Waste Generation and Management in Lesotho and Waste to Clay Brick Recycling: A Review

Waste management remains a matter of concern even in the most industrialized countries. The symbiotic relationship between industrialization and population growth on one hand and waste generation on the other hand, is undeniable. In developing counties the scourge of waste management has reached endemic levels; and only innovative and economic ways of waste management can serve as a sustainable solution. Municipalities and local authorities in developing countries spent in the order of 30% of their budgets on waste management, yet their efforts yield no salient fruits as random dumping, burning and illegal land filling remain dominant. The accompanying health and environmental hazards can never be over-emphasized. Research works, past and present, continue to reveal the possibility of turning waste into valuable raw material inputs to suitably identified products and processes. This paper focuses on reviewing the waste management situation in Lesotho, using Maseru city as base line, and results of research works on incorporation of waste materials in clay brick manufacture. Clay brick making is a key industry in Lesotho accompanying environmental issues notwithstanding. Suffice to say, a deliberate attempt has been made to streamline the attention towards those waste materials known to be available or generate in Lesotho in significantly large quantities.