ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the efforts to promote knowledge of the various garbage handling systems, and sanitation technologies in use in Africa. Knowledge of these technologies constitutes a logical starting point for any meaningful attempt to adopt sustainable strategies for garbage and excreta management. The need to entertain questions of sustainability is heightened in the case of African countries for many obvious reasons. In South Africa there are by-laws specifically dealing with littering. Although dumping has almost been completely abandoned in the US, it continues to be the strategy of choice in Africa. Sanitary landfills constitute a vast improvement over open dumps. Solid waste incineration is rooted in indigenous African ethos. Resource recovery is yet another technologically complex waste disposal strategy. To meaningfully compare sanitation technologies especially in terms of their effectiveness, it is necessary to begin by clarifying the concept of sanitation.
