CHALLENGES AND PRACTICE OF PLASTIC BOTTLES, PAPER AND CARTON GENERATION AND COLLECTION IN ADDIS ABABA CITY, ETHIOPIA

High urbanization rates and changes in the life styles and steady rise in living standards have resulted in the increase of solid waste both in type and volume. The rapid growth of spring water industry, trade and services has accelerated the generation of plastic bottles. Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap of waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products. Since the vast majority of plastic is non- biodegradable, recycling is a part of global efforts to reduce plastic in the waste stream. 2, 983 ton of waste plastic have collected and recycled in 2010 E.C half year. Those organizations have a major impact on solid waste management of the city basically they have a capacity to reduce the recyclable waste not to dispose at landfill. 42,705 ton plastic is generated annually and 43,526 ton paper was generated. Regardless, this study has also quantified the amount of waste plastic and paper and card board collection in Addis Ababa. Thus, the cleansing association replied that an average of 16,888.55 ton of plastic and 2,701 ton of paper were collected per annum.