Waste is generally defined as any material that is no longer needed or no longer useful to the owner. Wastes can be solid, liquid or gaseous, however, our focus is on solid wastes. Japan and the European Union have embarked on a different approach to reduce the materials that require landfilling. They use various conversion technologies such as composting and thermal treatment. What about the rest of the world? Open dumps – controlled or uncontrolled continue to receive solid waste every day. They constitute the most serious threat to global environmental quality. China, south Asia, Africa and South America are regions where open dumps continue to prevail. In Nigeria today, the open dumps are neither even organised nor controlled. People can just dump anything anywhere.
ABUBAKAR, M.B. (2006): Municipal Solid Waste Management: Options for Developing Countries. Kaduna: EEMS Limited