EXISTING AND FUTURE MSW GENERATION NEXUS POPULATION AND GDP GROWTH, THE CASE OF MEKELE CITY, ETHIOPIA.

Abstract

Municipal Solid Waste(MSW) generation is unavoidable phenomena in any Economic levels and population size. The fast expansion of urbanization, agricultural practices and industrial activities encouraged by quick population growth has produced an enormous amount of solid wastes are pollutes the environment and destroy resources.The data was generated from secondary data sources of various institutions. The range and the composition of MSW generation are highly variable and heterogynous with the contemporary way of life experience of both in low, middle and high income inhabitants. The result showed that the current scenario of MSW generation rate is small but it is tremendously in an increasing fashion parallel with population and GDP growth of Mekele City. Thus, it is important and advisable to underway well comprehensive kinds of research works in the City to identify and predict the prospect MSW generation trends together with its integrated management options.Solid wastes are the materials which arise from various human and animal activities and discarded as useless or unwanted (Rana, 2007). Solid waste generation is an inevitable consequence of production and consumption activities in any economy (Eugenia et al., 2002). (UNEP, 2005) also reported that fast expansion of urban, agricultural and industrial activities spurred by rapid population growth has produced a huge amount of solid waste that pollutes the environment and destroy resources. Globally the per capita amounts of municipal solid waste generated on a daily basis vary significantly (WRI, 1996). Globalization can promote economic growth, a desirable outcome. However, this economic growth in addition to population increase and urbanization will seriously strain municipal resources to deal with booming amounts of wastes (Medina, 2002). Solid waste generation depends on the economy of the people and level of income of the family or individual. Previous studies have shown that for every Indian, an increase in income by Rs. 1000 results in an increase of solid waste generation by one kilogram per month. It is a common observation that with an increase of economic growth the waste generation grows in an equal manner. Economic growth and waste generation have not been decoupled in both developing and industrialized world (Visvanathan & Trankler, 2006). Medina (2002) also reported that a positive correlation tends to exist between a community's income and the amount of solid waste generated. Wealthier individuals consume more than lower-income ones, which result in a higher waste generation rate for the former. Income and household size are the most significant factors affecting the quantity of solid wastes from household consumption (Richardson & Havlicek,