Solid Waste Management in the Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana

Abstract

 Waste management is one of the key challenges that is facing the world today. This global threat of solid waste disposal has affected Africa in many ways especially causing diseases and increasing thepoverty rate. These problems emerge mainly as a lack of strategic planning for effective SWM, poor governance, resource constraint, poor coordination and lack of proper management. In most rapidly growing cities in developing countries, the major concern issue is the inefficient solid waste collection and disposal. This research focuses on how municipal solid waste is managed by the public administration system which is the AMA of Ghana. The study, therefore, focused on existing pieces of literature and came out with these results. It was revealed that the types and sources of solid waste in the study area include, domestic waste, commercial waste, agricultural waste, industrial stemming from food waste, rubber, paper, glass, metal, farm etc., The study also revealed the major policies guiding SWM in the study area which include the Environmental Sanitation Policy of 1999 Act (1994), Act 464. Another policy is the Environmental Assessment Regulation LI 1650 which had legal support from the Environmental Protection Agency Act 490 which spelt out the Environmental Assessment Regulation (EAR). Finally, the study revealed that there is a strong relationship between poor SWM and the impact on the health of people and the cases that were observed in the study area consist of malaria, typhoid fever, skin infections, and cholera.