SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY IN CHAMCHAMAL (DWBRA VALLEY OPEN DUMP), SULAIMANI, KURDISTAN REGION

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Geoscience Session
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY IN CHAM-
CHAMAL (DWBRA VALLEY OPEN DUMP), SULAIMANI,
KURDISTAN REGION
Chrakhan R. Rashid1, (Jamila J. Tahir2, Omed M. Mustafa3)
1,2,3General Science Department, College of Education and Natural Sciences, Charmo University, Chamchamal/Sulaim-
ani-Kurdistan Region-Iraq
1(chrakhan.rahim@charmouniversity.org)
2 (jamila.tahir@charmouniversity.org)
3 (omed.mustafa@charmouniversity.org)
ABSTRACT.Waste is any undesired materials around. Municipal solid waste is a category of
waste that has an enormous volume. Therefore, some techniques are needed to deal with this
huge amount. There are particular methods to manage the unwanted wastes. Dumping (open
dump), landll, incineration, recycling, and compaction are the most well-known ones world-
wide. In case of mismanagement of solid waste, many risks can be possible. Environmentally,
water, air and soils are likely to be deteriorated. Then, human and animal health could also be
harmed by the trash, despite of spreading and increasing the number of some animals such as
birds, rats and insects in the area. Finally, visual pollutions are of the major risks in the region.
Dwbra Valley open dump in Chamchamal town represents the case study was taken to show
the city garbage concerns and how to manage it. Here, the compaction and open dumping
methods are used to manage the waste of Chamchamal town. The open dump has many risks
to the environment, health, and despite the fact that visually, aected the region. A recycling
technique is very close to be established for the dump to minimize its risk. This study outlines
this waste dump as a point source of pollution and emphasizes the solution for the endangered
area and its surround area.
KEYWORDS: Solid waste management, Chamchamal, Dwbra Valley, Pollution, open
dump, point source.
1 INTRODUCTION
Generally, waste is dened as any unwanted materials around us. Municipal solid waste
(MSW) is an essential type of waste. Household wastes, demolition and construction debris
and any waste from debris can be classied as MSW [1]. During periods of times, types and
quantities of MSW have been changed. The majority of them contain food waste, glass, wood,
plastics and yard waste.
Solid wastes can be managed in a way that deteriorates the identied risks collected to
any waste. Firstly, the waste can be stored in public bins, and then collected by the govern-
ment through house-to-house collection. Finally, the waste is usually disposed of.
2 TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE:
To dispose of the wastes there are some techniques and the most common methods are:
2.1 Dumping (Open Dump):
Open dumpsite approach is a primitive stage of solid waste management. It is one of the
most poor, unscientic, outdated and inecient approach for waste management [2]. Around
60-90% of municipal solid wastes in developing parts of the world are discharged into the

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open dumps. Open-dumps of non-degradable component poses serious environmental and
health hazards [3]. Environmental pollution of waste dumping aects health through both
acute and chronic eects. Examples of acute eects are congenital anomalies, asthma and
respiratory Infection. Chronic eects of waste exposure include chronic respiratory and car-
diovascular diseases, cancer and even brain, nerves, liver and lymphohematopoietic diseases
[4]. Despite these problems, dumping wastes also decreases land area and leads to land scar-
city in the future.
2.2 Landll
Landlling is a process of throwing away wastes into an engineering designed area. The
waste spreads in the area, which covered by soil materials after compaction process. Apart
from that, liners are designed below the waste to protect the lands beneath the landll. Be-
cause of an anaerobic decomposition of the organic materials, methane gas generates [5].
2.3 Incineration
It is a process of combustion of solid waste at a high temperature. This process is con-
trolled. The remaining materials are known as non-combustible material. A crucial feature of
this process is reducing the volume of waste by 80– 90% [5].
2.4 Recycling
Recycling is the process of transformation of waste materials for new products or raw
materials. Used paper is an example of recyclable materials which is recycled into les, enve-
lopes and cards. From recycling, we can reuse and recover valuable materials, which can help
the economy. Furthermore, Recycling could provide jobs covering a wide range of dierent
expertise levels and forms including; engineer, machine operator, driver, etc. [6].
2.5 Waste reusing
Reuse includes secondary and subsequent uses of waste materials. Reuse of waste is illus-
trated by trade in second-hand goods: automobiles, electronics, Furniture, clothes and other
products. Reuse’ is achieved through processes of sorting, checking, cleaning, repairing waste
items as wholly or partially. In most of developing countries, there are shops for reusable
materials (SRMs). They use to sell and buy the valuable parts of solid waste materials for the
further use [7].
2.6 Compaction
is a process of compressing and compacting of the mass of the waste. During the process
the large materials are being broken into smaller parts to minimize its volume [5].
3 LOCATION, POPULATION AND CLIMATE
Dwbra Valley open dump is located in the Kurdistan region (northeast of Iraq), mainly
in Sulaimani Governorate (Fig. 1). The area is situated within UTM coordinates 475300 –
492900 East and 3921500 - 3941900 North, about 45 km to the northeast of Kirkuk City, and
65 km to the northwest of Sulaimani City.

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Figure 1.Location map of study area (after 9)
Present study concerned on waste management in Chamchamal city, which is one of
the Sulaimaniah governorate cities. It is one of the medium size cities and is located within
the undulating area of Iraq, which is characterized by its natural characteristics. The city is
located in the wavy area, which connects two dierent regions in terms of their geographical
characteristics: the west and the south-west (Kirkuk governorate) and the mountainous region
in the north and northeast (Sulaymaniyah governorate).
The population in Chamchamal is more than 71 thousand people. Before 2009 Cham-
chamal had only 14 districts. Due to increasing urbanization in the surroundings are linking
Chamchamal with Shoresh Township, the number of districts increased to 30 districts in 2009
(Municipality of Chamchamall and Shorsh 2009) cited in [8].
The studied area is characterized by semi-aired Mediterranean climate. The meteorolog-
ical data of 2000 - 2016 from the Chamchamal station is used in this study. Rainy season
starts from October and mainly ends in February (with minor showers in March, April, and
June). The dry season is hot continental started from June until October [9]. The mean annual
rainfall for the mentioned period is 486 mm and the average annual temperature is 33 °C. The
mean annual pan evaporation pan is about 2065 mm and the mean relative humidity is about
42.1%.
4 PROBLEM STATEMENT
One of the important aspects related to humans is the solid waste problem. In case of mis-
management, it has drawbacks on health and the environment around. Thus, actions required
to overcome such a problem and to reduce all risks associated.
Many low-income countries, including Kurdistan and its cities, are facing problems re-
lated to the managements of solid waste. The waste should be disposed of in a way that has
a minimal amount of risk to its surrounded areas. Therefore, collection, transportation and
disposal techniques of municipal solid wastes should be planned in a less harmed way. Im-
proper solid waste management system is responsible for communities and residents and any
issues faced them. With increasing number of people, wastes are also increased. Therefore,
an eective technique is an essential. In case of mismanagement of solid waste, many risks
can be possible.

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This study focused on Chamchamal - Shorish city, where there is no proper management
for MSW. Normally, waste collects and dumps into the open area. Dwbra valley is the nal
destination of daily waste generated by Chamchamal citizens. It is an open area which speci-
ed by the municipality of Chamchamal to dispose MSW. Open dumping wastes causes many
serious hazards to the surrounding environment, including, air pollution, soil pollution, water
pollution, visual pollution and health problems. Furthermore, space shortage is another matter
of concern. According to the municipality of Chamchamal, Dwbra Valley could not handle
the wastes for more than next 20 years. Therefore an urgent alternative plan should apply to
extend the age of this dumping area.
5 ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH MISMANAGING SOLID WASTES
In case of improper solid waste management many problems arise including:
5.1 Environmental contaminations
Air, water and soils around the waste could be harmed. From the degradation and decom-
position of the organic material from the waste, some toxic gases could be released into the
atmosphere. Thereafter, greenhouse gases are accumulated. Methane is an example of the gas-
es that generate through a garbage site. In an anaerobic situation methane can compose fty
percentages of the gases of the disposal site (a landll) (Cointreau-Levine, 1997) cited in [5].
Uncontrolled leachate can also degrade the quality of any source of water and soils
around the facility. Fig. (2) Shows the waste that is being burnt through its inside chemical
reaction.
Figure 2.The waste is being burnt by through its inside chemical reaction
5.2 Nuisances
Odor from the garbage is disgusting for residents and for visitors close to the area. Be-
cause of unpleasant and strong smelling, humans, animals can be aected. It also became a
breeding point for insects, especially (ies).
5.3 Health Problems
are also inuenced through uncontrolled municipal solid waste. Cholera and diarrhea,
low birth weight , cancer, congenital malformations, neurological disease and dengue fever
are of those diseases that are spread via waste garbage [5]. When animals and insects attach
the waste, they can carry such diseases. Other than that, solid waste mismanagement can lead

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to spreading and increasing amount of some harmful animals such as rats and mosques. The
workers and pickers that have a direct contact with the waste are also hurt. They are probable
to face some problems in their respiratory system due to gas inhalation from the waste.
5.4 Visual Pollution
The site is close to the road and has a bad look. It is unexpected to be used for any other
purpose till upcoming some years. Sometimes strong winds blow litter across the road (Fig. 3).
Figure 3. Windblown litters from dumping area across the highway of Sulaimani-Kirkuk
6 SOLID WASTE TYPES IN DWBRA VALLEY
There are variety types of waste that are disposed of to the open dump:
6.1 MSW
This includes street litter, building debris, which arise from various activities like demo-
lition, construction and street cleaning.
6.2 Residential
This includes the solid waste generated by city inhabitants (house old wastes), which
comprises of leftover food scraps, vegetables, woody materials, plastic materials, glasses and
clothes.
6.3 Institutional
The wastes generated from schools, colleges and oces.
6.4 Commercial
This involves leftover food, glasses, grocery material from stores, markets, shops and
medical facilities.
In Chamchamal case, the above waste types collect and dispose by Government sector,
except for hospital wastes which collect and dispose by private sectors. The disposing site for
waste for both private and government sectors is Dwbra Valley.
Average waste collected each day is (50 tons): about 40 tons each day of municipal solid
waste {households, institutions} and 10 tons of commercial waste each night.

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7 SOLID WASTE HAZARDOUS REDUCTION
To reduce the amount of waste there are some techniques that help.
7.1 Minimal Waste Generation
The most signicant approach of waste reduction is minimizing waste generation it could
be done by Segregation of Wastes, Improve Housekeeping, Product Modication and Rede-
sign Packaging of products [10].
7.2 Education Of People
Studies have found that if individuals are aware of environmental problems and make at-
tempts to nd solutions, the probability that individuals protect the environment will increase
[11, 12].
7.3 Legislation By Government
Any policy by the government supports to reduce the volume of the waste. For instance,
individuals produce extra garbage should pay taxes to the government.
7.4 Recycling
Recycling process is a modern tactic to minimize waste and also to acquire benets from
the recycled materials for other intentions.
8 EXISTING SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT SYSTEM
FOR DWBRA VALLEY
As one of the treatment methods by the government, open dump of Chamchamal city is
taken as a case study. The dump called Dwbra valley open dump with area of 3 km2 and depth
of 30m. This dump is managed as a place to collect the waste of two councils, Chamchamal
and Shorsh. The population of the councils is nearly 71000 with 80 waste collectors. This
means the ratio between the population amount and workers are 1/1000. In the treatment sys-
tem, 23 waste collector vehicles work as two-shift, days and nights, schedule. Therefore, to
collect their wastes, the workers reach the quarters each week twice. Moreover, municipality
workers move a volume of 45 cubic meters, collected by public inside the suburbs, to the open
dump.
Following the collection process, the trash is transported and disposed of to the site,
then it compacted each every week. The disposal process seems to be improper, because, it
is essentially random. Future planning is accessible to establish a recycling center through
a company under the supervision of the mayor of Chamchamal municipality (Salar, 2017,
April 20, personal communication).

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Figure 4. Illustration of the lake in Dwbra valley open dump
9 EXISTING DRAWBACKS OF THE WASTE INTO ITS SURROUNDED AR-
EAS
There is a lake in the valley. The water of the lake composed of a mixture of rainwater
and the leachate from the waste. The water from the lake is expected to migrate into Basara
stream. Therefore, the unclean water pollutes the stream. Fig. ( 4) illustrates the open dump
and the lake.
Another drawback of the dump is poor night vision. This is due to the dust and smokes
from the trashes that dull the road. The drivers at night have diculty to see the road clearly
for about 10-15 meters close to the site.
10 PROPOSED TECHNIQUE FOR THE OPEN DUMP MANAGEMENT
After considering the geology (Fig.5), geography, hydrogeology and climate of the
studied area, two techniques are proposed to minimize the contamination consequences of
Dwbra open dump and to propose other sites for future city dump:
10.1 Secure land ll
according to the geology of the area, a clay stone (Injana Formation) and clay beds (Qua-
ternary deposits) are cropped out in the studied area [13, 14]. Therefore, the clay stone beds
can be used as secure land ll and capped by clay beds, because clay is impermeable and it
works as a barrier for the contaminants (it works like a lter for remediate the contaminated
liquids). The dumped area of secure landlls can be used again for example for green parks
and other useful facilities (Fig.6).
10.2 Recycling
now a day huge research groups focus on the recycling techniques to minimize the solid
waste hazards and to re-use the waste for energy and re-production of materials (like plastic).
We proposed a recycling facility for the dump area, which in turn reduces the size of the
waste, energy, can be produced and the recycled materials have a good income.

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Figure 5.Geology of the studied area (a/after 14; b/ after 15)
Figure 6. Conceptual models for secure landll of Dwbra valley dump
11 CONCLUSION
- Dwbra valley open dump is used to treat the municipal waste of Chamchamal - Shorsh
city.
- Environment, including water, air and soil, and health are points of concern.
- In case of mismanagement of the waste, human, animals and insects are injured.
- There are 80 waste collectors and workers who collect waste twice a week.
- The trash is compacted after disposal; some of it is incinerated by chemical reactions in
the site.
- Secure land ll can help to minimize the waste hazards and to reduce used land.
- Recycling will be helpful to manage the contamination, produce energy and increase the
income of the city.

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