Civil Engineering October 2022 | Vol 30 No 9

J G Afrika is part of the professional team supporting the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA) towards implementing a robust solid waste management plan for Uganda’s rapidly growing national and commercial capital and their neighbouring authorities, as a regional and collective approach. The JG Afrika specialist team, which includes Richard Emery, a JG Afrika Technical Director and Manager of Municipal Infrastructure and Integrated Waste Management, and Dr Jefrey Pilusa, a JG Afrika organic waste specialist and process engineer, is working with the broader team that has been deployed to work on this project. “The GKMA is facing very similar waste management challenges that South African cities do, and it has a comparable society, although it appears slightly more consumer orientated. A key difference, however, is that the GKMA has limited technical capacity required to implement its vast academic knowledge and real understanding of international trends and technologies. This is compared to South Africa’s more engineered managed systems, which we aim to help GKMA implement to better manage solid waste diversion and systems in the area,” says Emery who is one of the foremost IWM experts in South Africa. “The project will also assist GKMA in honouring its commitment to reducing carbon emissions as articulated in the Kampala Climate Change Action Strategy, a key instrument that it uses to help main- stream climate change response in all city services,” he adds. The project is being implemented under the Cities and Infrastructure for Growth programme funded by UKAid and implemented by Cardno International Development, which appointed JG Afrika to provide technical and specialised services. Currently in the concept engineering design phase, the project focuses on diverting solid waste away from the Kiteezi Landfill and allowing businesses and investors to benefit from some of these recovered materials. Consideration is being given to establishing a methane gas-to-energy plant of at least 2 MW in capacity on the landfill site due to the high organic content of the waste stream. WASTE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES Kiteezi Landfill is located in Nangabo sub-county in Wakiso district and is Uganda’s largest and main landfill. About 14.5 ha in size, with its highest end rising up to 10 m, it is partially lined and features a leachate treatment plant that is no longer functioning optimally or as designed. The capacity of the landfill has been exhausted and local authorities are trying to find a suitable alternative site where large quantities of solid waste generated by the GKMA constituents can be disposed of as an interim solution. This remains a challenge considering limited municipal land is available for this purpose. The GKMA comprises very dense urban as well as low-density rural areas that are very scattered. Most of the land in the GKMA is privately owned and owners are reluctant to sell it to the municipality at a fair price for use as a landfill site. As a very short-term measure, small pieces of land are being earmarked by the local authorities to help dispose of well over 28 000 t of waste that is still being sent to landfill every month. Some of the waste is being disposed of at unauthorised areas, posing severe environmental and health risks to the general public. Helping Kampala implement a world-class IWM strategy Like many other regions, Kampala is facing a growing waste management challenge. A team is now working to develop a comprehensive integrated waste management (IWM) plan to assist local authorities with safely and effectively managing the region’s waste. Notably, most of the waste generated in the area consists of organic material, which is unsurprising considering the strong agricultural-based communities in the region. Located on the equator, the country has a conducive climate and fertile soils that enable fruit and vegetable production for the greater part of the year. For example, bananas, mangoes, citrus, pineapples and tomatoes are grown on small subsistence plots and sold at the many streetside markets in the GKMA. WASTE DIVERSION There are hundreds of informal waste pickers who earn a livelihood collecting papers, containers, and plastic at Kiteezi Landfill for recycling purposes. The in- organic waste, consisting mainly of paper 14 October 2022 Civil Engineering Kiteezi Landfill is Uganda’s largest and primary landfill