Assessment of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Practices in Hawassa University

: This study was conducted in four campuses of Hawassa University (HU), Ethiopia, with the aim of identifying the major sources, composition and quantity of solid wastes and solid waste management (SWM) practices. Key informant interview and visual assessment was carried out to identify the major sources, sampling sites, measurement points and management practices. The wastes were segregated and categorized into classes and measured for seven consecutive days in each campus. The result showed that about 35,364.2 Kg of food leftover and more than 10,541.4 kg of paper, plastic, grass and leaves, medical waste, and some other mixed solid waste were generated every week. From the total waste more than 92 % was recyclable and 81.5% was organic. The food leftover was managed by selling to ranchers, giving it to poor-of-the poor, and the remaining was managed through damping. The clinical wastes, papers and some other wastes were burned and only limited solid waste was recycled. Generally, the SWM practice in HU is reactive to the problems and a more proactive solution is required. For instance, conversion of organic waste to biogas could reduce the cafeterias cooking firewood spending, greenhouse gas emission and other socio-economic and environmental impacts associated with SWM problem. Recycling of paper waste by selling to pulp and paper factory can also be a feasible and win-win strategy for the university and the open the Commons Attribution License (CCL), unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly

In developing countries significant portion of population does not have access to a waste collection service and only a fraction of the generated waste is actually collected. Most of the solid waste is disposed in open dumps due to its simplicity and low cost (Nas and Bayram, 2008;WHO, 1996). The most problematic functional elements of poor Solid Waste Management (SWM) identified in developing countries include absence of proper disposal of solid waste, non-existence of separation of the solid waste into its constituents at the sources, absence of the timely information about the generation rate and characteristics and lack of reliable database on SWM (Bhat et al., 2014;Buenrostro et al., 2001;Gomez et al., 2008;Jansen, 2010;Mbuligwe, 2002;WHO, 1996). The lack of knowledge, financial and technological deficiencies has also contributed to the poor management of solid wastes (Mbuligwe, 2002). In Ethiopia large amount of solid waste remains unmanaged and it affected the public health and the environment significantly (Cheever, 2011;Haylamicheal et al., 2011). This is particularly true in Ethiopian higher institutions where SWM has become one of the priority issue in the institutional sustainability. The introduction of higher education system in Ethiopia began in the mid-1960s and the country had only two universities for much of the 20 th century. Since mid-1990s, the country's higher education system has expanded and the numbers of public universities have reached 43 and that of the private higher institutions has also increased remarkably. The student enrolment rate in public and private higher institutions has increased from 58,632 in 2003/04 to 860,378 in 2016/17, with an annual average enrolment rate increase of 26.1% (EMIS, 2016/17). The expansion of programs and the increased student intake and staff number undoubtedly increased the solid waste generated from these institutions. Consequently solid waste management in the higher education has become one of the greatest challenges for institutional sustainability. One of the major problems in solid waste management in the university campus is determining the composition and quantity of solid waste generated (de Vega et al., 2008;Mbuligwe, 2002;Starovoytova, 2018). The sources, quantity, characteristics and composition of solid waste generated and the management practices was not studied and documented in Hawassa University (HU). Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify the major sources, evaluate the composition and quantify the solid wastes and solid waste management (SWM) practices in HU campuses of Ethiopia.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
Study area: The study was conducted in HU, one of the governmental-owned higher learning institutions, that is located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS), Ethiopia.  Sampling technique: Except Awada campus all other campuses were purposefully included in the study and the former was excluded due to its new establishment and insignificant solid waste generation. In the remaining four campuses all possible solid waste sources, sampling sites and measurement points were identified through interviews, questionnaires, visual assessment and field investigations. Several data collection methods were employed: on-site measurement of solid waste, key-informant interview, observation, experience sharing and secondary data collection.

Measurement of solid waste:
The waste composition was determined by segregating the solid waste into its components at the respective sources and measured and quantified. From the seven student cafeteria in Main Campus, four of them were selected for food leftover measurement, representing 63.24% (7,226 students out of 11,426) cafeteria users. For Agriculture Campus, Wondogenet Campus and Health Campus, the food leftover from all student cafeterias (100%) were collected in a bucket (40 L and 80 L capacity each with 0.5 and 2.5 Kg weight respectively) and measured using measuring balance. The waste generation rate and bulk density was determined according to Mbuligwe (2002). The dry matter (TS) and moisture content of food leftover and peels were determined in Chemistry Department of HU according to the standard operation procedure (SOPs) as to the method specified in DIN 38 414 -S2. The organic dry matter (oTS) was measured according to DIN 38 409-H 1-3 as documented in SOPs (VDI, 2006). Other categories of solid wastes generated from offices, workshops and training centres, classrooms and dormitories were measured using hanging balance.
Interview: Semi-structured interview was held with key informants from the campuses (Facility Management and Beautification Directorate Director, Beautification team leader, Student Affairs Directorate Director, Cafeteria Case Team Leaders of respective campuses and some selected Cafeteria workers). The key-informants were purposively selected based on their exposure, position and responsibility in SWM issues. The informants were asked questions about the present management practice of solid waste generation, storage, collection, transportation, reuse, recovery, recycling and disposal.
Observations and experience sharing: The waste generation sources, handling, transport method and disposal sites were observed and photographed during visual inspection and during field investigation period. The observation data was used to supplement the interviews, and to assess the esthetic quality of the study areas, and to get firsthand experience of how solid waste is actually managed. Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU), a sister university in Ethiopia, were visited to share experience on SWM.
Secondary data collection: the data of enrolled students, cafeteria user students and staffs was obtained from the HU registrar office, student service directorate and human resource management directorate office of the University, respectively (Table 1).

Data Analysis:
The data was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative data was filled into an excel data sheet and subjected to simple descriptive statistics. The qualitative data were organized and summarized from the responses obtained from interviews and secondary data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Solid waste major sources and Amount : The major solid waste sources identified in the four campuses in HU were classrooms (mainly paper and sawdust), offices (papers), laboratories, libraries (mainly papers), duplication rooms (papers, and ink packets), dormitories (khat, paper, plastics, peels), staff residence (food leftovers and plastics), hotels, restaurants, lounges and cafeterias (food leftover, peels, plastic bottles), maintenance rooms (wood, metals), hospital and clinics (gloves, syringes, plastics), abattoir, poultry, dairy and ranching centres (dung and fodder remain), workshops and training centres (papers), wood and metal work centres (sawdust, metals, old cars). The composition, quantity and characteristics of wastes generated vary mainly depending on the sources and season.
The results illustrated that large amount of solid waste was generated from HU (about 46,705.7 Kg/week) ( Table 2). The generation rate was calculated to be 0.32 Kg/capita/day for Wondogenet and 0.33 Kg/capita/day for the other three campuses each. The quantified waste included food leftover (77.4%), leafs and grasses (4.1%), papers (9.2%), plastics (0.8%), medicinal wastes (5.1%) and other mixed wastes (3.4%). Food Leftover Management Practice: In the Main Campus food leftover (locally called bule) was sold to an individual who in turn sells to poor-of-the poor in Hawassa city. However, the health risk on leftover users forced the university to damp the waste at the back site of its compound using handcart and daily labourers. The open-damping attracted scavenger birds, flies and other pests to the site and caused offensive smell and became a potential health risk for the community. Later the university started selling the waste to a rancher, who transports the waste using minibuses (Figure 1). Yet the breakfast leftover and most of the cabbage and potato peels were collected occasionally and part of the leftover was damped. Figure 2 and 3, respectively, show vultures and children scavenging on the open-damping site of Main campus. Health Science Campus also follows similar trend of selling food leftover for ranching and the income was used to help poor female students in the campus. In Wondogent and Agriculture Campus the food leftover used by poor of the poor (locally known as tesfegnoch) and the remaining part was damped in the pit. However, the disposal site was poorly managed and caused foul smell and attracted scavengers such as hyenas, birds and other wild animals. Options for organic waste management: Most of the solid waste generated from HU (81.5%) was organic (food leftover and peels of onion, cabbage and potatoes). When looking at food leftover characteristics, breakfast bread had the lowest bulk density (218.8 Kg/m 3 ) and "injera" with lentil sauce had the highest bulk density (668.8 Kg/m 3 ). From peels, potato peel had the largest bulk density and cabbage had low bulk density. The high bulk density of "injera" with lentil and peels was attributed to high moisture content. The percentage of moisture content and volatile organic content of the wastes range from 69.514±0. 8-86.923±4.564 and 85.1947±0.4880-97.1215±0.0191 respectively ( Table 3). The high volatile organic matter indicates the availability of combustible organic matter of the waste during energy conversion. The moisture content is also high and it is an important indicator to estimate leachate, biological processes of organic matter and to design composting facilities (Somboonmark, 2016). This suggests that there is a great potential of recovery of organic waste from the campuses if the waste is segregated at the source. In agreement with this study studies in other university campuses found that most of the waste is the organic and is suitable for compost production and biogas generation (de Vega et al., 2008, Mbuligwe, 2002, Vázquez, 2008. The conversion of waste to renewable energy sources: waste cooking oil-tobiodiesel, waste paper-to-fuel pellets and food wasteto-biogas was suggested to be achieved sustainably at the University of Cincinnati, USA (Zhu, 2014). The dung generated from Wondogenet dairy farm is currently used as organic manure in sugarcane farm, tree plantation and grasses in the surrounding area.
There is no anaerobic biogas digester to convert organic waste into biogas, and the plan was delayed due to financial constraint. The unmanaged portion of food leftover in combination with animal dung can be composted or processed for energy recovery through anaerobic digestion. The HU student cafeterias fire wood consumption for cooking was 19.95m 3 per day in 2014, and the use of electricity and biogas is not known. The conversion of the organic waste into biogas is therefore, a win-win scenario to reduce the environmental pollution and the cost of firewood. According to Zhu (2014) the conversion of organic waste-to-biogas is more efficient in reducing greenhouse gas emissions even as compared to composting. Non-Organic Solid Waste Management: Clinical wastes, papers and other wastes cleaned from dormitories, classes, offices and roads were damped or burned/incinerated. The on-site primary waste storage facilities such as plastic bins, metal bins, baskets and cartons were not sufficient and littering of solid waste on the roads was commonly observed. During the investigation it was observed that most of the paper wastes (examination papers, assignments, quiz and test papers) were locked in staff offices and quantification of used paper per year was difficult. The paper wastes are burned through controlled means.
Yet it was confirmed that paper waste generation rate was increasing with increasing student intake, expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate programs and with the implementation of continuous assessment evaluation approach. In addition, the students were copying lecture notes by themselves and most of the used paper was being burned by waste workers. In Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU), a sister university in Ethiopia, solid wastes were segregated into its constituents and recycled (ASTU Solid Waste Management Case team, 2014). The paper waste was stored in a separate room and sold for recycling to Wonji paper and pulp factory for 1.75 birr/kg. The conversion of waste into resource reduces greenhouse gas emission and generates income for the university. Thus, dealing with paper recycling companies such as Wonji paper and pulp factory, even with lesser price, can be a win-win scenario for sustainable SWM HU.

Solid waste Recycling Practices in HU:
Only limited solid waste was recycled or reused in HU. Wood waste from maintenance office in Agriculture and Wondogenet campus was used by workers or sold to residents in the city. The plastic containers, oil jerry cans and sugar sacs and metallic substances were collected for selling to the recycling market. Margarine cans, oil jerry cans and were stored at university main store for sell to recycling companies. Old and broken trays, cups, spoons were stored in the storehouses. Plastic bottles are collected by waste workers and mostly reused/sold for recycling. The old chairs, tables and other furniture including electronics, computers and metals were given in the form of aid to high schools and junior schools. The damaged beds and chairs were maintained and reused, or counted and reported to ministry of finance and economic development (MOFED). But a single committee established by MOFED was not efficient at follow-up and collection of metal wastes (Campus Beautification directorate director, 2014; ASTU Solid Waste Management Case team, 2014). The poor metals collection efficiency in institutions like HU would strongly reduce the recyclability, even though pure metals are often considered to be 100% recyclable (Kuusiola et al., 2012).

Solid waste workers awareness of SWM:
As demonstrated in the finding, the majority of solid waste workers and university community have no awareness of sustainable SWM strategies. There was no trend of sorting solid wastes into its components and no separate storage for different waste constituents, which is the first and basic process in solid waste management. The solid waste generated from sweeping was left on the field for days to weeks creating bad scenes and smell. The shortage of litter bins and lack of codes of waste handling practice has greatly contributed for poor management of solid waste in the campuses. Also, Mbuligwe (2002) observed shortage of the primary storage bins and problem of emptying the storage bins when they were full in three academic institutions in Tanzania. As a centre of learning and research institutions, HU has a moral responsibility to encourage and support sustainability and sustainable behaviour. After all Universities are believed to have the capacity to increase awareness, knowledge, technology and tools necessary to promote innovative and sustainable SWM practices in their technology villages (showcase areas for sustainability in practice) (Coker et al., 2016;de Vega et al., 2008;Zhang et al., 2011).
Conclusion: This study revealed that HU Campuses generate huge amount of solid waste, but the management practices in the university is mainly reactive to the problems. Since the solid waste generation is likely to continue with expansion of the university more proactive and sustainable institutional SWM practices such as reuse, recycling and conversion of organic wastes to biogas and compost. Further, awareness raising program of solid waste management is needed for the university community.