A Cleaner Brewerville: Advancing Waste Management through Community Engagement

Brewerville, Liberia, has suffered from poor waste management for decades, which has led to serious environmental and public health problems. Lack of appropriate disposal areas, inadequate waste collection services, and overall ignorance all contribute to this issue. Unfortunately, waste often ends up in rivers, roadsides, or even being buried in residential compounds. All these activities lead to water and air pollution, increase disease spread, and harbor insects and rodents. Insufficient waste budget in the city has added to such issues, making it hard for the city government to implement effective measures.

As the population increases, so does the amount of waste generated, and more pressure is put on Brewerville’s already fragile infrastructure to address the increasing waste problem. Unless addressed, these issues will worsen, threatening the environment and public health even more. 

Recognizing these issues, the University of Liberia and the Brewerville City Corporation joined forces under the EPIC-Africa program to develop a community-focused waste management plan. The initiative aimed to raise public awareness, determine sites for waste disposal, and raise local capacity to manage waste. Through Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, compost training, and policy change, the initiative sought to provide residents and municipal workers with the tools needed to construct a cleaner, healthier urban environment.

Through intensive community outreach, the project identified key gaps in existing waste management processes and endeavored to address them through targeted education and hands-on training. Awareness sessions gathered 129 members across nine communities, educating them on the environmental and health effects of improper waste disposal and on the importance of sustainable waste management. The use of geospatial mapping technologies such as SNOOCODE and GEO Tag allowed scholars to capture the disposal practices for waste, confirming that whereas 40% of the population had used a place provided by a city, 17% was disposing waste in aquatic systems. This information provided critical insight on existing waste management loopholes and informed recommendations toward more eco-friendly urban sanitation.

Compost preparation training was the other main component of the project, and twenty-five participants that included community dwellers, municipality workers, and university researchers attended hands-on training in sustainable waste management. There was a strong focus on recycling organic waste with the training giving participants practical knowledge that they were able to apply within their local communities. The project was supplemented by a rigorous review of the city ordinance policy document of Brewerville, the result of which was that they needed stricter legislation to complement waste management programs.

Through collaboration, the partners were able to implement an effective three-stranded approach, targeting community awareness, waste dumping site mapping, and capacity building. This enabled the closure of the gap between policy and practice, which gave power to the Brewerville residents to take a central role in improving their environment. The project also brought out the importance of inter-sector cooperation in tackling urban sanitation problems and demonstrated how city agencies, academia, and neighborhood communities can work together on initiatives like this one. 

The project achieved real and measurable outcomes that have laid the foundation for long-term development in the waste management system in Brewerville. The campaign of awareness among the population helped bring a considerable attitude shift towards waste disposal, as the populace displayed an increased awareness of its health and environmental effect. The exercise of mapping produced invaluable information for the city planners, allowing them to make accurate decisions on future waste disposal infrastructure. Also, the compost capacity-building initiative was met with widespread enthusiasm, with over 90 percent of the participants expressing satisfaction and a willingness to implement what they have acquired in their own communities.

Most importantly, perhaps, the policy recommendations developed through this initiative have been presented to local governments, an important step on the way to regulatory reform. The review of Brewerville’s city ordinance identified gaps in existing waste management law, and debate ensued on the need for stronger enforcement measures and further municipal investment in waste collection and disposal facilities. While budget constraints and absence of waste collection infrastructure remain issues, the project has provided a clear action plan for the future.

Building upon such successes, the alliance also plans to increase its operations by more aggressive strengthening of municipal refuse disposal policy, encouraging public awareness programs, and shaping budgetary allocations towards provision of waste dumping grounds. Naturally conceived development projects are available to render methodically identified locations of refuse disposal that will actually bring an end to the open dumps and enable individuals to experience appropriate sanitation and cleanliness levels in garbage dumps. Compost training schemes will be expanded to encompass additional neighborhoods in order that greater numbers of people may use organic waste recycling procedures.