Landfilling Solid Waste Should Have a Closing Date!

On September 23, 2024, I represented civil society as a panelist (alongside other stakeholders) at a half day stakeholder’s dialogue on waste management in Uganda organized by Public Services International. This meeting was graced by Members of Parliament, Kampala City Council Authority, Kampala division mayors, Mayors from the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (Entebbe, Nansana, and Mukono), market vendors, union leaders and CSOs.

Local government leaders in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area called for innovative waste recycling solutions to address the Kampala city's escalating waste management crisis following the collapse of the Kiteezi landfill. Rejecting the idea of acquiring a new dump site, they emphasized the need for private investment in recycling and urged the central government to establish a national recycling plant.

Based on my own experiences and lessons learnt from elsewhere, I urged leaders to have a deadline for landfills in Uganda. I urged that embracing prevention, reuse and recycling first, followed by recovery and disposal should guide Uganda’s future waste management strategy, given the fast growing population, competing land uses and the global environmental commitments.

Landfill should be the least desirable option due to the high environmental impacts i.e. potential groundwater pollution, methane emissions, and aftercare periods of hundreds of years.

In 2020, Parliament of Uganda voted for the creation of 15 new cities in the country over four years. These are Jinja, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Masaka, Mbale, Arua, Gulu, Hoima, Lira, Soroti, Entebbe, Moroto, Nakasongola, Kabale and Wakiso. But many of these newer cities need to be thoughtful of the need to move away from landfilling waste, given what the current ones like Kampala, Jinja and Mbale are facing today.