The growth and development of a city or metropolitan is a key influential area for ensuring infrastructure and service delivery requirements are planned for in advance to meet the demand forecast. Solid waste management is one service delivery area that seems to be lagging behind and noticeably when one visits a city, one observes the inefficient collection of waste and the unsustainable management of waste via the disposal and treatment of waste, and it becomes evident that the planning and management coupled with attitude is absent. In the current era, the progression of a city and the growth of the population require the MSW infrastructure or facilities planning, waste composition analysis and projections, technical assessment of MSW, spatial mapping and identification through land use zoning, socio-economic modelling, compliance and legal requirements to satisfy the Municipal finance requirements and capital planning, and reviewing the urban development framework. The planning process for MSW management requires an integrated approach in the city and requires a cross collaborative approach amongst the stakeholders. The inability to manage MSW consists of failures in the following areas: 1. Inadequate services 2. Inadequate financing 3. Inadequate environmental controls 4. Poor institutional structure 5. Inadequate understanding of complex systems 6. Inadequate sanitation MSW planning needs to be incorporated into the city development and service framework to ensure there is adequate infrastructure in place for the future. The advanced planning process should align to the needs analysis which should identify a list of priority projects for MSW management in the city. As the socio-economic circumstances of individuals and families change, so does the waste composition profile change as well which influences the planning requirements in all the attributes for sustainable waste management. The global drive to reduce waste to landfill directly impacts onthe MSW planning as diversion of waste indicates a shift towards sustainable solutions for a city. The diversion of waste forces officials to consider alternative strategies and waste disposal methods in the planning stages. This approach necessitates the assessment of more environmentally acceptable technologies and treatment methods which could lead to the potential use of waste or the by –product as a source of energy for specific use in the city. For the MSW planning to follow this direction, provision of quality and reliable data from waste generation and disposal rates, socio-economic data and spatial data needs to be available. Unreliable data could prove to be a hindrance in adequately formulating a strategy for MSW. In developing countries, a large amount of the attributes listed above are limited or non –existent. This paper examines the approach towards MSW planning and the key attributes as experienced on current projects that are required to make the planning for MSW successful and sustainable in a developing country.
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