Open dumping and burning of domestic and industrial waste is a common phenomenon in many developing countries. This often takes place at waste disposal sites and can be the result of spontaneous combustion or deliberate attempts to reduce waste volume. As well as the health hazards posed by the vermin and un-supervised scavenging, the open burning of waste leads to toxic releases to both ground water and air. These contribute to lasting damage to the environment and have serious implications for the health of local people and livestock

To tackle waste disposal problems successfully, it is important that authorities concerned have at their disposal a set of appropriate disposal technologies together with guidelines on how and when to use them. This project sets out to establish whether small scale incineration can and should be added to a "tool box" for use by local authorities in developing countries who face a growing problem in their towns and cities.

The project research so far has indicated that low-cost incineration could be significantly less expensive than controlled landfill for smaller communities, whilst offering a substantial level of environmental improvement over the status quo and meeting the practical environmental criteria which are now being established in many African countries

This project is supported by the Department for International Development (DFID) as part of the Knowledge and Research programme.