Waste management in Botswana: Towards a more sustainable environmental management
Article Sidebar
Published:
Dec 30, 2004
Main Article Content
Abstract
Botswana like most developing countries is faced with many challenges and opportunities that
include chemical and waste management. When Botswana attained independence in 1966, we had a very small
population with very small generation of biodegradable waste. As a result of rapid economic development,
Botswana has started to produce some waste that is not biodegradable and has long residence time in the
environment. Some of this waste include plastics, batteries, scrap metals, used oil, and waste paper, glass,
medical/cljnical waste, old tyres among others. Medical/clinical waste has been a problem in Botswana more
especially the transportation and disposal aspects. Clinical waste that has been identified compromise,
biological waste, infectious waste, Sharps, Chemical waste, Body fluids/excreta, radioactive waste. Oil waste
has resulted from various industrial activities that have been very difficult to store and reuse. Oil sales are
projected to grow to 12.7 million litres by the year 2005 with a growing recovery of 6.34 million litres. Paper,
glass and packaging waste continue to be a menace to our environment. 1996, it has been estimated that waste
from paper was generated as follows: packaging material 18 600 tonnes, paper for writing and printing as7 100
tonnes and miscellaneous paper accounted for 13 000 tonnes. Paper recycling is at an infant stage in Botswana.
Quantity of glass generated is about 93 tonnes per annum, Scrap metals are piled up on private premises,
dumped in the bush, abandoned in the streets or brought to communal landfill sites, or individuals keeping such
scrap metals in their backyards. It is estimated that by 2005, 832 600 tyres will be required vehicles and 306
000 will go to scrap. Accidental fires on tyres are a common occurrence around most landfills in Botswana.
Botswana needs well-articulated environmental legislation to deal with the above environmental concerns in
order to realise sustainable environmental management
include chemical and waste management. When Botswana attained independence in 1966, we had a very small
population with very small generation of biodegradable waste. As a result of rapid economic development,
Botswana has started to produce some waste that is not biodegradable and has long residence time in the
environment. Some of this waste include plastics, batteries, scrap metals, used oil, and waste paper, glass,
medical/cljnical waste, old tyres among others. Medical/clinical waste has been a problem in Botswana more
especially the transportation and disposal aspects. Clinical waste that has been identified compromise,
biological waste, infectious waste, Sharps, Chemical waste, Body fluids/excreta, radioactive waste. Oil waste
has resulted from various industrial activities that have been very difficult to store and reuse. Oil sales are
projected to grow to 12.7 million litres by the year 2005 with a growing recovery of 6.34 million litres. Paper,
glass and packaging waste continue to be a menace to our environment. 1996, it has been estimated that waste
from paper was generated as follows: packaging material 18 600 tonnes, paper for writing and printing as7 100
tonnes and miscellaneous paper accounted for 13 000 tonnes. Paper recycling is at an infant stage in Botswana.
Quantity of glass generated is about 93 tonnes per annum, Scrap metals are piled up on private premises,
dumped in the bush, abandoned in the streets or brought to communal landfill sites, or individuals keeping such
scrap metals in their backyards. It is estimated that by 2005, 832 600 tyres will be required vehicles and 306
000 will go to scrap. Accidental fires on tyres are a common occurrence around most landfills in Botswana.
Botswana needs well-articulated environmental legislation to deal with the above environmental concerns in
order to realise sustainable environmental management
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Article Details
How to Cite
Otlogetswe, totolo,. (2004). Waste management in Botswana: Towards a more sustainable environmental management. Malaysian Journal of Science, 23, 9–19. Retrieved from http://adum.um.edu.my/index.php/MJS/article/view/9028
Section
Original Articles
Transfer of Copyrights
- In the event of publication of the manuscript entitled [INSERT MANUSCRIPT TITLE AND REF NO.] in the Malaysian Journal of Science, I hereby transfer copyrights of the manuscript title, abstract and contents to the Malaysian Journal of Science and the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya (as the publisher) for the full legal term of copyright and any renewals thereof throughout the world in any format, and any media for communication.
Conditions of Publication
- I hereby state that this manuscript to be published is an original work, unpublished in any form prior and I have obtained the necessary permission for the reproduction (or am the owner) of any images, illustrations, tables, charts, figures, maps, photographs and other visual materials of whom the copyrights is owned by a third party.
- This manuscript contains no statements that are contradictory to the relevant local and international laws or that infringes on the rights of others.
- I agree to indemnify the Malaysian Journal of Science and the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya (as the publisher) in the event of any claims that arise in regards to the above conditions and assume full liability on the published manuscript.
Reviewer’s Responsibilities
- Reviewers must treat the manuscripts received for reviewing process as confidential. It must not be shown or discussed with others without the authorization from the editor of MJS.
- Reviewers assigned must not have conflicts of interest with respect to the original work, the authors of the article or the research funding.
- Reviewers should judge or evaluate the manuscripts objective as possible. The feedback from the reviewers should be express clearly with supporting arguments.
- If the assigned reviewer considers themselves not able to complete the review of the manuscript, they must communicate with the editor, so that the manuscript could be sent to another suitable reviewer.
Copyright: Rights of the Author(s)
- Effective 2007, it will become the policy of the Malaysian Journal of Science (published by the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya) to obtain copyrights of all manuscripts published. This is to facilitate:
- Protection against copyright infringement of the manuscript through copyright breaches or piracy.
- Timely handling of reproduction requests from authorized third parties that are addressed directly to the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya.
- As the author, you may publish the fore-mentioned manuscript, whole or any part thereof, provided acknowledgement regarding copyright notice and reference to first publication in the Malaysian Journal of Science and Faculty of Science, University of Malaya (as the publishers) are given. You may produce copies of your manuscript, whole or any part thereof, for teaching purposes or to be provided, on individual basis, to fellow researchers.
- You may include the fore-mentioned manuscript, whole or any part thereof, electronically on a secure network at your affiliated institution, provided acknowledgement regarding copyright notice and reference to first publication in the Malaysian Journal of Science and Faculty of Science, University of Malaya (as the publishers) are given.
- You may include the fore-mentioned manuscript, whole or any part thereof, on the World Wide Web, provided acknowledgement regarding copyright notice and reference to first publication in the Malaysian Journal of Science and Faculty of Science, University of Malaya (as the publishers) are given.
- In the event that your manuscript, whole or any part thereof, has been requested to be reproduced, for any purpose or in any form approved by the Malaysian Journal of Science and Faculty of Science, University of Malaya (as the publishers), you will be informed. It is requested that any changes to your contact details (especially e-mail addresses) are made known.
Copyright: Role and responsibility of the Author(s)
- In the event of the manuscript to be published in the Malaysian Journal of Science contains materials copyrighted to others prior, it is the responsibility of current author(s) to obtain written permission from the copyright owner or owners.
- This written permission should be submitted with the proof-copy of the manuscript to be published in the Malaysian Journal of Science