TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH A FOURIER SERIES APPROACH IN FORECASTING SOLID WASTE GENERATION IN A TVET INSTITUTION: A CASE STUDY OF ACCRA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Globally, waste volumes are increasing quickly, even faster than the rate of urbanization. According to the World Bank Report (2012), there is a direct correlation between the per capita level of income in cities and the amount of waste per capita that is generated. As the world moves towards an urban future, the amount of solid waste being generated continues to compound. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals, we are to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation. TVET institutions in Africa must be strategically involved in the attainment of this goal. Management of solid waste in our municipalities continues to be a major challenge for local governments in urban areas across the world. Accra Polytechnic, like other TVET institutions, has a concentration of thousands of students who generate solid waste on a daily basis, which if not managed properly could have dire consequence on our environment. Due to the lack of available adequate data on solid waste generation and the waste characteristics in our institutions, integrated solid waste management is always a challenge. The prediction of students’ solid waste generation will play an important role in solid waste management in our institutions. Traditional forecasting models for solid waste generation rely on demographic and socioeconomic factors on a per capita basis. Most of these models are designed based on the configuration of semi-empirical mathematical models. This paper looks at the determination of the solid waste generated per capita per day by students on Accra Polytechnic campus using a Fourier series approach.

Keywords: Solid Waste, SDG, TVET, Fourier Series, per capita.