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Introduction

Due to the large population density, production and proliferation of urban solid waste

(USW), there is the need to think over the conservation of the waste for the future

preservation of the environment.

This manual is a tool for teachers and/ or community educators for the transmission

of educational messages and for the sensitization of the school community on the

problematic of urban solid waste management (USWM) and environment

conservation.

This manual shall be as a catalyzer of community and school initiatives to address

environmental management problems.

This initiative is a contribution for the communities and students to become more

aware of the importance of solid waste management and environment conservation,

of the consequences of climate change in third world countries, especially in our

country. It is also important to highlight that it should influence the behavioral change

of people and communities, at individual or collective level.

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Objectives

• To be an additional instrument to create a healthy and environmental pollution

free environment;

• A tool to change individual and collective attitudes with the view of reducing the

forms of environmental pollution and atmospheric prevention;

• To define educator’s responsibilities under the scope of environmental

management and protection;

• To develop and promote an environmental awareness and culture in Maputo;

• To define environmental strategies for environmental and urban solid waste

management;

• To promote and develop environmental culture and awareness in Mozambique;

• To define priorities for environmental action;

• To promote dialogue and encourage communities and schools to preserve the

environment.

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Urban Solid Waste Managemement

a) What are Urban Solid Wastes?

Urban Solid Waste or commonly known as

garbage, are leftovers of human activities that are

regarded as being useless, undesirable or

disposable. However, even though they don’t

have any value for the generator, they can still

have some value for third parties (taking into

consideration that we are promoting the reduction,

reuse and recycling of USW)

b) How urban solid wastes are classified?

According to Article 6 of the Ordinance on Urban Solid Waste Cleaning of Maputo

Municipality, solid waste can be:

Classification Composition Examples Domestic Solid

Waste

Waste produced throughout the daily activities

from households, apartments and

condominiums

Leftovers of food, waste from

houses, etc;

Commercial solid

waste

Waste generated throughout daily activity from

business establishments, public institutions,

restaurants and/ or similar institutions, that are

discharged in equipment in environmentally

acceptable conditions

Paper, cardboard, etc;

Hazardous solid

waste

Waste that has risk characteristics for being

inflammable, explosive, corrosive, toxic,

infectious or radioactive or because they have

other characteristics that are harmful for the

human life or health, for other living beings and

for the quality of the environment, when

handled or discharged in inappropriate

manners.

Batteries, fridges, AC,

fluorescent light bulbs,

refrigerators, lubricants oils,

paints and solvents

(containing RS – harmful

chemical substances).

Non hazardous

waste

All other waste that pose no harm or risk to

public health

Bottles, soda cans, iron and

glass.

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Biomedical waste All those waste that is generated in health care

facilities (hospitals and health care centers)

resulting from the activities of human and

veterinary diagnosis, treatment and research.

Bandages used syringes,

human organs resulting from

surgery and/ or expired drugs.

Industrial solid

waste

Waste generated from the industrial activity.

These are different and have different

characteristics because they depend on the

manufactured product.

Waste from

gardens or

private areas

Resulting from the preservation or

maintenance of private gardens

Branches, leaves, etc.

Organic waste All waste resulting from biodegradable

products, which decompose naturally.

Remains of animals and

plants (fruits, vegetables)

Inorganic/ inert

waste

All waste resulting from non-biodegradable

products

Glass, plastic, metal

Source: Ordinance on USW Cleaning in Maputo (2008)

Components and Activities of the Cleaning System

The cleaning system, starting from its production up to the final disposal assumes the

systematic and detailed knowledge of its composition, because for the development

of any urban solid waste management activity that includes the component of

production, placement, collection and transportation, storage and transfer, use,

disposal and final destination, it is necessary to know the nature of the waste involved.

Production

The quantity (production) and quality (composition) of urban solid waste are basic

parameters for the dimensioning of the urban solid waste management system. The

quantity defines the necessary capacity of the collection and transportation system

while the quality allows evaluating, for instance, the potential for recycling, among

other aspects of urban solid waste management (M/P, 2008)

Disposal

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In accordance to Article 13 from the Ordinance on cleaning, waste generators must

dispose urban solid waste under the terms and conditions defined, with focus to

essential environmental, hygienic, sanitary and urban aesthetical care, and the period

for disposal (photo)

Collection It refers to the collection process of stored waste, by the generator to channel it using

appropriate transportation, to a possible transfer station, for possible treatment and

final disposal

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Transportation

It refers to any physical transfer operation of waste within national territory. (Decree

13/2006: article 1). The transportation of domiciliary waste generated in households,

public facilities and in small business institutions is

done, in general, by the municipal body responsible

for waste collection.

USW transportation is done using two specific

methods: one with conventional vehicles and the

second with non-conventional vehicles. Conventional

USW collection vehicles are specialized equipment

for collection and have a certain convenience for this

type of operation. These vehicles can be with or without compaction. Compaction

vehicles can be of side or back loading.

storage

To store domiciliary solid waste means to gather USW in reusable containers for

collection in an environmentally appropriate manner. These

containers must be compatible with the type and quantity of

waste

Transfer Transfer is the process of storing the urban solid waste in a centralized or primary area

in order to be removed to another appropriate area. There is transfer in small scale,

where micro enterprises or cooperatives bring their waste to a centralized area in order

for the waste to be removed by municipal or private trucks; and there is transfer in

large scale, where the waste is transferred from a compactor or small trucks to larger

trailer trucks.

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Treatment It refers to mechanical, physical, thermal, chemical or biological processes including

the segregation, which changes waste characteristics in order to reduce its volume or

hazardousness and to facilitate its disposal (Decree 13/2006: article 1).

USW treatment is not done in Maputo City, with the exception of FERTILIZA, a

cooperative that treats organic USW for composting. According to Maputo City’s

Master Plan for USWM, there is not, yet, an USW treatment system.

Reuse

According to nr. 2 of Article 14 of the Ordinance on USW cleaning of Maputo City, it is

up to the Municipal Council to define and perform all activities with the aim of

stimulating the private sector’s participation in USW reuse activities.

Discharge and Final Disposal of Urban Solid Waste

Disposal means the performance of any operation that doesn’t lead to the possibility

of recovery, recycling, regeneration, direct reuse or alternative uses of the waste.

Disposal means the final destination to give to waste (Decree 13/2006: article 1).

The Hulene Municipal Dumpsite receives different types of urban solid waste from all

sectors and geographic and economic areas of Maputo city. Estimates show that

around 80% of all municipal waste generated in the city is disposed at Hulene

Municipal Dumpsite.

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WHAT TO DO WITH THE URBAN SOLID WASTE (USW)?

Currently, urban solid waste has a broad range of utilities, i.e., it might be garbage for

some and income source for others.

USW collection and transportation services are under the responsibility of each

municipality. In Maputo City, these services are under the responsibility of the

Municipal Directorate of Urban Solid Waste Management and Sanitation.

a) Regular Collection - it is the waste collection service. Its purpose is to collect

the waste generated at household, businesses and small industries, as long as

they have a composition similar to domiciliary waste and comply with municipal

norms.

b) Transportation - when the distances between the collection and disposal sites

are vast, it might be necessary the implementation of auxiliary transportation

facilities. At these sites, the waste is transferred from collection trucks to larger

trucks that will transport the waste to the final destination.

c) Sanitary landfill - it is an engineering work which purpose is to dispose the

waste into the soil, in the least space possible, without causing damages to the

environment or to the public health. In the landfill, the waste can be disposed

in layers, compacted by special tractors and daily covered with earth to avoid

rainwater infiltration, the action of disease transmitting vectors and the action

of winds that spread light materials.

Sanitary landfills, at least with the current technological conditions, shall always be

necessary, since it is almost

impossible to reuse or destroy all

materials in the waste, either due to

technical difficulties or due to

economic unfeasibility.

Besides this, all treatment processes

generate leftovers that need to be

discharged. However, it is not recommended as the only solution for major urban

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centers since, at short term, there will be no more space available to receive the large

quantities of waste that are collected daily. The alternative to identify remote sites for

the construction of sanitary landfills is not often feasible, due to high transportation

costs and to the scarcity of available areas. With the urban expansion, free areas must

be reserved for more noble uses such as the construction of houses, parks, for

instance.

TREATMENT AND FINAL DISPOSAL OF URBAN SOLID WASTE

Currently there is no organized treatment of solid waste in Maputo. In areas without

collection services, the residents use traditional ways to dispose urban solid waste.

But this type of treatment, despite being the only alternative under the current situation,

doesn’t comply with the norms to reduce the environmental impacts. This type of

treatment must be terminated, with the implementation of the municipal program for

Urban Solid Waste Management. There are treatment proposals, especially with the

implementation of composting

Hulene Dumpsite

Maputo City has an official dumpsite for all types of waste collected in the city. The

dumpsite is located in Hulene B neighborhood, around 10km away from the city center

and near the airport. The dumpsite has a total area of around 17hec and reaches a

height of 6 to 15m due to the waste accumulated. The dumpsite is open 24 hours per

day.

Urban solid waste disposal is done without a strict control. There is no coverage of the

waste disposed, which allows the access of waste pickers. Wastepickers often

complicate the dumpsite operations because they burn the solid waste in order to

collect recyclables such as metals or cables from tires, and they stay very close or

even inside the vehicles, when they are unloading. Residents from neighboring

neighborhoods complain because of the air pollution and because other disease

vectors.

Matola Industrial Landfill for Hazardous Waste

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The Mavoco Landfill was established in 2005. This Industrial Landfill is located near

the aluminum production company, Mozal, in Matola city.

Informal Dumpsite

Due to the non-regular solid waste collection, there are in Maputo several sites with

illegal accumulation of solid waste along streets and several hills.

Near the official Hulene dumpsite there is a big hole (500m away from the Dumpsite)

which was converted into an informal dumpsite. It is not only local and neighboring

residents that use this site; private companies also use it to avoid paying the tipping

fee at Hulene dumpsite. A similar site can also be found near Xiquelene market. This

site is the result of the floods that took place in 2000.

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PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION

Currently, several private sector companies from the formal sector in Maputo and

Matola cities provide their services for the collection of commercial and industrial

waste.

Non-profitable associations and micro-enterprises from the informal sector that

perform solid waste collection services in suburban neighborhoods.

3R HIERACHY IN MAPUTO CITY

In the area of solid waste reuse, one has to analyze the three hierarchy levels to

minimize Urban Solid Waste (3R: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle):

Reduce

The reduction in Urban Solid Waste production can be achieved, mainly, during the

manufacturing process of products or thanks to residents who decide to buy only

products that produce little solid

waste.

The increase of people’s awareness on this topic is a time consuming process which

includes intensive civic and environmental education campaigns. The use of

technologies that reduce the utilization of materials and that dismiss, for instance, the

use of packages, means an important change for the economic sector. These

processes are lengthy and require, usually, high investments.

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Reuse

The reuse of some types of urban solid waste is already very common in Maputo and

in Mozambique, in general. Due to the low social and economic level, people reutilize

bulky waste especially, such as furniture, or use organic solid waste such as food for

animals, in the case of suburban or even more rural areas.

Switch photos

Recycling

Recycling is based on the reuse of materials that compose waste. Recycling technique

consists on the transformation of such materials, by changing their physical and

chemical characteristics, into new products, or even the same products. Considering

their characteristics and composition, waste can be recycled for subsequent use in the

manufacturing of new products, designed for the same purposes or for different

purposes from the original.

Recycling of products for their possible remanufacturing into the same or even new

products, such as plastics or paper, either at the source or at the final disposal site, is

not done in a formal and systematized manner.

Objectives of recycling

• To acknowledge the importance of recycling and appropriate waste segregation

for the preservation of the environment;

• To encourage appropriate waste segregation in the different ecopoints from the

municipality;

• To actively participate in the implementation of good environmental practices;

• To instil individual responsibility for the promotion of recycling

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• To instil individual accountability for the promotion of correct attitudes related

to appropriate storage of used cooking oils and its disposal at used cooking

tanks (oleões).

• To encourage each student to be speak person, at his/her house, on behalf of

good environmental practices, by promoting appropriate behaviors and

sensitizing the family on the importance of behavior change and in the

implementation of strategies, taking into consideration the role of each

individual in the sustainable development.

Advantages of recycling

• To integrate underprivileged population in non-profitable cooperatives

• To socially integrate the population and organize informal operators into

associations;

• To minimize USW accumulation problems in public areas;

• Develop income sources

• There are many benefits of recycling, such as: savings on energy, more

preservation of natural resources, reduction of buried waste, reduction of

negative environmental impacts, among others.

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SEPARATE COLLECTION

AT SCHOOL, CONDOMINUM, ENTERPRISE, AT THE COMMUNITY, AT THE MUNICIPALITY

Separate collection and waste recycling play an important role for the environment.

Through them, it is possible to recover material that otherwise would be disposed in

the nature. The threat of exhaustion of non-renewable natural resources increases the

need to reuse recyclable materials that are separated in the waste separated collection.

The purpose of this publication is to show the main steps for the implementation of a

collection system, in a simple and objective manner.

WHAT IS SEPARATE COLLECTION?

It is a recyclable collection system: papers, plastic, glass, metal and organic waste,

previously segregated at the generator source and that can be reused or recycled.

Separate collection also works as an environmental education process in the sense

that it sensitizes the community on the problem of wastefulness of natural resources

and of waste related pollution.

Advantages of segregated collection

Several segments of a community can participate in the segregated collection program,

each doing its role and benefiting from the results. An example of this is the partnership

between waste generator and segregated collection entities (condominiums, schools,

companies, etc.) and cooperatives and associations that will receive the segregated

materials and that, often, shall be in charge for their collection.

To contribute for the improvement of the environment by:

• Reducing the exploitation of natural resources

• Reducing energy consumption

• Reducing soil, air and water pollution

• Extending the lifespan of sanitary landfills

• Making feasible the recycling of materials that otherwise would go for the

dumpsite

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• Reducing the production costs with the reuse of recyclables by the industries

• Reducing the waste

• Reducing expenditures with urban cleaning

• Creating opportunities to strengthen community organizations

• Generating employment and income from the marketing of the recyclables.

Relation between Material-Natural Resource-Raw Materials

Material Natural Resource Raw Material

Paper Forest/ Tree (Renewable) Wood

Metal Buxite+siderite Paperita Magnetite+iron Carbon+ cuprite (Non-Renewable)

Aluminum Iron Steel Copper

Plastic Oil (Non-Renewable)

Polietilene, vinil, PVC

Glass Sand (Non-Renewable)

Silica, barrílica, fluorspar, limestone

Source:

Recycling Recycling & Economy

By recycling, one saves natural resources.

Quantity Recyclable Non-recyclable

1ton of recycled paper avoids the logging of 15 to 20 trees, saves 50% of electricity and 10.000m3 of water

- Newspaper and magazines - Sheets of exercise books - Boxes - Scraps of paper - photocopies - envelops - scratch paper - old cardboard - fax paper

- sticking paper - capapel bon paper and

cellophane - Crepe tape - Toilet paper - Metallic paper - Paraffined paper - Laminated paper - Napkin - Cigarette but - Photographies

1ton of recycled aluminum avoids the extraction of 5tons of aluminum ore. 100tons of recycled steel save 27 kWh of electricity and 5 trees used as coal for the processing of iron ore.

- tinplates - bottle caps - oil and fod cans - soda, juice and beer cans

- clips - steel sponges - clamps - drawing pins

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Quantity Recyclable Non-recyclable - aluminum - metallic packages of frozen

food

- nails - pipes

100tons of recycled plastic avoids the extraction of 1ton of oil

- tubes and pipes - sacks - CDs - diskettes - butter and cleaning

products packaging - PET packaging: soda, juice

and cooking oil - Plastic, in general

- Pan handles - Sockets

1ton of recycled glass avoids the extraction of 1,3tons of sand.

- Packages in general - bottles - glasses

- mirrors - plain and crystal glass - ceramics and porcelain - TV and computer tubes

Source:

DECOMPOSITION TIME

(This time can vary according to environmental conditions.)

Type of material Estimated decomposition time

Organic leftovers 2 to 12 months

Paper 3 months to several years

Cigarette filters 3 months to several years

Wood 6 months

Gums 5 years

Steel cans 10 years

Aluminum cans More than 1000 years

Plastic More than 100 years

Glass More than 10 000 years

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Biography

1. Município de Maputo, Conselho Municipal. 2008. Plano Director, Gestão de

Resíduos Sólidos Urbanos na Cidade de Maputo.

2. SOTEGE. Lda. 2013. Relatório Final do Levantamento da Situação Actual –

Estudo de Base – 3R. Projecto para a Promocão de Actividades Sustentáveis de

3R na Cidade de Maputo, República de Maçambique.

3. Governo do Estado de São Paulo, Secretaria do Meio Ambiente. Coleta Seletiva,

Como Fazer.

4. São Paulo (Estado) Secretaria do Meio Ambiente / Coordenadoria de Educação

Ambiental. 2011. Guia Pedagógico do Lixo. 6a edição (revista e atualizada) São

Paulo. ISBN 978.85.62251-01-6.

5. São Paulo (Estado) Secretaria do Meio Ambiente / Coordenadoria de

Planejamento Ambiental. 2010. 1. Resíduos Sólidos 2. Educação Ambiental I.

Título. II. Série. ISBN – 978-85-86624-69-8