Development of a pragmatic methodology for the environmental assessment of uncontrolled dumpsites in developing countries

The management of solid waste is a major determinant for sustainable development due to the social, economic, and environmental implications that the sector can have on public health and the environment. Generally, the practice of solid waste disposal by means of landfilling in developing countries is below par resulting in numerous open dumps/uncontrolled landfills that lack the necessary remedial and control measures. Several models and approaches have been applied for the environmental assessment of uncontrolled landfills that depend on complex physical models and probabilistic concepts that are normally difficult to use, involve large amount of data and thus are time consuming and costly. This research aimed to formulate a pragmatic methodology that can be utilized in low- and middle-income countries where comprehensive environmental assessment studies are scarce. The proposed methodological framework can guide decision makers in prioritizing sites for remediation according to their potential for contamination of surface and groundwater as well as air. A pilot basin and dumpsite were selected to test the methodology. Application of the methodology provided plausible results on the significance of the impacts on water resources and air quality and provided a systematic approach to guide the decision-making process on the need to rehabilitate the dumpsite.