Development
of data-based decision-support system for source separated municipal
waste in
Moses
Mensah1, Mizpah Asase2 &
Samuel Amponsah3
1,2Department
of Chemical Engineering,
Email: mymens@gmx.net
The enormous difficulties emerging with the
management of the increasing amounts of municipal wastes in the municipal city
of Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city with a population of 1,2
million people have underscored the need to explore the possibility of source
sorting the wastes from the households and develop a decision support system
for the planning and management of the wastes.
The study is a pilot project in the sub-metropolitan
area of Asokwa with selected households of first, second and third class
residential areas that have been supplied with three separate identifiable
waste bins in which to sort organic, plastic and rest wastes. An environmental education was undertaken to sensitize the households of the
need and benefits of source separation. Collection of the wastes is undertaken
four times a week.
The wastes are
analyzed to determine quantity, generation rate as well as the efficiency of
separation. The organic wastes are composted while the plastic wastes are sold
to a waste plastic recycling company. The benefits derived from these exercises
are to be made available to the respective households as proof of the benefits
and to further motivate them.
On a broader scale, the study will develop a decision
support system that will enable the metropolitan municipal assembly of
Dr. Moses Mensah
mymens@gmx.net