Atlas of MSW landfills and dumpsites in developing countries

This paper presents the results of a six-year experience in collecting data on landfills and dumpsites in developing countries. Information such as the position of a landfill, its size and the way it is managed are gathered in a database. The characterisation of wastes is also performed. Finally the actions taken or to be taken on each site are summarized. The purpose of such a project is to keep in memory all the information available about the main landfills and dumpsites in developing countries. This allows the identification and the management of their negative impacts on the environment. Furthermore, this tool will be of first help to set up proper rehabilitation projects. At present time, information about 85 landfills from 13 countries has been collected. The main partners of this project are Tunisia, Haiti, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cuba. Besides those factual partnerships, new collaboration projects are being discussed with other countries such as Guinea. This work has already received the positive support of people involved in waste management in West Africa.
The Atlas of MSW landfills and dumpsites in developing countries is published on the Internet (http://www.ulg.ac.be/cwbi/index.htm). Thanks to the support of the IEPF (Institut de l'Energie et de l'Environnement de la Francophonie / Institute for Energy and Environment in French talking Countries; IEPF is a member of AIF), it will be entirely updated and diffused on a broad range. This includes development of a new relational database and Internet site and the edition of a paper version of the Atlas.