Community initiatives in solid waste

Over recent decades one of the commonest characteristics in developing nations has been the disparity between rapid urban population growth and infrastructure provision. The product of this mismatch, described as ‘urbanisation without health’ 1 is the catalogue of overcrowding, growth in illegal settlements, uncollected household waste, and the absence of water, sanitation and other basic facilities which are typical of many urban centres in Africa, Asia and South America. As a result many millions of the urban poor live in neighbourhoods which are hazardous to health and well-being.