Waste Management

2017-03-28

 

(Above) - Participants on a field Tour during training.

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Purpose

The purpose of the course was to assists participants who either produce waste or handle waste to use information gained to develop a more sustainable and cost-effective way of managing waste at both local and national level. Managing waste is a challenging national issue and poses a significant threat to human and environmental health. It followed the principles of the waste management hierarchy to underpin good practice in waste management, in a way that recognizes waste as a resource to promote green, resilient, and sustainable environment. Presented to Namibia Pulp Paper cc, the course aimed at equiping delegates with latest knowledge and best practices to manage waste to promote cleaner environments. 

Theme

"All green is a healthy environment".

Course objectives

The course was designed to enable participants to be able to:

• Identify the industrial and domestic sources of waste and their characteristics.
• Explain the use of the waste management hierarchy in the sustainable management of waste and its role in the circular economy.
• Use the principles of sustainable waste management to ensure a green Namibia.
• Identify opportunities in waste prevention for cost-efficient waste management.
• Explore re-use and recycling opportunities in waste management, and manage waste-related environmental risks through a risk-based approach.
• Use principles of waste recovery to explore opportunities for energy generation.
• Examine the potential impacts of waste disposal to land (landfill) and identify more sustainable alternatives.

Relevance

Waste management is rated to the top priorities as a challenge faced by all nations. Despite the fact that everyone is aware of this challenge and already exist new technologies to manage waste problem, knowledge and skills still need to be developed and well-shaped in order to ensure effective understanding and implementation of good practices.  Ensuring that we all understand the link between waste and climate is particularly important to achieve sustainable and environmentally sound management of all wastes.

Validity of the Design

Waste management is still a global challenge in the 21st century and the course was well timed and designed as it is during the times that Namibia experiences rapid economic growth, urbanization and increasing population. These have all contributed to materially intensive environment characterised with huge resource consumption resulting in increased release of large amounts of waste to the environment. Developments and different sustainability challenges facing the global waste management system were incorporated, shared and discussed during training to enhance deep understanding.

Effectiveness

The training was organized and presented through sustained instructions designed to communicate a combination of experience, knowledge, skills and understanding of valuable real scenarios of life to ensure the attainment of objectives. To ensure effective delivery, a more systems-oriented participative approach that identified and addressed the root causes for the problems was adopted during training.