Alternate Waste Management in Households of Slum Dwellers; the Waste Segregation Approach for Adequate Housing.

Abstract

Infrastructure is the physical representation of human interactions. From prisons to places of worship, recreational facilities, military and police barracks ,individual households, public toilets, abattoirs, agro and food processing industries, real estate developments, sports stadia, tourist areas ,hotels and restaurants, all do some form of activity which generates waste. If not handled well could be worse even in the hospitals and diagnostic centres where we go to seek for help to survive. Life on all scales is sustained by networks to distribute and transport energy, resources and information to metabolize, survive and reproduce. Concerns expressed from many stakeholders, organizations, environmental NGOs and public at large for proper waste management does not commensurate with the desired result. This study is aimed at finding ways to make kids the central point of waste segregation in their various communities side by side with stake holders. Primary and secondary data for the study was collected through interviews, questionnaire, and observation of four communities in greater Accra. The gap between waste management policy and legislation and actual waste management practices is widening due to perennial capacity constraints and lack of waste management facilities for various waste streams. Nonetheless, successive generations need mitigating measures.