1School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK 2School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK Keywords: Integration, Recycling, Scavenging, Waste.
ABSTRACT
The concept of waste minimization by reclamation and recycling is not new. However, it requires thorough integration into the waste management practices of the construction industry in the fast paced and expanding urban setting of Port Harcourt metropolis. The study investigates waste generation on construction and demolition sites in Port Harcourt, their market demand and recyclable potential, as a viable source of income for the informal sector, integral to establishing an inclusive waste management system. Primary data was obtained through the administration of structured questionnaires to construction companies and private developers, interviews with buyers of recyclables, and site visits. The literature and fieldwork reveals that there is a market demand in Port Harcourt for recycled construction waste such as for filling of pot holes on roads, aluminium sheets for smelting into low-grade cooking utensils, oxygenated wood to produce charcoal and firewood for road side sales of roasted food and construction of temporary wooden structures (Bacha) for low income earners. The response pattern also reveals that wastes are generated mostly for cement/concrete, broken blocks, timber and metals. This represents a potentially steady stream of sourcing for reclaimable and recyclable by-products, against the backdrop of the high proportion of construction of new buildings. Furthermore, the findings reveal that, there is no systematic medium of removal of construction wastes from their source, which often occur in new developing upper class neighbourhoods, where such wastes are carted away unsorted to open dumps or dumped in drains along roadways to low income neighbourhoods where the market demand is. Recognising the health and safety implications of scavenging at dumpsites, this study proposes the systematic integration of organized scavenging as a lucrative outlet for construction waste utilization in Port Harcourt, specifically targeted at direct sourcing and separation of materials generated on construction sites by certified scavengers.
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INTRODUCTION
Port Harcourt, located in the Southern Nigeria, is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, with a population in excess of one million, based on the 2006 national census (Obinna, et al., 2010b). Port Harcourt is the industrial capital of the hydro-carbon industry and is central to the Nigerian economy. Construction activities are thus on the increase, particularly in newly developing neighbourhoods sprouting up around the periphery of the city centre (Gibb, 2009). It is generally acknowledged that some degree of waste materials is inevitable at building sites, and that measures should be put in place for adequate management of unavoidable waste generated in the course of executing construction works. However, the literature shows that construction wastes in Port Harcourt are largely unmanaged, and constitute a major environmental issue with refuse heaps a common sight on major roads (Wokekoro, 2007; Konya et al., 2013).
The study by Wokekoro (2007) based on interviews with staff of the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Agency (RSESA), responsible for solid waste management in Port Harcourt, revealed that vast quantities of Construction and Demolition (CD) waste are dumped in open drains causing flooding, or on the road way, constituting a nuisance and health hazard to passers-by and the neighbourhood. Konya et al. (2013) characterized the types of waste disposed at dumpsites at various locations in Port Harcourt Metropolis, based on direct waste sorting and interviews with scavengers. The study showed that CD waste such as concrete, bricks, roofing and insulation materials, metals, plastics, soil, pipes, steel and wood are unsorted, and co-mingled with other municipal solid waste in the dumpsites visited. Weekly refuse collection from the dumpsites along roads is handled by contractors, who dispose of the unsorted waste to final designated sites, typically swamps or burrow pits, located at Whimpey, Abuloma, Elelenwo, and Igwuruta. No formal recycling practise is carried out on the waste by the collectors. Manual sorting and recycling of the mixed waste at dumpsites, and from waste collector carts is however mostly carried out by the informal sector, typically referred to as scavengers. According to Olufayo et al. (2007:142):
These young men and women usually enter the dumpsites during the early part of the day moving around looking for used items such as bottles, aluminium sheets, steel, electronics, plastic products, cloths, copper wires and any useful materials. They also keep note of the time and days the trucks offload at the sites. They wait for them and as soon as the trucks arrive, they swarm around the vehicles, looking for any useful materials to pick. Most times, they couldn’t afford to wait for the trucks and therefore, jump inside as the vehicles slow down to offload. Once the truck stops, they pounce on the dirt and start picking any useful materials they can lay their hands on.
Official economic evaluation in other developing countries, such as Jordan show that a drastic reduction in landfill management cost of 79.5%, in savings occur, with the integration of the informal recyclers in waste management (Aljaradin et al., 2015). Official statistics in Lahore, Pakistan revealed a current annual income generating capacity of $4.5 million from the activities of the informal sector, with potential for this to increase to $8.8 million, if informal recycling practices are integrated into the main stream of formal waste management framework. (Medina, 2000). In Nigeria, official statistics on the economic value and contribution of scavengers is sadly lacking, as they are not formally recognised, and are mostly socially stigmatised by wider society (Oguntoyinbo, 2012).
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Critique of Informal Recycling Practises in Nigeria
Although scavenging has been recognized as an effective way for managing waste, leading to reduction in the cost of formal waste management systems in developing countries, there are several who oppose this practise. At the core of this opposition to widespread scavenging are the social and public health arguments. Many in the Nigerian society are strongly opposed to the activities of scavengers, leading to wide spread social stigmatisation with the pubic regarding the behaviour of scavengers as appalling and a social nuisance (Oguntoyinbo, 2012). Whereas the government and other public bodies fervently oppose the recognition of scavenging, due to concerns about the implied health risks associated with the activity, leading several authors (Olufayo et al., 2007; Oguntoyinbo, 2012; Aljaradin et al., 2015) to acknowledge that while scavengers see the sorting of the recyclable portion of waste as a source of income and livelihood, public perception and social stigmatisation has fuelled a repressive atmosphere for their activities.
Social stigmatisation has been highly publicised in the media, with many journalists highlighting the social risk scavengers face in Nigeria, espousing that many scavenge out of necessity as a result of societal failure, ultimately they are scavenging for survival. One of the scavengers interviewed revealed that: ‘The business is very risky and full of challenges. I only go into the trade so as to make ends meet. Most times, people have accused us of stealing as we walk around looking for items to pick…” Thisday (2016) A typical response from one of the traders around dumpsites where the scavengers operate was that:
Although, they have their reasons, I can’t imagine humans picking from wastes deposited by other people. It looks odd. Even we traders that are trading here are highly disturbed because of the odour and smell oozing out from there. It is really risky”. The menace became so disturbing that the State Waste Management Authority dragged five scavengers to court where they were remanded in prison custody for illegal entry into the refuse dump site. Thisday (2016).
These arguments put forward in the Nigerian press, have led academics such as Oguntoyinbo (2012) to call on society to change its view. Rather than socially stigmatising and treating these informal recyclers, who are only guilty of seeking an alternative means of surviving the harsh economic realities of the jobless in Nigeria, society should accept scavenging as a sustainable solution to waste management in Nigeria. This will allow the practice of scavenging or informal recycling to be formally integrated into society, thus improving working conditions. In other words, Oguntoyinbo (ibid) is espousing that scavengers should be seen as an integral part of an inclusive waste management plan whilst presenting Nigeria with a viable option for achieving sustainability in the absence of alternatives.
Returning to the public health argument, Cointreau (2006) and Wachukwu et al. (2010) both noted the unsanitary waste collection methods deployed by scavengers, who were described as ‘germ infested’, and representing a huge health risk to the general populace of Nigeria. Wachukwu et al. (2010) investigated the health profile and impact of the activities of scavengers in Port Harcourt, based on experimental microbial counts of infectious pathogens in the blood samples of about 80 scavengers. The study revealed that scavengers carry significantly higher levels of the pathogens present in waste. These pathogens are typically responsible for degradation, such as Staphylococcus Aureus, E. coli and Salmonella sp, with significantly lower level of heamoglobin blood counts. Wachukwu et al. (2010) thus concluded that scavengers are carriers of pathogens that are the
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primary cause of inter alia: food poisoning, urinary tract infections, and typhoid fever. With the latter being identified as a deadly malaise that can be easily spread through the population through contact with scavengers. Scavengers, in the authors’ opinion, thus represent a societal health risk and menace that needs to be curbed. The World Bank report by Cointreau (2006) expressed concern that waste pickers rarely use protective equipment and resort to hand sorting contaminated waste, leading to infected cuts and wounds. Oguntoyinbo (2012) recognised that this occupational hazard induced by their working conditions, makes informal recycling incompatible with modern waste management practises, which follow regulatory procedure and require advanced technologically driven methods. Nzeadibe (2009) opined that ‘It is true that informal recyclers have the expertise to identify wastes with potential value; however, their unhygienic methods of operation remove the potential to achieve relatively high recycling rates and quality of materials’.
Oguntoyinbo (2012) however argued that the lack of access to appropriate equipment, limited formal education, training and organisation essentially fosters unhygienic methods of waste sorting and recycling. It was further stated that the health risk that scavengers face has attracted scant constructive policy initiative, unlike the high level of negative social attention. It was regrettably noted that the primary focus of scavengers on daily survival, had left them oblivious to the health risks associated with their working conditions. Oguntoyinbo (2012) further argued that the primary factors driving the activities of the scavengers in Nigeria are the combination of high unemployment rates, high demand for recyclables, poor solid waste management, and high levels of poverty. Leading Oguntoyinbo to assert that official recognition and targeted support with the aim of improving working conditions, mitigating health risks and increasing the social acceptance of scavengers must therefore be considered fundamental to meeting the tripodal millennium development goals of ‘poverty alleviation, job creation and environmental sustainability’.
The literature debate on the activities of the informal sector recyclers thus centres on the health and social implications of their practices. Yet it is also noted that there an evident gap in the literature related to the economic viability of scavenging in relation to job creation. This would be essential if the argument, supporting the need for their integration into the mainstream of formally recognised outlets of waste management in Port Harcourt, is to break through into the main political discourse. This argument is further sustained by both Agunwamba (2003) and Nzeadibe (2009) whose works provide important insights into the demographic characteristics of scavengers. Indeed, these studies revealed a mix of young, middle aged, married and unmarried scavengers, with a predominance of males who fully depended on income from this source. However, the analysis also illustrated the viability of their trade, suggesting their earnings are higher than the minimum wage in Nigeria. This shows that informal recycling can also have wider economic benefits. Indeed, interviews with scavengers at a dumpsite conducted by Agunwamba (2003) illustrated the entrepreneurial abilities exhibited by many scavengers with one stating: ‘Let me tell you, everything you see here is money. But you see, we prefer any aluminium materials because it costs more money and it is easy to sell more than other materials. Sometimes I make big money, sometimes I make small money like N1, 000 a day’. Whilst another respondent espoused that he only dealt with polymer products in form of plastic materials due to the return he could achieve, ‘I focus more on very strong plastic materials because we have people who buy them up as soon as we bring them. I make more than N800 from polymer products everyday’. A view strongly reinforced by Oguntoyinbo (2012) who opined that scavengers exhibit high level business acumen: expert knowledge of the types of waste to collect and sort, and the ability to find market outlets for recovered goods which provide cheap secondary raw materials for small scale industries, despite their limited education. These insights lend further
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credence to the economic viability of informal sector recycling, which according to Nzeadibe (2009) provides 40% and 48% raw materials to artisans and small-scale industries respectively.
Figure 1: Theoretical Framework (The Reality of Informal Sector Recycling in Nigeria)
The literature review has articulated a multiplicity of issues related to the informal recycling of waste in Nigeria. Despite the social segregation of scavengers, along with very legitimate public health concerns, the literature review has also revealed the economic and sustainable benefits the practice could deliver. With many scavengers exhibiting strong entrepreneurial skills and the ability to generate significant economic returns, this shows that they are able to sustain themselves financially, despite their limited education and high transactional costs. From the literature, the theoretical framework illustrated in figure 1 has been developed. Against the backdrop of this theoretical framework, and considering the high proportion building construction and demolition activities on going in Port Harcourt metropolis, this study investigates the demand and supply of CD waste as a lucrative outlet for the integration of organised scavenging in the construction sector.