ABSTRACT

In Uganda, the municipal solid wastes are generally a menace to the environment, ranging from indiscriminate dumping, open burning, and landfills, which would be utilized to augment agricultural fields through organic manure. The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) of Uganda, however from 2009 to 2012 initiated and implemented a Clean Development Mechanism project. This project was established and conducted in nine urban centers with the key objective of reducing methane and other environmental nuisances while generating compost manure. The in-coming fresh municipal wastes at composting facilities were sorted into six categories; i) wood and wood products, ii) food and food wastes, iii) textiles, iv) garden, yard and park wastes, v) paper and pulp, and vi) glass, plastics, and metals. These were laboratory analyzed based on standard procedures, characterized and investigated for the pH, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) (g kg⁻¹). Statistical analyses were performed based on One-Way ANOVA, implemented in the SPSS program. The results indicate that the municipal fresh solid wastes were mainly dominated by biodegradable organic matter; garden, yard, and park wastes (49%), food and food wastes (43.2%), and the other wastes falling below 5.4%. Overall, the pH was 7.7 ± 0.02, TOC 318.2 ± 2.90, TN 12.1 ± 0.10, C/N 26.7 ± 0.20, P 4.4 ± 0.04, K 35.0 ± 0.49, Ca 38.9 ± 0.51, and Mg 5.8 ± 0.09. The concentration of the fresh wastes and macro-nutrients varied per municipality and were congruent with the economic activities and population lifestyles. We detected the effect of season/month on the concentration of wastes which corresponded with the various agronomical activities. The results from this study suggest that the notion of composting is potentially a viable organic waste management strategy in the country which can ultimately generate sufficient organic manure for agricultural input and thus enhanced carbon sequestration.

Implications: In this study, we characterized the in-coming fresh municipal solid wastes and investigated the pH, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg) (g kg⁻¹). We found that the municipal fresh solid wastes were mainly dominated by biodegradable organic matter (>90%). The results from this study suggest the notion of composting to be potentially a viable organic waste management strategy in Uganda which can ultimately generate sufficient organic manure for agricultural input. This is typically vital for enhancing carbon sequestration towards minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

摘要

在乌干达，城市固体废物通常对环境构成威胁，包括不分青红皂白的倾倒、露天焚烧和垃圾填埋场，这些垃圾将通过有机肥料用于扩大农田。然而，乌干达国家环境管理局 (NEMA) 于 2009 年至 2012 年发起并实施了清洁发展机制项目。该项目在九个城市中心建立并实施，主要目标是在产生堆肥的同时减少甲烷和其他环境滋扰。堆肥设施来的新鲜城市垃圾分为六类；i) 木材和木制品，ii) 食物和食物垃圾，iii) 纺织品，iv) 花园、庭院和公园垃圾，v) 纸和纸浆，以及 vi) 玻璃、塑料和金属。⁻¹）。统计分析基于单向方差分析，在 SPSS 程序中实施。结果表明，城市新鲜固体废物以可生物降解有机物为主；花园、庭院和公园垃圾 (49%)、食物和食物垃圾 (43.2%)，以及低于 5.4% 的其他垃圾。总体而言，pH 值为 7.7 ± 0.02，TOC 318.2 ± 2.90，TN 12.1 ± 0.10，C/N 26.7 ± 0.20，P 4.4 ± 0.04，K 35.0 ± 0.49，Ca 38.9，± 0.51 ± 0.51 新鲜废物和大量营养素的浓度因城市而异，并与经济活动和人口生活方式相一致。我们检测了季节/月份对与各种农艺活动相对应的废物浓度的影响。

启示: 在本研究中，我们对进来的新鲜城市固体废物进行了表征，并调查了 pH、总有机碳 (TOC)、总氮 (TN)、磷 (P)、钾 (K)、钙 (Ca) 和镁 (Mg) (g kg ^-1 )。我们发现城市新鲜固体废物主要以可生物降解的有机物为主（>90%）。这项研究的结果表明，堆肥的概念可能是乌干达可行的有机废物管理策略，最终可以产生足够的有机肥料用于农业投入。这对于加强碳封存以最大程度地减少温室气体排放至关重要。