Quantification and Characterization of Hotel Solid Waste in Calabar
Chapter One
AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to quantify and characterize solid wastes from hotels/food activities in the South-South using Calabar Municipality of Cross River as the area of study.
The specific objectives of the study are;
- Determination of the average rate of solid waste generation for all the registered Hotels in Calabar.
- Carrying out baseline investigation and assessment of the current situation of storage and treatment methods, recycling and re-use practices in Calabar;
- Characterization by evaluating the moisture content, bulk density, heavy metal content and compostability of organic/food waste;
- Designing modern solid waste management facilities; and
- Make recommendations based on research finding.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
HOTEL INDUSTRY
Hotel industry is any form of businesses relating to the provision of accommodation, lodges, food and drinks and various types of other services that are interconnected and are intended for the public service. A hotel is a commercial establishment providing lodging, meals, and other services to guest. In general, a hotel, is an establishment that must have a minimum of six letting bedrooms, at least three of which must have attached (en suite) private bathroom facilities. From some literatures, it was adduced that although hotels are classified into ‘Star’ categories (1-Star to 5-Star), there are no standard method of assigning these ratings, but compliance with customary requirements are voluntary.
According to the excerpt of the catalogue of criteria, hotels are categorised as shown in Table 2.1 .
HOTELS AND SOLID WASTES
Hotel solid wastes comprise of garbage and rubbish which are either biodegradable or non biodegradable remnants (such as bottles, cans, clothing, compost, disposables, food packaging, food scraps, newspapers, magazines, and yard trimmings) that originate from hotels. According to Havera (2007), hotels and large-scale resorts being diverse business operations, continue operations for 24 hours non-stop and provide immediacy of world-class services. As one of the fastest industry contributing to the economy through increasing international tourists arrivals and revenues, creating employments, and generating foreign exchange inflow, and contribute in generating large quantities of solid waste that increase pollution to the environment. Whether a hotel is located in a busy city centre or a remote and pristine beach resort, there are a number of environmental and social issues to contend with, least of them being how to deal with the solid wastes generated by daily operations. Generally speaking, solid waste has to be paid twice for in the form of packaging and second by disposal. It makes business sense to be created in the first place. Apart from the cost of waste disposal, there are other problem for the hotels. In most hotel buildings, much space is usually allocated to front-of-house areas such as the reception, lobby, restaurant and banqueting facilities. This leaves minimal space for back of-house for solid waste to be stored and sorted. There are also other factors to take into consideration such as health, safety and noise created by solid waste compaction and collection.
Much of the waste generated in hotels stems from either food and beverage handling –generating materials such as packaging and food wastes, aluminium cans, glass bottles, corks and cooking oils, or from the housekeeping department-creating waste such as cleaning materials and packaging. Waste is not only generated in guest room but also in public areas, hotel gardens-anything from engine oils, pesticides, paints and preservatives grass and hedge trimmings and office-toner cartridges, paper and cardboard wastes or shreds .Regular refurbishment old carpets, towels and linens and much more into the equation.
SIMILAR REVIEWS ON HOTEL’S SOLID WASTES.
Tang (2004) studied hotel’s solid waste management in Bali, Indonesia. He observed that each hotel room in Bali generated an estimated 9.2kg of waste per day. He further stated that the per capita solid wastes generation rates were 0.65-0.83 kg/day in large cities, 0.55-0.63 kg/day in medium cities and 0.47-0.5 kg/day in small towns. Therefore, the amount of solid wastes generated per hotel room was over ten times the amount of solid wastes generated per day per capita. Nworuh et al. (2001) did a similar study on solid wastes management practices in some selected hotels in Owerri, Nigeria. It was reported that the 18 randomly sampled hotels practiced waste segregation before disposal and that 13.8% of them had solid waste reduction programme compared to 69% who had none in place. They observed that their solid waste handling process involves open dumping, open burning and disposal by municipal waste collector with high hazards health risks involved. Moqsud et al., (2006) evaluated solid waste management practices in Japan and found that 20.3% of the total solid wastes generated in Japan were disposed through landfill, including ash from incineration. They also stated that approximately 75% of the gross amount of municipal solid wastes that Japan generated annually was incinerated providing an estimated 2.5 million Kilowatts of electricity generated and that the “waste management hierarchy” (minimization, recovery, transformation and disposal) has been adopted by Japan in recent timesc could serve as menu for developing solid waste management strategies. Lester et. al. (1999) mentioned that the municipal solid waste recycling issue and reported that municipal solid waste (MSW) recycling targets have been set nationally and in many states, but unfortunately, the definitions of recycling, rates, and the appropriate components of MSW varied. They found that MSW recycling was costly for most municipalities compared to landfill disposal. From the study, it was concluded that MSW recycling policy should be determined by its cost to the community and to society more generally.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research design involved the use of surveys and oral interviews with the Officers in charge of the hotels/restaurants solid waste management department or section in each of the sites visited.
Simple objective questionnaires were administered in each of the hotels/restaurants based on the guidelines for the safe management of solid wastes from accommodation facilities.
The questionnaires contained information on waste generation and the main aspect of segregation, collection, storage, transportation, treatment and final disposal of hotel/restaurant wastes.
The information gathered was used to analyze profile of the management program adopted and statistical analysis including the rate of waste generation in kg/rm/hotel/day in each evaluated hotel/restaurant. In all researches, the nature of the data governs the method and tools of research that may be appropriate for the research design and to ensure validity of recommendations, (Cagno et al., 1999).
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
RATE OF SOLID WASTE GENERATION
The problem of solid waste generation and management in most cities, especially in developing countries has become one of the intractable environmental problems facing urban centres. The rate of waste generation is 70% compared to the rate of proper disposal and management of 30% Afangideh et al. (2012) observed that the ratio of waste generation to the rate of proper disposal and management is 70% : 30%. A cross sectional descriptive study of quantification and characterization was carried out in December 2014 and the months of August and September, 2015, taking into consideration the peak periods of businesses for hoteliers in Calabar and the climatic condition respectively.
From Table 4.1, the mean rate of solid waste generation was estimated at 0.262kg/ occupant/day, with a standard deviation of 0.204, and a variance of 0.041.
This value is roughly within the range of solid waste generation for low income countries suggested by Guangu, (2008).
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
Municipal solid waste composition and generation rates are heavily influenced by solid waste sample, source and family size respectively (Nnaji, 2014).
Today, the attitude of urban dwellers to waste generation and disposal has caused great damage to the human ecosystem and the poor attitude to waste generation and disposal has a great negative effect on human health. This study revealed that Calabar has a dysfunctional solid waste management system. From the nature and composition of waste in Calabar, composting, biogasification, incineration and proper recycling is to be put in place immediately. Calabar is in a bad state, in terms of solid waste management, disposal and reuse practices apart from those done by scavengers from informal sectors.
However, this study revealed that the workers in the hospitality industries that were sampled, both the least educated and highly educated seemed to have a fair knowledge and understanding of the risk associated with poor solid waste management, which conradicts the findings of Afangideh et al. (2012) who stated that the residents in Calabar municipality are not conscious of the implications of poor waste management which have resulted to the poor nature of the environment in the area. However, learning is a continuous process in life just as solid waste management is also a continuous issue to tackle, which should be further encouraged by the government and other local waste management authorities.
- Increased technological advancement in waste management such as the use of solid waste to generate biogas for power supply that is already being practiced at Ikosi market in Lagos should be adopted. The wastes generates biogas from the market which was used to operate a 2KVA generator at the market. This can substantially contribute to energy conservation and development.
- Proper and advanced shredding and incineration methods should be practiced, because it can reduce the volume of wastes by an average of 90% without producing offensive odour, gases and dangerous ashes. This has both ecological and economic advantages because there is less demand for final disposal to landfill, as well as reduced cost and environmental problems due to transport.
- There should be adequate and proper town planning for effective solid waste management for example, there is need to provide good access roads, which should be properly linked to one another, other needs are street lights and good drainage systems. All these will ease the effective evacuation of waste from all the nooks and crannies of the state.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings, the following recommendations have been proffered;
- The Calabar LEMNA landfill site should be closed down and relocated to the outskirts of the town to avoid further damage to the environment.
- More funds should be made available to assists in expanding beyond the usual scope, and also be given a yearly upward review in the state budget and early release. . The state Government should improve on the existing trend and laws already stipulated on Calabar waste management.
- There should be a comprehensive environmental legislation that relates to environmental sanitation offences whereby cases will be tried in industrial courts and punishments given accordingly.
- Government should be committed to sponsoring more research into the reduction of solid waste at source, collection and efficient disposal.
- Primary, secondary and tertiary schools curricular in Calabar should inculcate detailed topics on solid waste management in order to create early awareness.
TRAINING OF STAFF AND MAKING THEM PART OF THE PLAN.
Hotels can make another impact on reducing food waste by meeting with vendors and telling them about their commitment to the cause. Special ingredients could be substituted for alternatives to keep food costs and waste to a minimum. Encourage restaurants, malls, community centre and supermarkets to start and develop composting programs. Training should be given to all current employees so that they can be an integral part of waste management plan and make food waste reduction a part of their job description.
SEGREGATION
Waste streaming is a highly effective way of reducing waste.
– Kitchen and bar area: bins colour coded for easy training and clear segregation;
– Accommodation staff: trolleys with two separate bags for segregated collection;
– Guest accommodation bins: bathroom bin signposted as contaminated waste bin and bedroom bin clearly marked with the recycle sign for paper and plastic recyclables;
– Guest books should also have information on the hotels Reduction, Recycling and Minimisation policies; and
– Clear plastic bags to be used for easy identification of waste type
All new staff should be fully briefed on the benefits of segregation, the use of these bins and also be aware of the Hotel’s environmental policies.
To assist with segregation of wastes, the following guidelines may be useful:- Colour code for different types of waste e.g.
GREEN =paper/Cardboard
BLUE = Plastics
BROWN = Food waste for composting
BLACK = General mixed waste-
Collect in clear plastic bags to ensure that the wastes are segregated correctly- Use photographs as well as text to help employees who may have difficulty reading in English.
REFERENCES
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