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Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-02871-w
REVIEW ARTICLE
Sustainable solid waste management inYemen: environmental, social
aspects, andchallenges
AnasAl‑Dailami1· ImranAhmad1· HesamKamyab1,2 · NorhayatiAbdullah1· IwamotoKoji1·
VeeramuthuAshokkumar3· BilkisZabara4
Received: 8 February 2022 / Revised: 25 May 2022 / Accepted: 25 May 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022
Abstract
Rapid population growth, urbanization, economic progress, and changing lifestyles all contributed to an increase in resource
consumption and waste generation. Global solid waste generation was about 1.3 BT/year and was predicted to further
increase to a tremendous amount of 2.2 BT/year by 2030. Municipal solid waste generation is increasing at a high rate, cre-
ating immense pressure on municipalities and pollution concerns for the environment. In Yemen, the quantity of municipal
solid waste per capita in urban areas is 0.6kg/day, while in rural areas it is 0.35kg/day and the increase in the generation
of Municipal solid waste is about 3%. Municipal solid waste is characterized by its diverse nature and therefore requires
immediate attention for its effective management and disposal. Like most developing countries, the solid waste generated in
Yemen is disposed into the landfills due to its simplicity and economical aspects while composting and incineration are rarely
utilized. The disposal of waste at landfills is associated with long-term problems, such as leachate pollution, the release of
greenhouse gases (GHGs), odor issues, and health concerns for the people living in nearby vicinities. Therefore, the pedal
of solid waste management needs to be pressed to protect the resources, environment, and human population. Sustainable
solid waste management plays an important role as it encompasses minimization of solid waste at the generation point,
proper collection and disposal, utilization, and recovery of waste for energy production. The challenges and the improvement
measures for solid waste management are varied for each country, depending on their social, economic, and technologi-
cal development. The challenges and the improvement measures for solid waste management are varied for each country,
depending on their social, economic, and technological development. The situation is gruesome in some of the countries in
the Arabian Peninsula, such as Yemen. Thus, this article focused on the present condition of solid waste management, the
problems associated with improper solid waste management, and the possible sustainable measures to improve the system
in Sana’a, Yemen. The main landfill in Sana’a city is the Al-Azraqain, and the amount of solid waste received is 500,000
tons per year. This study also compared the condition of solid waste management in Yemen with the neighboring countries,
which are similar in terms of lifestyle, climatic conditions, and topography. There are too many studies based on the other
developing countries in Asia and the rest of the world. But fewer studies are available based on the details of solid waste
management in Sana’a, Yemen, because of the unstable and struggling conditions prevailing there. Hence, this study will be
beneficial to understand the problem and corrective measures for policymakers and environmental engineers.
Keywords Solid waste management· Yemen· Environmental aspects· Social aspects· Disposal
1 Introduction
Increasing population levels, urbanization, and improvised
living standards in developing countries have increased
solid waste generation [1]. Currently, the global genera-
tion of Municipal solid waste (MSW) is about 2 billion tons
per year, which is estimated at an average of approximately
0.74kg/cap/day. Moreover, it is predicted that because of
the rapid growth of population and industrial development,
Anas Al-Dailami and Imran Ahmad contributed equally to this
work.
* Hesam Kamyab
khesam2@live.utm.my
* Norhayati Abdullah
norhayati@utm.my
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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