipal solid waste’
(PAEA, 2006). The issue of landfill site selection is (MSW) covers solid wastes generated by households,
complicated and time consuming. During the last few commercial and industrial premises like shops, hotels,
decades and particularly when environmental planning garages and agriculture, by institutions such as schools,
emerged this issue became systematic and technical. hospital care homes and prisons and from public spaces
The evolution of GIS made this field much easier and such as streets, bus stops, parks and gardens (Christian,
manageable. GIS has very distinguishing, powerful 2012).
functions and it is an ultimate method for preliminary site As urbanization continues, solid waste management
selection as it efficiently stores, retrieves, analyses and (SWM) becomes a major public health and environmental
displays information according to user-defined threat in urban areas. The daily life in industrialized
specification as a result, can play an important role in nations can generate several pounds of waste per
decision making and planning process (Daneshvar et al., consumer, not only directly in home, but also indirectly in
2005). The fundamental analytical function of a GIS factories (Sarker et al., 2012). The problem for these
based spatial decision support system include query societies, with their ever greater variety, amount and
analysis, proximity or buffer analysis, overlay analysis, durability of refuse, is getting more serious. However,
neighbourhood analysis and network analysis. Various today, developed nations use solid waste as a multi dollar
combinations of these functions are commonly used business and they can manage it to an acceptable level.
during the geographical data analysis process (Bartone, On the contrary, third world countries face particular
2000). challenges in the management of solid waste, as in other
In Africa, rapid urban growth since the 1960s has put aspects of environmental management (Eshun, 2002).
pressure on land resources within the areas surrounding Therefore, even though SWM is nowhere adequately
cities, and has led to increased generation of waste. executed and is a global problem, municipalities from the
Although, cities function as the engine of growth in most developing countries are highly faced with this problem
developing countries by providing job opportunities, and as long as life has existed in this world, the disposal
education, knowledge and technology and ready markets of waste has been a problem (Eshun, 2002). Agrawal
for industrial and agricultural products, unprecedented (2002) has argued that collection of solid waste in urban
urban growth places enormous stress on natural areas is difficult and a complex job because the
resources, existing amenities and cause environmental generation of waste from different sources in a diffuse
deterioration (Edward 2008). The problem is aggravated process complicate the collection task. Especially in
by the open dump nature of disposing waste, especially under developed countries, the problem of disposal of
 Fenta 395

waste is both difficult and unsolved which further leads to Biodegradable waste: which originates from plant and
several illnesses caused by infectious and parasitic animal sources, which may be broken down by microbes
diseases. or other living organisms. While these wastes may
According to Forum for Environment (2010), one of the appear physically different, they tend to be fairly
challenges that the Ethiopian cities such as Bahir Dar homogeneous in biochemical composition
faces is the problem of sanitation in general and SWM in (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) for anaerobic digestion
particular. Bahir Dar is among the well-known cities in for biogas production by virtue of their high methane
Ethiopia and also a center of industrial and commercial potential.
activities. Adjacently, the daily waste generation rate in Hazardous/toxic waste: Is a waste with properties that
the city is also increasing from time to time (FFE, 2010). make it potentially dangerous or harmful to human health
But the current waste collection capacity and disposal or the environment. They can be the by-products of
system is not matching with the rapid expansion of the manufacturing processes, discarded used materials, or
city and its corresponding waste generation. It discarded unused commercial products (cleaning fluids,
encounters problems like shortage of containers, road pesticides).
side waste bins, public toilets and the absence of proper Recyclable waste: Is the removal of items from the
and well prepared disposal site (FUPI, 2006). Hence, the waste stream to be used as raw materials in the
people give no or little attention to SWM and they dump manufacture of new products (paper, glass bottles and
wastes along the roads and open spaces and beside this, ceramics).
most of the industries and health centers in the city do Inert waste: Is consists of construction and demolition
not start treating and/or reusing their waste properly waste, dirt, rocks, debris, etc. with relatively lower
(FUPI, 2006). environmental impact by virtue of its non-biodegradability
Waste water results from human and animal activities (Suryawanshi, 2013).
that are unwanted or hazardous. Humans pollute their Ethiopia is one of the many developing countries in sub-
environment with industrial and domestic wastes. In this Saharan Africa where municipal authorities are struggling
case, whenever people do their daily activities, they bring to provide adequate urban environmental services. Bahir
negative effects on the environment. Environmental Dar is one the fastest growing cities in Ethiopia with a
pollution increases as the density of people increases. current population of > 290 thousand. If the current
Unsanitary environments are favourable for the outbreak annual population growth rate of 6.6% continues, the city
and spread of different types of communicable diseases. population will be doubled in just 11 years and need to
Sewage may drain directly into major watersheds with have adequate solid and liquid waste management
minimal or no treatment. When untreated, it has serious system (Christian, 2012). Currently, the city records
implications on the quality of environment and health of steadily growing population number, which is due to a
aqueous biota and human beings. While some high birth rate and migration rate, and the waste
chemicals, especially heavy metals and pesticides pose generation is increasing (UNEP, 2010).
grave risks even at low concentration and remain a threat In this regard, a review survey was carried out on the
for long periods due to their bioaccumulation in solid waste generation rate, assessment of SWM
animal/human systems, pathogens cause a variety of systems, waste disposal and problems of SWM. Thus,
debilitating ailments (Suryawanshi, 2013; Tchobanoglous this review revised documents from books, thesis works,
et al., 1997; Tchobanoglous et al., 2003). annual waste management conference reports, journals
Most of the disease-causing agents that contaminate on waste management, newsletters, abstracts and
water and food come from human and animal wastes. proceedings which can properly address the main factors
Without proper management, they result in that strongly hinder proper waste management and the
communicable diseases (Suryawanshi, 2013; Bhide and extent to which community is aware of appropriate waste
Sundaresan, 1980, 1983). More than half of the disposal systems in Bahir Dar city.
population of less developed countries does not have
access to sanitation and more than 80% of the waste
water generated is directly discharged into surface water Solid waste management in Bahir Dar city
bodies (Suryawanshi, 2013; Bansal et al., 2007). In Bahir
Dar City, the sanitation facility coverage gap remains Description of the study area
unacceptably large and lack of space for the construction
of latrines is one of the reasons. The habit of open field Bahir Dar is the capital city of the Amhara National
disposal of liquid waste is one of the main causes of soil Regional State (ANRS) in northern Ethiopia. It is located
and water contamination and consequently a cause of near Lake Tana, the headwaters of the Blue Nile, and is a
many communicable diseases (Shekdar, 1999). major tourist destination (Merkuz, 2014). Bahir Dar city
Waste is classified differently in different contexts. But has a flat plateau earth structure which is located at
in the context of subject of this review, the following 11°36"North latitudes and 37°23"East longitudes. The
classification is adapted from Suryawanshi (2013) as: naming of the city as Bahir Dar is connection with its
396 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

proximity to the two water bodies of Lake Tana and River each collection event, depending on the quantity of the
Abay (Nile). Hence, literally Bahir Dar means a city waste and the distance to the container site (Kassa,
situated on or very close to the shore of Lake Tana and 2009).
Blue Nile. Today, it is one of the fast growing and largest The municipality offered its services through provision
cities in the country. In line with its growth, different of 70 temporary waste storage containers distributed
service sectors such as education, health and transport throughout the city. Each of these metal containers was
and communication have grown. The city has expanded guarded by a municipality guard. To that end, 70
rapidly throughout the 20th century and today sewage container guards were employed with the duty to send
discharge into Lake Tana has become a serious and people away when containers were full. Another
highly visible problem (Matthew, 2011). At the same time, responsibility of the municipality was the transportation of
as the city modernizes, it is converting more and more these containers to the disposal site by its own trucks, in
land into streets, parking lots, hotels, etc., increasing the which there were two trucks; their crew included three
amount of surfaces that cannot absorb the seasonal rains drivers and four assistants (Christian, 2012).
in the area. This storm runoff overflows sewage systems A major problem in the SWM of that time was the
and creates an influx of contaminated water entering general shortage of containers. One of the main reasons
Lake Tana (Wondie, 2009). was limited space availability, which also led to the
However, waste management and disposal service selection of inappropriate container locations (e.g. far
problems of Bahir Dar have been identified as the second away from densely populated areas). The container
and third priority issues next to housing and shortage combined with insufficiently frequent emptying
flood/drainage problems (Bahir Dar City Administration, resulted in the containers being regularly overfilled,
2010). The main types of solid wastes produced in the despite the presence of guards. Some containers in the
city are household, commercial, industrial, construction city centre needed emptying twice per day - a service the
leftovers and agricultural waste. The city does not have a municipality could not provide. As a consequence, the
proper landfill site; rather it has a simple open dumping people started disposing their waste in open areas which
place where all types of wastes are dumped in and in the had negative impact on public health, the environment
vicinities haphazardly (Metaferia, 2001). and the aesthetics of the city. In addition, the municipality
According to Rachael and Khosrow (2013), SWM has had no legal ground to collect a SWM fee from residents
become an issue of increasing global concern as urban for waste transportation and disposal, so the budget had
populations continue to rise and consumption patterns to be obtained from other sources of tax (Kassa, 2009).
change. The health and environmental implications SWM was a very big financial burden for the municipality
associated with SWM are mounting in urgency, (Christian, 2012; Arto, 2010).
particularly in the context of developing countries
including Bahir Dar city; and therefore in the
industrialized countries, public health, environment, Institutions
resource scarcity, climate change, and public awareness
and participation have acted as SWM drivers towards the The main stakeholders in the MSW system in Bahir Dar
current paradigm of integrated SWM. includes Bahir Dar City Administration (CA), Regional
Amhara Bureau of Environmental Protection, Land
Administration and Use (BoEPLAU, Regional Amhara
Development drivers Health Bureau (BoH), Regional Amhara Government
(ANRS), United Nations Development Programme
Until 2008, Bahir Dar had a SWM system named ‘bring- (UNDP) and Federal Environmental Protection Authority
system’ or ‘communal container system’ where waste (EPA, 1997) according to the study of UNEP source
was brought to a communal container on the street. The document for the city waste management (FFE, 2010).
principal stakeholders in that system included the waste
generators (households, commercials, institutions), the
Sanitation and Beautification Team of the municipality Service contributors
and the informal waste collectors (Kassa, 2009).
The waste generators had the responsibility of storing Dream light (DL)
the solid waste at home and have it transported by
It is a private company responsible for collection,
themselves, their children, house servants or by informal
transportation, disposal and recycling of municipal solid
waste collectors from the source of generation to one of
3 waste in 8 out of 9 kebeles of Bahir Dar, UNEP, Forum
the 70 metal containers (8 m ) capacity. The informal
for Environment (2010).
waste collectors went from door-to-door and collected
waste either on client basis or by asking if people have
solid waste to be disposed off. The reward for the Green dream (GD)
collection services was either in kind (mostly food) or in
cash. The payment ranged from 0.02 to 0.09 USD per This Community Based Organization (CBO) is comprised
 Fenta 397

of 30 female workers and responsible for solid waste pigs. Both farms have workers going around the city with
collection in a door-to-door manner in one kebele mule-pulled carts to pick up for free a total amount of 2.5
(Shumabo), UNEP, Forum for Environment (2010b). t/day of kitchen waste from hotels, restaurants and
In Ethiopia, among the well-known cities, Bahir Dar is theuniversities (UNEP, Forum for Environment, 2010b).
one of the fast growing tourist destination cities. It is also
a center of industrial and commercial activities.
Adjacently, the daily waste generation rate in the city is Formal recyclers
also increasing from time to time (Forum for Environment,
2010). But the current waste collection capacity and Middlemen: Parts of the recyclable materials collected
disposal system is not matching with the rapid expansion by koralews, lewaches, street persons and formal waste
of the city and its corresponding waste generation. It collectors are sold to middlemen, who in turn sell them to
encounters problems like shortage of containers, road brokers of recycling companies in Addis Ababa, the
side waste bins, public toilets and the absence of proper capital city of Ethiopia. There are 55 middlemen
and well prepared disposal site (FUPI, 2006). Hence, the collecting and selling metals, plastics and glasses and 1
people give no or little attention to SWM and they dump middleman for textiles and shoes (Christian, 2012).
wastes along the roads and in open spaces. In addition, These middlemen are registered at the Bureau of Trade
most of the industries and health centers in Bahir Dar did and Industry, thus have a license for trading materials
not start treating and/or reusing their waste properly. and need to pay taxes.
Bahir Dar city has 17 kebeles (now administered in 9
administrative centers) from these kebeles, 04
commercial center, 06 heavily populated, and 17 city Waste generators and the civil Society
outskirt are obtained (Koyachew, 2016).
Households:

Informal recyclers Bahir Dar has roughly 80’000 households (extrapolation

based on CSA, 2007). They are responsible for filling
Koralews are informal itinerant buyers going from door to their solid waste in collection bags and for payment of the
door to collect recyclable and reusable materials such as service fees. The community in each Kebele
pieces of metals, plastics, glasses, corrugated iron Administration has the right to elect a kebele council.
sheets, tins, car batteries and others. They buy these However, these kebele councils have very limited power
materials and sell them to one of the 55 middlemen. 70 in comparison with the City Administration.
Koralews are working in Bahir Dar (Worku, 2012). The
number of Koralews is increasing now in the city,
contributing as waste recyclers. Lewaches are persons Commercials
going from door to door to exchange recyclable materials
especially clothes and shoes for new plastic barrels, The business sector which includes shops, hotels,
sauce panels, spoons, etc depending on the type and restaurants, markets, garages etc. has 7,040
oldness of the cloth and their number is increasing on commercials (UNEP, 2010a). They are responsible for
wards from about 50 to more than this amount. Lewaches filling their solid waste in collection bags and for payment
are working in Bahir Dar (Christian, 2012). Dumpsite of the service fees.
pickers collect recyclables and reusable materials from
the disposal site and sell it to either middlemen or Dream
Light PLC. There are 10-15 dumpsite pickers at Gordma Institutions
working every day except Sundays (Worku, 2012).
Children and beggars living on the streets go around from Institutions include governmental and non-governmental
door-to-door and ask for food leftovers, reusable textiles bureaus, schools, universities, colleges, hospitals and
and recyclable materials that they use themselves or sell clinics, training centres, prisons, churches, mosques, etc.
to middlemen. Many Ethiopians give away materials to They are responsible for filling their solid waste in
the poor due to religious considerations (Christian, 2012; collection bags and for paying the service fee. Bahir Dar
Arto, 2010). University (BDU): There are two campuses but currently
they are four of BDU, the Polytechnic Institute but now
Bahir Dar Technology Institute (POLY Campus).
Pig farmers

There are two pig farmers located in the north-east of Forum for environment (FfE)
Bahir Dar city centre. About 550 pigs (Worku, 2012) live
in the larger one, while the smaller farm has about 100 This NGO is actively participating in raising environmental
398 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

awareness and has initiated the development of an waste. The large share of ash and soil component in
integrated sustainable waste management plan for Bahir residential waste (47%) is explained by the predominant
Dar. FfE Bahir Dar has one paid employee (secretary) use of firewood and charcoal in households. The ash
and 40 members with different backgrounds. According residues are usually disposed on the ground, later put in
to the information source (UNEP, 2010a), there is no the waste collection bag from where it is collected by
specific formal structure/platform (committee, regular Dream Light workers. The seasonal variation is expected
meetings or specific person within the municipality) for to be minimal due to steady consumption behavior
communication of stakeholders. In the case of particular throughout the year (Christian, 2012).
matters, the stakeholders contact each other informally Per capita generation of waste in Bahir Dar was
mainly per phone (Fenzie, 2011; Christian, 2012). assessed to be 0.25 kg/day for residential and 0.45
kg/day for all residential, commercial, institutional and
street sweeping waste streams. The waste projections
Components of physical system in Bahir Dar show that the waste generation will increase similar to the
population growth. Hence in 2021, when the population is
Regarding this point in Bahir Dar, the households, doubled, waste generation will also be doubled (199
commercials, institutions, forum for environment (FfE) t/day) according to the stated information source of
and others in which in detail are including as: Bahir Dar UNEP (2010a).
has roughly 80’000 households (extrapolation based on Based on the share of organic content (food and yard
Central statistics Agency, UNFPA (2008) as the City wastes) in the different waste sources (UNEP, 2010a),
Administration (CA) and which includes about 18 Kebele the sum of food and yard wastes from the residential (16
Administrations (KA) under it. The households are t/d), commercial (16 t/d), institutional (12 t/d) and street
responsible for filling their solid waste in collection bags sweeping waste streams (1t/d) results in a total organic
and for payment of the service fees. The Kebele waste quantity of 45 tons per day, which equals 44% of
Administrators have very limited power in comparison the total amount of daily generated waste in Bahir Dar.
with the City Administration (UNEP, 2010). Commercials According to UNEP (2010a), hazardous waste of Bahir
as business sector include shops, hotels, restaurants, Dar City includes: wastes from hospitals and medical
markets, garages, etc. They are responsible for filling laboratories, chemically contaminated containers and
their solid waste in collection bags and for payment of the trimmings from agriculture, pesticide retailer shops,
service fees (UNEP, 2010a). Institutions include university and school laboratories, tanneries, textiles,
governmental and non-governmental bureaus, schools, printing enterprises and expired drugs, biological wastes
universities, colleges, hospitals and clinics, training from hospitals and biological research facilities, the dry
centres, prisons, churches, mosques etc. They are cells from each sources and car batteries from garages,
responsible for filling their solid waste in collection bags used condoms from hotels and pensions and fluorescent
and for paying the service fee (UNEP, 2010). Forum for lamps.
Environment (FfE) which is NGO is actively participating Residential hazardous waste amounts to 156.6 kg/d
in raising environmental awareness and has initiated the (0.3% of total residential waste stream), commercial
development of an integrated sustainable waste hazardous waste was recorded to be 124.8 kg/d (0.5% of
management plan for Bahir Dar. FfE Bahir Dar has one commercial waste). Institutional hazardous waste was
paid employee (secretary) and 40 members with different 120.7 kg/d (0.7%) and street sweeping hazardous waste
backgrounds. According to the information source was 0. This makes a total of 402.1 kg of hazardous waste
(UNEP, 2010a), there is no specific formal generated per day, which is 0.4% of the total MSW in
structure/platform (committee, regular meetings or Bahir Dar according to the written document source
specific person within the municipality) for communication (UNEP, 2010a).
of stakeholders. In case of particular matters, the According Koyachew (2016), the surveyed solid wastes
stakeholders contact each other informally mainly per discharged from the houses contain plastic, wood, paper
phone (Fenzie, 2011; Christian, 2012). and cloth (82.5%), metal (3%), food and fruit residuals
The physical components of the solid waste system in (7.6%) and others (6.9%). In addition, the survey result
Bahir Dar City-Lake Tana basi is divided into four parts: shows that 26.6% of the household’s burn wastes in their
Generation, collection and transport, resource recovery, compound, 5.5% dump in a pit, 36.7% dump outside the
and disposal. The daily generation of MSW in Bahir Dar compound on open space, ditches and roads, and the
amounts to a total of 102.5 t/d, commercial waste is 28 remaining 0.3% of the households recycle their waste
t/d, residential waste is 54 t/d, the institutional waste is 17 directly. Only 30.9% of the home effluent is collected by
t/d and the street sweepings is 2.5 t/d. From the study the municipality. The new private door to door waste
review of UNEP, the composition of total municipal solid collection service is covering most of the city. Hence,
waste in Bahir Dar and depicts the origins of the waste residents will no more discharge home effluents on open
material fractions. 32% of the total MSW consists of ash spaces, ditches and roads. Further, the recycling and
and soil, 30% is food waste and 13% is made up of yard composting measures may generate money to the
 Fenta 399

Table 1. Type of waste sources by weight in Bahir waste generation of poor, lower, 26 middle and high
Dar City, 2010. 3
income groups were 1.19, 0.78, 0.78 and 0.58 cm ,
respectively (Table 3).
Type of waste Weight (%) Regarding plastic bag waste generation in Bahir Dar,
Food 86.6 the total of 24.87 ton of plastic bag waste was generated
Paper 3.3 annually (Table 4). This is equivalent to more than 12
Plastic, leather and plastic 2.2 million Plastic bags per year that enter into the
Glass 0.6 environment as the waste. If this number of plastic bags
Textile 2.2 were made into a double plastic sheet, it would cover
Metals 0.3 1.41 square kilometer (2.82 sq km when they were made
Others 4.8 into single sheet) and if each side of plastic bag join
together, it would be 466323.33 km long. The plastic bag
Source: (UNEP, 2010a, b).
waste generation increased from 2007 to 2016 and
onwards (UNEP, 2010). According to Al-Salem et al.
(2009), plastic solid waste presents challenges and
opportunities to societies even in developed countries
municipality and private processors.
regardless of their sustain-ability awareness and
As indicated in Table 1, the waste materials of Bahir
technological advances. There is a possibility of
Dar city from food is 86.6% which is the highest among
advanced thermo-chemical treatment methods cover a
the rest waste sources expressed by weigh and the glass
wide range of technologies and produce either fuels or
waste contains the least amount as compared to the rest
petrochemical feedstock. Currently, non-catalytic thermal
wastes.
cracking is receiving renewed attention, due to the fact of
According to Figure 1, the composition quantities
added value on a crude oil barrel and its very valuable
expressed in tone in Bahir Dar City Municipal Solid
yielded products, like waste as virgin monomer, as
Waste of residential is high in quantity as compared to
synthetic fuel gas, or as heat source (inci-neration with
commercial and street sweeping.
energy recovery and these processes avoid land filling,
Figure 2 presents an overview of the composition of total
where the non-biodegradable plastics remain a lasting
municipal solid waste in Bahir Dar and depicts the origins
environmental burden (Anke et al., 2012).
of the waste material fractions. 32% of the total MSW
consists of ash and soil, 30% is food waste and 13% is
made up of yard waste. The large share of ash and soil
component in residential waste (47%) is explained by the Waste collection and transport
predominant use of firewood and charcoal in households.
The ash residues are usually disposed on the ground, Since Dream Light’s (Private waste collector) entry into
later put in the waste collection bag from where it is the SWM system of Bahir Dar City in 2008, it is the waste
collected by Dream Light workers. The seasonal variation generators responsibility to put their mixed waste into any
is expected to be minimal due to steady consumption (non-standardized) bags and place them in a designated
behavior throughout the year (Christian, 2012). location on their compound or along the road UNEP
Table 2 described the incremental effect of municipal (2010b). Some high-standard hotels require having their
solid waste generation expressed in tones per year from wastes collected up to twice per day. There are
2010 to 2022 due to the assenting effect of total controllers who can organize and supervise their
population in the city from year to year. This shows that collection team to empty the generators waste bags into
waste generation increases from year to year as the push-carts or into strong plastic bags and bring them to
purchasing and consumption effect of the increasing collection points There, the workers await the Dream
population living in the city increases. Figure 3 describes Light collection truck to empty the bag contents (UNEP,
waste projections which are going up in quantity from the 2010b). According to the UNEP (2010b) study, an overall
year 2010 to 2022 which shows that the projection collection rate of 71% is stated, which is 73 tons/day from
increases as the urbanization, purchasing and a total of 102.5 t/day generated. The remaining amount of
consumption power of the residents living in the city 29.5 t/d is not being collected and according to UNEP
increases. This shows that the waste generation rate is (2010b), burned, buried or simply dumped on the
almost doubling similar to the population growth; in 2021 lakesides or into rivers. There was a small business
(when the population doubles) the waste generation will group (Million and his 55 workers) responsible for parts of
be doubled. the street sweeping and institutional sanitation activities
Based on income group classification, plastic bag (emptying of septic tanks) in Bahir Dar but recently
waste generation rates analyzed show that a mean waste conducted bidding-competition, a new business group
generation rate of 0.40, 0.26, 0.26 and 0.20 g Capita-day (Masfen) outcompeted the other competitors and hence
for poor, lower, middle and high income groups will be responsible for street sweeping for the next year
respectively in terms of volume, the mean plastic bag (Christian, 2012).
400 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

Figure 1. MSW composition quantities in tones in Bahir Dar City 2010.

Source: UNEP, 2010a.

Figure 2. MSW streams in Bahir Dar City and their compositions as wet weight of generated
waste. Source: Based on data from UNEP (2010a).

Some parts of the street sweeping are outsourced to to collect recyclable and reusable materials such as
‘Million & Guadegnochu’ (Million and Friends), the rest metals, plastics, glasses, corrugated iron sheets, tins, car
are swept by the city service itself. The street sweeping batteries and others. They buy these materials and sell
workers fill the street waste into plastic bags and leave them to one of the 55 middlemen. There are persons
them along the streets from where they are picked up by gave a local name Lewaches going from door to door to
Dream Light or Green Dream workers. Green Dream is exchange recyclable materials, especially clothes and
community based organization comprised of 30 female shoes for new plastic barrels, sauce panels, spoons, etc,
workers and responsible for solid waste collection in a depending on the type and oldness of the cloth. Dumpsite
door-to-door manner in one kebele (Shumabo). Initially, pickers collect recyclables and reusable materials from
Green Dream has received financial and technical the disposal site and sell it to either middlemen or Dream
assistances from the CA and EPA, whose intention was Light PLC. Children and beggars living on the streets go
to initiate competition in the solid waste market and to around from door-to-door and ask for food leftovers,
avoid monopolization by Dream Light. Green Dream has reusable textiles and recyclable materials that they use
no means of transporting large amounts of wastes, so themselves or sell to middlemen (Worku, 2012).
they provide the waste bags for Dream Light’s trucks to There are formal recyclers categorized in the norm of
be picked up and disposed of (Christian, 2012). middlemen that collect parts of the recyclable materials
There are informal recyclers in the city like Koralews collected by koralews, lewaches, street persons and
who are informal itinerant buyers going from door to door formal waste collectors, and sell to middlemen, who in
 Fenta 401

Table 2. Municipal solid waste generation expected up to 2022.

Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Population 218975 233427 248833 265256 287763 301425 321319 342526 365333 389232 414921 442306 471498
Waste
generation 98.5 98.5105 112 119.4 129.5 135.6 144.6 154 164.4 175.2 186.7 199 212.2
(tones)
Source: UNEP, 2010a.

turn sell them to brokers of recycling companies in According to UNEP (2010b), no treatment one way of solving the problem (Tirusew and
Addis Ababa. There are 55 middlemen collecting facilities exist in Bahir Dar. All healthcare and Amare, 2013). The study has shown land use,
and selling metals, plastics and glasses and industries and some governmental institutions slope, water sources, settlement and transport
middleman for textiles and shoes. These follow their own way of removal. Most of them facilities as determining factor in order to find
middlemen are registered at the Bureau of Trade burn their waste; while some others dispose it to appropriate site for solid waste dumping. By this
and Industry, thus have a license for trading the nearby river Blue Nile or into Lake Tana analysis, the most suitable sites were located in
materials and need to pay taxes (Worku, 2012). (UNEP 2010c). There is no documented evidence southern and south east of the town and are bare
There are no officially designated waste collection that shows the criteria used for the selection of the and grass lands (Figure 4).
locations in Bahir Dar, but about 100 widely area as dumpsite regarding prior study of Regarding to the suitability analysis of solid
accepted collection points on the side of the road hydrology, geology, socio-economic and waste dumping site in Bahir Dar City to River and
which were selected based on easy accessibility environmental issues. The dumpsite is lake, the farther lands from lake and river banks
with pushcarts, workers, collection trucks and surrounded by land use activities such as informal got more preferences for solid waste dumping site
acceptable’ distance to residents in order to avoid settlement and agricultural activities. The liquid suitability. In Bahir Dar town, there is a lake at the
complaints due to odour and aesthetics (Worku, human waste (from emptying of septic tanks in northern side, Lake Tana and the River Abbay at
2012). Bahir Dar) is also dumped in close proximity of northwestern part. Hence, to maintain the
Recycling of solid wastes in Bahir Dar seems Gordma landfill site (UNEP, 2010c). environmental health of these water sources at
insignificant (<1%) (UNEP, 2010b). However, this Finding suitable sites for landfills is one of the least 2000 m buffered distance should be ringed
is an underestimation because the UNEP study most difficult tasks in solid waste management as through straight line calculation. Based on this,
only accounted municipal composting as recycling the sanitary landfill site selection must address the green area is for study suitability and the blue
activity and did not include informal recycling social, environmental and technical concerns. one is for Lake Tana. Accordingly, considering
activities. Organic recycling is currently practiced Therefore, GIS based assessment should be only the lake, the green shaded area was the
as follows: the municipal composting site is employed for different criteria including geology, most suitable for solid waste dumping site (Figure
located 3 km south of the city and the municipal soil, slope, land use, and stream network 5).
workers transport the filled container by truck to (Radwan et al., 2017). Similarly in Bahir Dar City, According to Figure 5, all the parameters were
the composting site about once per week. Thus, 8 there are problems of solid waste disposal sites weighted with their respective percent of influence
3
m (3t) of fresh substrate arrives approximately 4 selection. There are no standard transfer stations and overlay to produce the suitability map.
times per month, where it is manually sorted, in the city. Institutions and industries follow their According to the degree of importance, they have
turned and decreased in size. After 3 to 4 months, way of removal of waste and the available the role of selecting suitable solid waste dumping
the finished compost is picked up by the dumping sites are not well planned. Applying and site. The map (Figure 5) has four colors (classes):
municipality and brought to the city to be used for integrating GIS and remote sensing techniques to yellow, green, blue and violet. The most suitable
planting of flowers (UNEP, 2010b). select the best possible solid wastes dumping is area for solid waste dumping site is marked by
402 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

Figure 3. Waste projections for 2010-2022 years in tons in Bahir Dar City. Source: (UNEP 2010a).

Table 3. Plastic bag waste generation rates with income level, 2007.

Per income group

Descriptions
Poor Lower Middle High
Number of households 70(66.6%) 20(19%) 8(7.6%) 7(6.8%)
Average family size 5.14 4.4 3.75 3.14
gm/capita/day 0.40 0.26 0.26 0.20
gm/house hold/day 2.1 1.14 0.98 0.63
3
cm /capita/day 1.19 0.79 0.78 0.58
3
cm /household/day 6.12 3.48 2.93 1.82
3
Density (gm/cm ) 0.34 0.33 0.33 0.34
Source: Ayana (2007). Plastic bag waste generation rate in Bahir Dar City, MSc thesis, Addis
Ababa University, July 2007.

Table 4. Households’ plastic bag waste generation rates in a day, week and year, 2007.

Day Week Month Year

Generation rate
Weigh Volume Weigh Volume Weigh Volume Weigh Volume
3 3 3
Per capital 0.35 g 1.05 cm 2.46 g 7.33 cm 10.54 g 31.41 cm 128.26 g 382.16
3 3 3 3
Total 67.89 kg 0.2 m 477.19 kg 1.42 m 2044.54 kg 6.09 m 24879.8 kg 74.13m
Source: Ayana (2007). Plastic bag waste generation rate per capita in Bahir Dar City, M.Sc Thesis, Addis Ababa University, July
2007.

yellow color shaded. Out of the total area of the study overview of the enabling environment for the municipal
site, about 11.9% (2528 ha) fall under this category. They solid waste system in Bahir Dar and hence the Lake
are located on south and south east part of the, far away Tana Basin. It combines the results from the document
from settlement and urban center, and is covered by ‘Assessment of the SWM system in Bahir Dar City-Lake
grass lands. Tana basin and the gaps identified for the development of
an ISWM plan’ (UNEP, 2010b) with field observationsand
information gathered through interviews with SWM
Sustainability of waste reduction stakeholders. Implementing waste management
strategies are widely used for waste avoidance and
In the sustainability aspects, this sub-section provides an reduction strategies which can include waste avoidance,
 Fenta 403

Figure 4. Map of Bahir Dar City. Source: Tirusew and Amare (2013).

Figure 5. Final suitability map for solid waste dumping. Source: Tirusew and Amare (2013).
404 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

dispose, re-use and recycle depending on the waste type to pollution of groundwater sources through leachate
and source. To prolong sustainability, the following (Worku, 2012), and 29% of generated waste (29.5 t/d is
technical aspects should be accounted for (Christian, not collected by Dream Light or Green Dream). This
2012). waste is either burned or buried in compounds or
disposed to lakesides or into rivers, leading to pollution of
environmental compartments.
Technical aspects of waste minimization

Collection and transport Socio-cultural aspects

With regarding to collection and transport, no waste Participation in the current solid waste system needs to
segregation is currently practiced at source; apart from be differentiated into the following two parts: Participation
the small-scale segregation of recyclables for informal required at the source of waste generation (collecting
recycling .There are no standard solid waste transfer waste, putting it into bags and in the designated place to
stations in Bahir Dar. As the disposal site is close enough be picked up) is considered to be good, particularly
to the city (3 to 4 km), the existence of a transfer station considering the short time since the introduction of this
is financially not justified. It is difficult to designate new system. However, payment rate of collection fee is
unofficial collection points for temporary storage of waste low (about 50%) thus considered as poor (UNEP 2010b).
during collection. The collection points are not allocated Awareness of public towards SWM is still considered to
by the municipality but by Dream Light. In the case of be low, although it has increased considerably in the last
frequent complaints about the location of collection two years. When Dream Light started its business, it
points, the City Administration intervenes and tries to find organized awareness raising campaigns to teach people
other collection points more distant from the residents. how to handle waste. Its managers also participated to
Solid waste collection (71%) does not cover all solid demonstrate that touching waste is neither dangerous nor
waste generators. Based on discussions with Dream despising (Christian, 2012). It took about one year until
Light, the following collection rates are roughly estimated the waste collectors started to be fairly recognized for
with respect to their source: 70% of the total waste their contribution to a clean city. The working condition for
generated in the households is collected, 80% from total waste collectors is acceptable but needs to be improved.
generated in commercials, 50% from total generated The protection clothes (overall, gloves) are replaced by
waste in institutions and 70% of the total waste laying on Dream Light twice per year only at pre-set dates. This
the 35 km of asphalt road. Transportation trucks are not means that workers have to continue working with
standardized for solid waste transportation purposes, damaged equipment until then. The salary for waste
spare parts are not locally available - they have to be collectors (400 ETB/month) classifies the work as a low-
imported from the capital Addis Ababa. There is no income job, yet Dream Light considers most workers to
financial or technical support, no public recognition for be grateful having an income generating opportunity at
waste recyclers. Only a small amount of organic solid all. The salary is comparable to the salary of a waiter in a
waste (0.5 t/d) is used to produce compost in the good middle class hotel in Bahir Dar or of a guard
municipal composting plant (Christian, 2012). working for a private company. In comparison, the
controllers (group leaders of waste collectors) receive
Disposal 800 ETB/month. Dream Light explicitly offers their waste
collecting jobs to street persons, prostitutes and other
There are no treatment facilities in Bahir Dar for MSW underprivileged members of the society.
and it is open dumpsite (no sanitary landfill). No sound
operation practices performed at disposal site. No Financial-economic aspects
designated cells, no machinery (compactor or graders)
working at disposal site, and 71% (73t/d) of generated The payment rate for the solid waste collection service
MSW is collected and disposed of at disposal site. has been low until now: Only about 50% of the
According to UNEP (2010b), no treatment facilities exist households pay the collection fee. About 90% of the
in Bahir Dar. All healthcare and industries and some commercials and institutions receiving waste collection
governmental institutions follow their own way of removal. services pay the fee regularly. This is on one hand due to
Most of them burn their waste; while some others dispose the individual agreements Dream Light worked out with
it to the nearby river Blue Nile or into Lake Tana (UNEP, them, on the other hand, the hotels, restaurants, shops
2010c). etc. are depending on a clean environment for the
satisfaction of their guests and customers. As a result of
Environmental aspects the low payment rate of households, a committee
comprised of different stake-holders, including City
Dumpsite Gordma is close to rural settlements and leads Administration, EPA, hotel association, and Dream Light,
 Fenta 405

worked for three months on the development of an Administration. In general, the cooperation of
improved payment system. In the old system, each stakeholders is described by the majority as very loose
household was required to pay a monthly fee of 0.68 (rather than conflicting) and leaves considerable room for
USD to Dream Light’s fee collectors who went from door- improvements in the future (Christian, 2012).
to-door to collect the fee in cash (Christian, 2012).
Commercials and institutions had individual
agreements with Dream Light based on the waste Policy and legal aspects
quantity and frequency of collection/disposal. The new
system follows the idea of the system practiced in Addis The region has not yet enacted any law on environmental
Ababa. It is based on the assumption that the water issues. It is rather using the federal laws but facing
consumption correlates with waste generation, that is, a difficulty in implementation, enforcement and monitoring.
household that consumes high amounts of fresh water Bahir Dar does not have its own detailed rules and
also generates high quantities of solid waste. Thus, the regulations specific to SWM that clearly indicates the
payment for water and for waste collection will be linked. responsibilities of the actors involved in SWM. There are
This new system is possible due to the fact that all no clear rules and regulations pertaining to SWM apart
households in Bahir Dar have a water meter installed on from general guidelines, an approach which is not
their compound and each household is responsible to go effective at all (Kassa, 2009).
to the Regional Bureau of Water supply once per month
to pay the monthly water bill. The new progressive
system is divided into four progressive categories LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT
depending on the amount of fresh water consumed per
month. City Administration and Dream Light do not In Bahir Dar, 20% of the households do not have access
expect major protests due to the implementation of the to latrines, using open fields and disposing waste water
new payment system (Christian, 2012). into the available open spaces. Because of the lack of
However, special agreement will have to be arranged latrines, waste disposal sites and poor collection
with recreational facilities like public swimming pools practices, only 35% of the city’s liquid waste was
(which consume a disproportionately high amount of collected (Fesseha, 2012). In the absence of a city
water). The main advantage of the new system is the sewerage system, the overall drainage in the town is a
leverage in case of non-payment. In addition, institutions problem aggravated by the plain geographical terrain and
that until now mismanaged (burned, buried and openly rapid urban growth. Waste water generation potential
disposed) their waste by themselves will most likely use increases with increasing use of flush toilets, which in
DL’s collection service as they have to pay for it anyway. turn requires increased wastewater treatment plants. This
With the new payment system Dream Light expects to be implies the ever-growing Bahir Dar City with modern
able to cover all their expenses related to collection buildings using flush toilets will produce more waste
services (440’000 ETB/month). Until now, Dream Light’s water that should be treated (Fesseha, 2012). `
business was economically not sustainable. Thus, the The waste water management practices of the major
loan of 1.6 Mio ETB UNDP provided for 4 years is not institutions of Bahir Dar City-Lake Tana basin are not
only meant to cover the expenses for the Organic also environment friendly. Felegehiwot Referral Hospital,
Recycling Centre, but also to cover the current running Bahir Dar Prison, Bahir Dar University Technology
costs for waste collection (Christian, 2012). Institute (POLY Compus) waste water from students’
cafteria, and the old hotels like Ghion, Tana and recently
built hotels like Avanti and Garnd etc, generated waste
Institutional aspects water is directly discharged towards the Lake Tana and
this produces an offensive smell. The environment seems
Integration and coordination of the current institutional highly polluted and has not yet been looked into by the
arrangement of the SWM is unsatisfactory. Each sector sanitation authorities of the city (Fesseha, 2012). These
is working independently (UNEP, 2010b).There is no institutions do not have their own wastewater treatment
clear bridge between the federal (national) institutions and management systems. They simply discharge waste
and the regional (or local) in-situations. The City water into Lake Tana through tubes and open ditches.
Administration who has outsourced waste collection, Such discharges pollute the environment and create
transport, treatment and disposal services to Dream Light offensive smell and aggravate the conditions for the
is responsible for monitoring these activities. The spread of communicable diseases. There was no well-
Regional Bureau of Health as well as the Regional EPA organized coordination among the concerned bodies
expressed their pity that their advices regarding regarding waste water management. Eutrophication,
hazardous waste handling, official collection waterborne diseases, shortage of water and adequate
points/transfer stations and upgrading of the current open sanitation are still a major challenge for Bahir Dar-Lake
dumpsite are not taken seriously by the City Tana basin (Goraw et al., 2011).
406 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

Table 5. Distribution of latrines availability by education, monthly income (in Birr) and space availability in
Bahir Dar City.

Latrine availability Total 2

Variables X P-value
Yes (%) No. (%) No. (%)
Educational status (n=270)
Illiterate 78(29.0) 15 (5.5) 93 (34.4) 0.84
P<0.001
Literate 139(51.5) 38 (14.0) 177 (65.6)
*Monthly income (n=270)
Less than 500 139(51.5) 49 (18.1) 188 (69.6)
501 – 750 39 (14.4) 3 (1.1) 42(15.6) 10.3
P<0.001
751 – 1000 19 (7.0) 1 (0.4) 20 (7.4)
Above 1000 18 (6.7) 2 (0.8) 20 (7.4)
Space availability (n=270)
Have space 66 (24.5) 10 (3.7) 76 (28.1) 3.9 P<0.001
Have no space 148(55.8) 46 (17.0) 194 (71.9)
Source: Fesseha and Mekonnen (2012), Bahir Dar University.

Table 6. Logistic regression predicting likelihood of reporting for availability of latrine, March
2008, Bahir Dar City.

Variables B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp (B)

Education
Illiterate (Ref)
Literate 0.526 0.350 2.258 1 0.133 1.693
Space availability
No (Ref)
Yes 0.751 0.407 3.398 1 0.065 2.119
Income
Income group 9.024 0.029
Less than 500 Birr (Ref)
500 -750 -1.466 0.629 5.435 1 0.020 0.231
751-1000 -1.730 1.051 2.709 1 0.100 0.177
More than 1000 -1.016 0.775 1.718 1 0.190 0.362
Constant -2.00 10.462 18.733 1 0.000 0.135
Source: Fesseha and Mekonnen (2012), Bahir Dar University.

According to this review study, only 28% of the housing to collect the liquid waste (Koyachew, 2016).
units used septic tanks to collect and treat the generated Regarding to Table 6, a total of 270 respondents were
wastewater. Most of them had no space in their interviewed at the household level, of whom 81 (30%)
compound for waste water discharge, 64.3% discharged were males and 189 (70%) were females. Ninety three
the waste water they generated into streets. In this study, (34.4%) of the respondents were illiterates, while 177
80% of the respondents had access to latrines, while (65.6%) were literates. One hundred eighty eight (69.6%)
20% used open fields (Tables 5 and 6).The fecal and of the households were getting a monthly income of less
chemical pollution levels have been significantly than ETB 500. One hundred and ninety five (72%) of the
increased and clearly discernible in the Bahir Dar Lake households had no space in their compound to dispose
Tana basin (Goraw et al., 2011). The liquid waste of the wastewater they generated. Availability of empty
disposal survey shows that 22% of the households in the land directly affects the collection and safe disposal of
study area used septic tanks, 9.1% dispose on drainage, waste water. Only seventy five (28%) of the housing units
36.4% on open field, 12% on pit and the remaining 40.3% used septic tanks to collect and treat the generated
on the roads. This needs creating awareness on liquid wastewater. Among the total respondents, who had no
waste management as well as providing regular services space in their compound for waste water discharge,
 Fenta 407

Table 7. Household facility, 2014. 2011). The maps on the following pages provide aerial
views of the two cities studied for Bahir Dar City-Lake
Cooking place Respondents % Tana basin. Nevertheless, there is evidence to suggest
Own kitchen 87 58 that waste management in Bahir Dar has improved
Sharing with others 18 12 significantly in recent years. Most notably, the city of
On open place 45 30 Bahir Dar recently moved from government funded waste
Latrine facility F % management collection to private sector collections, a
Yes 103 68.6 transition that started in 2009 (Matthew, 2011). The
Use public latrine 10 6.7 private waste management company currently active in
No the city is called Dream Light Waste Management P.L.C.,
Use open place and canal 37 24.7
which was created in response to the poor cleanliness of
Source: Koyachew (2016). the city. The company relies heavily on engaging the
community through household waste management and
house to house collections, all in return for small service
fee (FFE-Bahir Dar, 2010). Household waste collection
64.3% discharged the waste water they generated into has greatly reduced the amount of open pit dumps on city
streets. In this study, 80% of the respondents had access streets. The local community covers about 50% of Dream
to latrines, while 20% used open fields. With regard to the Light’s costs through service fees of $0.80 US dollars per
toilet facility, 44.6% of the local area households do not household and $1-75 US dollars per commercial site
have toilet, 28.8% use shared toilet and the remaining (FFE-Bahir Dar, 2010).
26.6% own private toilet. Hence, the city administration is From these findings, it is suggested that improper
expected to construct standard communal toilets in waste management and toilet use are associated with
collaboration with community organisations and sickness in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, and that these issues
development partners (Koyachew, 2016). must be analyzed across the city kebeles/sub cities.
As shown in Table 7, the inadequacy of sanitation According to Figure 6, the city of Bahir Dar is directly on a
services resulted in defecating in open fields and large body of water- Lake Tana which experiences large
discharging of raw waste water into inappropriate places inflows of waste and runoff from the city. Governement,
and these, in turn, have created serious environmental international organizations and local NGOs can help
problems. combat this problem by funding lined landfills with
In connection with their low income, poor housing effective caps. If modern lined landfills can be built in
facility of a household has also a significant impact on urban areas, then water contamination would likely
waste management. The facilities used to properly decrease. Additionally, covering the trash with a cap
manage solid waste at the household level include would prevent it from affecting the environment around it
latrine, kitchen and safe communal cooking home. (FFE-Bahir Dar, 2010). There is definitely a major
However, the household survey indicated that 42% of the problem involving unlined disposal areas and drinking
respondents do not have their own kitchen and among water contamination, which international and domestic
them about 30% are cooking their food in open space. actors can play a part in remedying. Regarding the water
The remaining 12% use kitchen by sharing with others. In pollution, 5.9% of the households are subject to water
addition, 31.4% of the households do not have their own pollution. The major causes of water pollution are mainly
latrine and 24.7% of them excrete on open spaces and residential and commercial wastes. The residential waste
channels while only 6.7% use public latrine (Table 7). In accounts for 66.9% of the water pollution (liquid waste
the same token, the kebele officers admitted the fact that being discharged in the open field) and commercial waste
most of the public latrines are removed to use the place accounts 33.1% (inorganic and organic waste) Figure 7
for construction and hence a household without its own describes the whole city with centre includes the Lake
latrine may use toilet in open areas. Therefore, it should Tana and this is the existing one with a big change on
be noted that even though low income households upgrading and huge construction of commercial buildings
produce wastes, they cannot afford the management even if opportunities and challenges for development are
costs and thus they dispose illegally. highly concentrated in this city according to the study of
In the city of Bahir Dar (Figure 5), there are no Koyachew (2016).
municipal solid waste treatment facilities and no solid
waste transfer stations. Presently, the only method of
disposal is open, uncovered disposal fields (FFE-Bahir CONCLUSION
Dar, 2010). Due to the city’s proximity to Lake Tana, the
possibility for open, unlined landfills to contaminate local This review study has attempted to analyze the status
drinking water, or for refuse to be washed into the lake fro and spatial coverage of waste management service of
storm runoff, is high (Wondie, 2009). The lake is so Bahir Dar City-Lake basin in general. In particular, the
contaminated that many, including a woman from Bahir study explored residents’ solid waste physical
Dar that was interviewed, refuse to swim in it (Matthew, composition and generation rate, resident’s solid waste
408 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

Figure 6. Aerial view of Bahir Dar (Source: Wondie, 2009).

Figure 7. The whole city with centre including the Lake Tana (Source: Koyachew, 2016).

management practice, and institutional structure and practice towards sustainability. Therefore, it is a good
capacity of sanitation, actions or practices on waste practice, leading towards the fulfilment of the municipal
management by policy makers, municipality, peoples, vision of a safe and clean municipal area enable SWM
private sector, Dream light and like organizations of the practice of the Bahir Dar city - Lake Tana basin.
city. The municipality's mechanism for coordinating the
The review shows that even though various studies and public and private sectors has played a vital role in waste
programs are undertaken to curtail the problem of solid management. However, the daily monitoring of waste
waste, the service still falls short of the required level. management by the community development section has
Technical measures, including waste sorting, recycling not been sufficient. Effective involvement of both private
and composting, and infrastructural measures for and public sectors has made it possible to improve waste
leachate collection and gas venting should be upgraded management and provide door-to-door collection. The
to standardize the city waste management system. role of the private sector in recycling is important and it
Concern for financial viability and long-term planning for can contribute to sustainable waste management by
waste management is important indicators of sustain the reducing the quantities of plastics and sound financial
strengthening of SWM planning. Similarly, the formation management and regular and reliable payment of the
of the Dream Light and others with their motivating role in contractor is important for satisfactory private sector
waste management at local level has been driving this participation. The municipality of the city can achieve its
 Fenta 409

target of solid waste management with active practicing holistic waste management of this rapidly
involvement of the private sector, minimizing municipal growing and populated city.
expenditure by means of effective management practice. To reverse the adverse outcomes of the Bahir Dar City-
According to the review, nearly two-thirds of all Lake Tana basin, waste management practice the
households in Bahir Dar discharge waste water into following measures need to be taken from now.
streets and flood water drainages. There is a poor level of Waste management training and resource centers
awareness about existing regulations on sanitation should be established in order to improve the standards
among the experts as well as the public. The City Service of waste management in the city and hence the city
Administration Office authorities did not seem to give due administrator could formulate a clearer role for its
attention to waste water management in the city. There is sustainable waste management and resource
weak implementation of the regional hygiene regulations. mobilization centre and so the necessary instructions
In addition, space availability is an important factor should be given to waste management in order to
affecting waste water management at household level in improve the solid waste management capacities of the
the city. city municipality. In order to increase the quality and
Generally, this research investigated three main factors efficiency of services in the local operational context,
which are exacerbating the existing unsatisfactory status more research and studies in waste management should
of waste management service of Bahir Dar City. These be undertaken and the established waste management
are very weak institutional arrangement and capacity of and resource mobilization centre should work with the
sanitation due to the city administration and health office institutions which are educating urban planners at various
structure is twisted by long bureaucracy and delay in universities in the region.
implementation of activities, lack of practical In order to implement effective waste management in the
decentralization of power and regular interference of city, the administration could formulate short-term and
higher officials, absence of kebelle specific structure of long-term plans for waste management and the
the waste management department, and high burden of municipality could employ urban planner for urban
work with significant services solid and liquid waste development planning. Increasing public awareness
management. Interms of capacity, very poor institutional about waste management; controlling the offenders
capacity of the department is arising out of the very low through strict enforcement of regulations; assigning
financial capacity, absence of cost recovery mechanism qualified environmental health workers to each kebele
and financial autonomy, insufficient manpower resource, and sub-city to enforce the sanitation regulations and
low motivation and productivity of workers due to failure coordinating the efforts at the grassroots level should be
to address fundamental need of workers, scarcity of followed. The urban health extension program should
waste management facilities, weak enforcement of rules also take measures to mitigate the problems. Therefore,
and regulations, fragile networks and linkage of the an integrated solid and liquid waste management should
responsible department with other sectors and be implemented for the City- Lake Tana basin and also
organization and mandate restrictions of the department. for the surrounding environment. This has to include
Very poor solid waste management practices of the city development plans for improving sustainable sanitation
residents due to the first weakness of households is poor and disposal of the sewage system, and adopt the best
handling of temporary storage material of their house, practices of waste management system for the City-Lake
that is, they drop out solid waste around it and they also basin areas. All stakeholders in the city and around it
exposed it to rain and light, did not well covered, and should participate in striving towards sustainable
placed near to residence. Second, the greater part of the construction in order to embark on the environmental
city residents did not separately store solid wastes other impact issues. Since waste perceived as major obstacle
than salable and exchangeable with Liwach and particularly in the construction infrastructures, the city
Quraleos. They did not also carry out sustainable solid administrator is obligated to develop tools or model to
management activities such as recycling, reusing and enhance the quality of waste management during the
composting. Apart from this, they regularly apply infrastructure construction life cycle.
temporarily illegal solid waste disposal at about the city Scientific researches related to sustainable waste
main streets. Moreover, they have also low emphasis to management practices should be done on waste
clean their surrounding area and nearby road. Due to minimization, recycling, waste conversion to energy, bio-
very limited participation and contribution of stakeholders, fuels, chemicals or other useful products and this should
the provision of municipal solid waste management of the include but not limited to the following technologies of
city is dominantly performed by municipality with very waste-to-energy, anaerobic digestion, composting and
limited contribution of policy makers, municipality, bio-fertilizer production, other thermal or biological
peoples, private sector, Dream light and like organization, conversion technologies and also strategies to promote
and communities. Besides this, the involvement of diversion to higher and better uses (e.g. organics
community base organizations, nongovernmental diversion, market analysis, optimized material
organizations and private sector is mandatory for management, logistics, etc.) and land filling. The
410 Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

researches should be applied and can include economic varying scale across all regions, specifically in rural
or cost/benefit analyses, feasibility studies for untested areas. If lined disposal sites are created in rural villages,
technologies or management strategies, life cycle they can handle waste without contaminating
analysis or inventory, and analyses of policies that relate groundwater. Government and NGOs can also help
to the above (e.g. extended producer responsibility, protect ground water by building latrines in rural areas,
recycling goals, carbon legislation, bottle bills, etc). which will greatly reduce human waste from
Therefore, this review study did not attempt to measure contaminating water sources. International donor
the amount of waste water generated, the degree of involvement in the financing and building of lined landfills
environmental pollution, or its impact on underground and latrines could greatly reduce the contamination of
water and the soil. Nearly two-thirds of all households in groundwater and sickness rates in urban and rural areas
Bahir Dar discharge waste water into streets and flood alike.
water drainages. There is a poor level of awareness
about existing regulations on sanitation among the
experts as well as the public. The City Service RECOMMENDATIONS
Administration Office authorities did not seem to give due
attention to waste water management in the Town. There Based on the findings of this review study, the following
is weak implementation of the regional hygiene measures are very important to overcome waste
regulations. In addition, space availability is an important management problem of Bahir Dar City.
factor affecting waste water management at household Preparing and delivering waste management or
level in the city. Therefore, the following measures need disposal techniques should be done for the city youths
to be taken to reverse the adverse outcomes: increasing particularly for women in each kebele administrations to
public awareness about waste management; controlling structure and dissiminate gender
the offenders through strict enforcement of regulations; Preparing sound Dream Light institutional arrangement
assigning qualified environmental health workers to each that is free from high interference of higher officials and
kebele/sub-city to enforce the sanitation regulations and bureaucracy, which has both horizontal and vertical
coordinating the efforts at the grassroots level. The urban integration and kebelle specific teams, allows
health extension program should also take measures to stakeholders participation, and characterized by real
mitigate the problems. Finally, a more comprehensive decentralization of tasks and authority. The city Dream
systematic study should be conducted on the impact of Light should give priority to fulfill infrastructure facilities,
waste water that is generated in the city into Lake Tana. that is, place back the public solid waste containers and
An investigation of waste management practices in the introduce dust bins with a close supervision, frequent
cities of Bahir Dar has underscored the challenges of emptying of waste and even distribution, and also
waste management and the potential for private sector organize efficient controlling mechanism and sanitation
involvement in urban areas. It is recommended that agent to prevent illegal solid waste disposal.
private sector waste management be promoted by Increase Dream Light revenue by employing different
financing private sector companies in urban areas. revenue means like introducing user charges, penalties
Dream Light Waste Management Company operating in for persons who illegally dispose their waste, employing
Bahir Dar has been shown to be more effective than resource recovery activities, and government subsidies.
previous practices in waste collection, and at a lower But the department should also introduce cost accounting
expense to the local people. That said, while improving financial monitoring and financial evaluation. Improve
the amount of waste collected from households, Dream solid waste collection by preparing permanent programs,
Light may still contribute to environmental and health increasing the number of collection trucks, by employing
problems by placing waste in unlined, uncovered, other methods of collection like block and curbside
disposal sites in the city. The city of Addis Ababa collections, control and supervision field workers,
meanwhile is a prime candidate for private sector increase human resource of the department, increase the
involvement in waste management as effective number and strength of Dream Light.
household collection will reduce the amount of open Improve the number and productivity of sanitation
disposal sites/bins on city streets. The main issues in workers by giving reasonable salary increment, perdiam
both urban areas are the lack of lined, covered landfills payment, moral respect, training, promotion
available to receive waste. If government and NGO opportunities, changing their requirement type, and
actors are also able to construct modern lined, capped providing health insurance and health protection facilities.
landfills, then unlined drinking water sources can be Prepare specified rules and regulations that focused on
better protected, lowering rates of water contamination, local problems such as institutional issues about the
and preventing disease and illness. The unprotected town’s waste management service responsible body,
water sources like boreholes are at a high risk of being stakeholder’s participation and sustainable solid waste
contaminated by waste through groundwater percolation. management options, and strictly enforce this rules and
Sources of drinking water are causing sickness at a regulation under close supervision and inter
 Fenta 411

organizational linkage. can be one of the steps to achieve an optimal system for
For the stakeholder related measures, the Dream light processing organic waste. The products like compost or
open its door to private sectors and also ensure their biofertilisers of desired quality can be used as growing
involvement in planning and implementation of municipal medium or horticultural substrate, substitute for peat in a
solid waste management activities. Promote and initiate container medium for the nursery plants, soil
communities and different community based improvements that influence the physical, chemical and
organizations of the town to involve in waste biological properties of the soil.
management. In addition, organize voluntary groups that Regarding policy recommendation, the city shall follow
work on municipal waste management by giving different a multi-sectoral approach to waste management as a
incentives and providing necessary equipments that are matter of urgency, incorporating principles of ecosystem
used for waste management. based management from the watersheds into the nearby
Due to urbanization, inequality, and economic growth; water bodies, connecting sectors that will reap immediate
cultural and socio-economic aspects; policy, governance benefits from better solid and liquid waste management.
and institutional issues; and international influences have Successful and sustainable management of waste
complicated SWM in developing countries including Bahir requires a cocktail of innovative approaches that engage
Dar City. This has limited the applicability of approaches the public and private sector at local, national and
that were successful along the SWM development transboundary scales. Planning processes should
trajectories of industrialized countries, and therefore it is provide an enabling environment for innovation, including
very important for finding new SWM approaches for the community level. Innovative financing of appropriate
developing country contexts in the post-normal science waste infrastructure should incorporate design,
and complex, adaptive systems thinking. construction, operation, maintenance, upgrading and/or
Therefore, Dream Light of the town should create decommissioning. Financing should take into account,
interaction with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) the fact that there are important livelihood opportunities in
and donor agencies and watch these bodies as partner improving waste treatment processes. In light of rapid
for delivery of waste management; because they are one global change, communities should plan waste
means’s to get financial support for purchasing different management against future scenarios, not current
solid waste management facilities, managerial and situations. Solutions for smart waste management must
technical skill building trainings. In addition, they can also be socially and culturally appropriate, as well as
provide awareness rising and skill building support to economically and environmentally viable in the future.
community based groups (private sector, Dream light and Education and awareness must play a central role in
organization of youth and women), informal sectors, waste management and in reducing overall volumes and
formal sectors, and also to the Dream Light itself. harmful content of waste produced, so that solutions are
Recognizing and encouraging the emerging role of sustainable.
handcrafts through reduction of taxes, and by providing
space and equipments to produce recycled materials and
creation of market for it. CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
All these new processes should be emerged and
practiced slowly by injecting compatible technologies, The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.
that is, advanced mechanical recycling of plastic waste
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