International Journal of Waste Resources
Amberber and Addis, Int J Waste Resour 2017, 7:3 DOI: 10.4172/2252-5211.1000290
ISSN: 2252-5211
Research Article Research Article
Open Access OMICS International
Paper Burning and Associated Pollution Problems in Higher Educational Institutions of Ethiopia; The Need and Potential for Recycling Mekonnen Amberber* and Yitayal Addis Department of Environmental Science, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Kotebe Metropolitan University, Ethiopia
Abstract Higher educational institutions use large amount of paper for students’ assessment each year. As recycling is one of the best options for efficient material utilization and waste management, the potential in higher education institutions was assessed taking Kotebe Metropolitan University (KMU) and Ethiopian Civil Service University (ECSU) as sampling site. The aim was to evaluate the human health and environmental consequences of storing and burning assessment paper there by turning the cause of the damage to sustainable utilization through proposing recycling. Accordingly, the potential criteria air pollutant emissions while burning assessment papers, heavy metal concentrations in the ash of the burned paper and macro-nutrients were determined using Aero-Qual series 300 in open burning at KMU, and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer at JIJE Analytical Testing Service Laboratory, respectively. It was found that the average emissions for CO (119.67 ppm), CO 2 (1700 ppm), SO 2 (038 ppm), VOCs (3749 ppm) and NOx (0.10 ppm) were recorded. The concentration of CO, SO 2 and NOx were significantly higher than the guidelines recommended by WHO and other international organizations. The paired sample t-test between white paper and the printed one showed significant difference (p<0.05) on the parameters CO 2 and NOx. Similarly, the heavy metal analysis result indicated that Cd (0.47 mg/kg), and Pb (0.48 mg/l) were detected from the ash of printed paper. Moreover, the average pH and macro-nutrients (NPK values) of the printed paper were 9.07, 0.83%, 40.88 ppm and 83.68 ppm respectively. About 35, 000 ream of paper is burnt in each of the institutions per year, and 69% of the respondents (instructors) were volunteered and were ready, to provide assessment paper for recycling which shows that there exist considerable potential for paper recycling in HEIs. Therefore, the researchers need to recommend that paper recycling should be taken as an integrated system of the activities in HEIs.
Keywords: Attitude; Paper recycling; Heavy metals; Air pollutants; Higher learning institutions Introduction Solid waste management is one of the basic essential services provided by municipal authorities to keep urban centers tidy. “The adverse impacts of waste management are best addressed by establishing integrated programs where all types of waste and all facets of the waste management process are considered together. The long-term goal should be to develop an integrated waste management system and build the technical, financial, and administrative capacity to manage and sustain it” [1]. Waste reduction is a fundamental tenet of sustainability, and recycling is an integral part of any solid waste management plan. It’s one of the four Rs we are all familiar with: reduce, reuse and recycle, practiced in that order of importance [2]. Paper and cardboard are reported as the second largest component of domestic waste next to organic waste which contributes about 13% of the total domestic solid waste [2]. Similarly, waste composition data in different Universities show that paper alone constitutes more than 11% [3,4] which is still the second in volume compared to other solid waste components. Developed countries have already started recycling papers efficiently. For example, the Sydney plant ark environmental foundation [5] reported that manufacturing paper and cardboard products from recycled material not only conserve trees, it also uses consumed up to 50% less energy and 90% less water than making them from raw materials. This report also stated that for every 100 reams of recycled office paper that is printed doubled sided, the savings are estimated at two trees, more than one tone of greenhouse gases and almost a cubic meter of landfill space, compared with using 100 reams of non-recycled
*Corresponding author: Amberber M, Department of Environmental Science, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Kotebe Metropolitan University, Ethiopia, Tel: +251-913714680; E-mail: gmekonnena@gmail.com Received July 12, 2017; Accepted July 20, 2017 ; Published July 27, 2017 Citation: Amberber M, Addis Y (2017) Paper Burning and Associated Pollution Problems in Higher Educational Institutions of Ethiopia; The Need and Potential for Recycling. Int J Waste Resour 7: 290. doi: 10.4172/2252-5211.1000290 Copyright: © 2017 Amberber M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. paper or printing single-sided. Moreover, recycling practices in USA shows that recycling rate for office type paper is 74.2% in 2009 [1]. On the contrary, paper recycling practices are low in developing countries; rather they utilize recycled products imported from developed countries [6]. In addition, the waste collection method is reported as informal and in unorganized manner [7]. In the case of Ethiopia, there are no well-established waste paper recycling system, strategies and studies. Higher educational institutions (HEIs) purchase considerable amount of paper each year which could require significant amount of budgeting. Assessment paper takes the largest share for the utilization of the paper that is openly burned after utilization which is not environmentally benign activity. Moreover, there could be ecological, social and economical advantage both for the recycling company, as it utilizes waste to establish a sustainable business and to generate income, and higher education institutions if the paper gets recycled and purchased back with a minimum cost. Lack of such scientific knowledge and technology may let
Int J Waste Resour, an open access journal ISSN: 2252-5211
Volume 7 • Issue 3 • 1000290
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