PhD title – Sustainable waste management system for market wastes in low-income cities: Barriers and opportunities.
Description – An estimated 2 billion people do not have access to waste collection services, and 3 billion do not have access to regulated waste disposal. This paucity of infrastructure and services have a negative effect on public health and the environment with waste being negligently dumped or burnt in neighbourhoods. With level of waste predicted to increase in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) by 2025, there are considerable challenges facing municipalities who already require the essential resources, infrastructure, and environmental safety system to manage waste. The United Nations recognised the challenges of poor sanitation and waste management in the Sustainable Development Goals which establishes aims to deal with these challenges, involving the target by 2030 to decrease waste production through prevention, reduction, reuse, and recycling. The major concern and challenges in these countries are the management of food and agricultural wastes, which, when poorly handled can cause diseases, nuisance (odours) and uncontrolled methane emission to the atmosphere. The latter is one of the causes of Climate Change. The aim of this study is to develop a framework for sustainable management of food and agricultural wastes in LEDCs to tackle these challenges.
