Infrastructure 2013: Waste Between livelihoods and urban environmental sustainability: Informal Recycling in Kaduna, Nigeria Onyanta Adama-Ajonye, The Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden The world´s population is moving to the cities. Cities in developing countries are growing especially fast. About one billion of the world´s 3,5 billion urban inhabitants are living in informal settlements, or slums. This number is expected to increase. What kind of access to the cities’ infrastructure do these people have? Do they have access to electricity, drinking water, sewage systems and transportation? Habitat Norway wishes to address these and other issues in the seminar series «Infrastructure 2013». The third seminar will look at the access to electricity in informal settlements and growing cities. How is the daily life, the outlook of a more prosperous life and security affected by the lack of or insufficient and sporadic access to electricity? And are informal settlements taken into account when calculating and planning improvements on the electric grids? What alternative solutions could be utilized? For more information see: http://habitat-norge.org/

1. LIVELIHOODS & URBAN
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY:
WASTE PICKING IN KADUNA, NIGERIA

2. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT: THE
RELEVANCE OF MUNICIPAL SOLID
WASTE MANAGEMENT (MSWM)
 161 countries generated about 1.3 billion tonnes of MSW per
year, to increase to 2.2 billion by 2025 (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata,
2012)
 Rate of waste generation outstripping rate of urbanization
 MSWM treatment methods contribute to greenhouse gases
(GHG) and carbon dioxide emissions.
- Methane from disposal sites contribute to global GHG
emissions
- Incineration & open burning of waste: important sources of
carbon dioxide emissions
 Growing challenge of e-waste (mobile phones, computers)

3. MSWM IN LOW INCOME COUNTRIES
 Source reduction: no organized programmes
 Collection: sporadic & inefficient
 Socio-spatial exclusion: high income areas receive better services
 Recycling: almost entirely through the informal sector
 Composting: rarely undertaken formally even though there is a
high % of organic material
 Incineration: not common (capital intensive, high moisture
content)
 Open dumping of wastes: pollution of aquifers & water bodies
nearby;
 Burning of waste: negative effects on the environment, health
risks

4. KADUNA
 Pop. Over 1million
 33% aged 5-15
 74.77% - poor
 Declining
industrial town
 Remains a major industrial &
commercial centre

5. OVERVIEW OF MSWM
 Waste generation: 13.5 tons (8.2 tons organic) per day
 Composition: metal, glass, plastics, paper, rubber, organic etc.
 Sources: households, factories, office & business premises, medical
establishments, schools
 Institutional arrangement:
Kaduna Environmental Protection Authority – responsible for day-to-day
management
Formal Private Sector – 49 contractors employed by the government to handle waste
collection
Informal Private Sector – Waste collectors in areas not served by the formal system
 Recycling: informal
 Problems include: sub-standard storage equipment; collection is epileptic,
inefficient & limited to certain parts; illegal dumping; open dumping; limited finance;
no official source separation

6. OPEN DUMPING STORAGE

7. ILLEGAL DUMPING
TRANSPORTATION

8. The major actors
INFORMAL RECYCLING
Processors/Manufacturers
Middlemen & Agents
Waste Pickers

9. WASTE PICKING: THE LIVELIHOOD
DIMENSION
 Disadvantaged urban groups (children & youths)
 Reasons for waste picking:
a) Feeding
b) Supplement the family income
c) Personal needs
d) Family tradition

10. CHILD WASTE PICKERS

11. Profile of a child waste
picker: Yahaya
10 years old
6 siblings
Mother – widow
Primary 6 pupil
Waste picking (1 – 4pm when school
is in session, 9am – 4pm during
holidays)
Type of recyclables – light metal,
plastics, glass, aluminium (least
valuable)
Earnings (about USD40 per month):
Contributes to household income
Takes care of his personal needs

12. The Almajiri
Young boys in the Koranic educational
system
From poor rural families
Study the Koran with a Mallam (scholar)
No parental support
Neglected by the government
Exploited by Mallams
Engage in street begging, petty
crimes, menial jobs, waste collection &
picking
Earnings primarily spent on feeding
Some amount given to the Mallam

13. ALMAJIRAIS EMPLOYED BY NGO
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION FOR
RENEWABLE ENERGY (DARE).
PICTURES COURTESY OF DARE.

14. PLASTICS HOUSE
 Funded by NGO (DARE)
 2 bedrooms
 Consume 14 000 plastic
bottles
 Sourced from hotels/schools
 Designed to avoid carbon
dioxide emissions

15. RESOURCE RECOVERY: METAL

16. RESOURCE RECOVERY

17. THE PRODUCTS

18. THE PRODUCTS

19. NEGATIVE PRACTICES
 Burning of waste
 Illegal dumping
 Littering
 Health risks ( exposure to
harmful chemicals, injuries)

20. Summing up
 Structured flow of people and
materials- specific groups target
specific sites (Households, final
disposal sites, communal
dumps, factories)
 Major livelihood activity
 Contribution to resource
recovery/environmental
sustainability is by default
 Informal operates parallel to the
formal
 How to regulate the sector without
jeopardizing livelihoods?