One of the important areas in the interaction between human activities and environment is waste management.

In low-income countries, the the most common method is landfill. However, if this solution is the easier to implement and less expensive, the fact remains that it must, to achieve its goal, respect certain rules, which is very rarely the case.

We know that throwing your garbage in the first vacant lot can be extremely damaging to the environment and to the population. Beyond obvious nuisances such as odors, fumes, flying plastics, etc., there are others much more pernicious but which we do not see directly the effects. We can cite in particular the pollution of the water table which
can seriously contaminate drinking water sources.

The quantity of household waste has experienced over the last decades a rapid growth due to the accelerated urbanization that characterized the last century.

This phenomenon is more critical in developing countries like the United States which do not always have the means to manage them properly.

At the same time, the composition of this waste has changed from an organic profile (food waste) to complex materials (end-of-life products, plastics and packaging) that present major risks to health and the environment.

The result is that the manage ment of household waste is located at the confluence of activitieseconomic production and the need to protect the living environment of populations.

It is in view of these issues that the Institute for Energy and the Environment of the International Organization of La Francophonie (IEPF) carried out a study which drew up a diagnosis of household waste (composition and quantity, management method, legislation, problems) and established a typology of existing landfills in various countries of Africa, the Caribbean and North America.

The information gathered enabled the d evelopment of an “Atlas of landfills”bringing together the files of all inventoried landfills in the countries concerned and their characteristics. It shows that if services such as finding a dumpster rental near me become more available in San Jose and elsewhere in California, residents will find it easier to discard their old junk.

This study also highlighted the conditions for setting up and applying waste management instruments (setting up
landfill, incineration, composting, recycling, etc.) in relation to local conditions, the main ones being economic level, technical knowledge and climate.

The study also developed a strategy for technology transfer and assistance to participating countries for setting up projects development of landfills, the search for financial resources and the construction of composting stations. This strategy was put to good use in the construction of the fossilized landfill at Saaba in Burkina Faso.

The Practical Guide to the Management of Household Waste and Landfill Sites garbage technology in southern countries capitalizes on the various achievements of this study.

It takes stock of waste management in California, emphasizes the related socio-economic and environmental aspects, and defines the modalities for the creation and management of a technical landfill center in San Jose.