A comparative study on residential solid waste management in selected developing and developed countries: Guyana and United States

Abstract

Solid waste is a global issue. As developing countries strive to improve their economic situations and standings in the world community, they face extreme underfunding in vital areas of local infrastructure, especially solid waste management. As populations continue to grow, solid waste and its management will become a very serious issue. This dissertation addressed the problems of insufficient available data and inadequate funding in an urban center in a small developing country with respect to future solid waste management. The aim was to develop a quick, simple and cost-effective check-list that could be used by decision-makers in developing countries of similar characteristics, in dealing with current and future planning for improved solid waste management. Residential municipal solid waste (RMSW) was analysed from three main locations, which where Georgetown, Guyana and Tucson and Sells, Arizona in the United States. Due to the lack of data available in Guyana, several other locations were used for lesser comparisons. These were Miami, Florida, and the Kaibab-Paiute Indian Reservation and Patagonia, Arizona. The waste streams of each were compared, as were the physical, social and economic situations of the main three locations. Past and current solid waste management practises were also compared. Results indicated that RMSW in all places contained little hazardous component. The waste in Georgetown comprised mostly of organic food waste, as has been found in other developing nations. Based on reports of foreign consultants, many solutions and improvements suggested for solid waste management in Georgetown have not been feasible and technologies brought from developed countries have been too high-tech. Solutions in developing countries need to be low-tech and those who try to solve problems must take into consideration local limiting factors and work within their constraints. Since data are seldom available, it is important to communicate with those who work in solid waste management as they are an invaluable source of information.