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large high altitude cities include Kathmandu (Nepal), Ulaanbaatar
(Mongolia) and Kunming (China) in Asia; Harare (Zimbabwe), Addis
Ababa (Ethiopia) in Africa; and Bogotá (Colombia), with more than
7 million inhabitants, in South America. Altitudes range from
1,350 metres ASL in Ulaanbaatar to more than 4,000 metres ASL
in the case of El Alto, Bolivia. There are also numerous smaller
cities (less than 500,000 inhabitants) between 1,500 and 5,000
metres ASL – particularly in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador,
Mexico, India, China, Nepal, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Types and characteristics of solid waste in
high mountain cities
The characteristics of solid waste generated in large mountain
cities relates more to levels of development than to altitude.
Solid waste produced in mountainous cities in low and middle-
income developing countries has a large component of organic
waste (Modak, Wilson and Velis, 2015c); eating fresh food
generates a large amount of food waste with limited amounts
of packaging. However, there is a steady increase in the
generation of non-organic recyclable waste, as income levels in
these countries increases. This is expected to continue in the
future: as the level of development increases, income per capita
rises, which in turn means an increase in generation of waste
per capita. The consequent increase in total solid waste will
require proper management.
Another feature of the waste produced in these cities is the
relatively small amount of hazardous household waste
3
(less than
1 per cent and up to 5 per cent if e-waste is included), although
there are few reliable statistics.
The composition of waste is defined in terms of its physical
characteristics – density, moisture content and calorific value
– which in turn determines the technologies to be used for
collection, transportation and treatment.
Kunming, China.
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