Waste Management – an effective component of service delivery system

Domestic and industrial solid waste poses a serious challenge municipalities and metropolitan areas, as
waste now competes with humans for land and financial resources to make it safe. Municipality Solid Waste(MSW) generated amounts to 2.7 kg per household per day of which 47 percent is
biodegradable.Waste management, in most towns and cities in Zimbabwe is constrained by a lack of financial and material resources resulting in a failure to properly assist residents in waste storage, failure to collect and transport the waste, resulting in and business resorting to illegal dumping, burning, composting and burying the waste at the generation site.An effective recycling of the bio -gradable components into compost and production of energy is recommended.
Municipal solid waste management constitutes as one of the most crucial service provision challenges
facing African towns and cities. Due to economic meltdown experienced in Zimbabwe during the last two decades, many challenges militated against sound urban solid waste management.These included
the inability of municipalities to supply safe drinking water to residents, inability to dispose of, sewage and the breakdown of infrastructure and service deliver in Municipal Solid Waste Management activities from waste generation, storing, collection, transportation and disposal.
Solid Waste Management now focuses on waste reduction and recycling before disposal. In a broad sense recycling is part of resource efficiency of using products to the fullest potential
“Most municipalities in Zimbabwe are failing to provide recycling program as par of effective solid waste management system Garbage collectors who scavenge recycled materials on council dump sites are not supported by local authorities by even providing these garbage collection agents with safety and health
related supportive gear and essentials Everyone knows recycling means less garbage on our landfills,less pollution, more open spaces and reduced greenhouse emissions”, said Johannes Mugawuri, an environmentalist in Redcliff Town ,a town struggling to control spiralling solid waste which is turning the

town into a garbage can.
Urban councils in Zimbabwe should invest in recycling collection support system which will create jobs .The collection of garbage materials is the first and most crucial step in the chain of economic activity.
Investment in garbage collection infrastructures pays great dividends in supporting significant
downstream recycling economic activities .Importantly, many recycling manufacturers rely on a steady consistent supply of recyclable material.