Value reclamation from informal municipal solid waste management: green neoliberalism and inclusive development in Lagos,Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Lagos is undoubtedly the cultural capital and economic hub of the West African sub-region. The challenge of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in the megacity has remained intractable due partly to the increasing rate of population growth. While solid waste policy reforms, investments, and management practices in Lagos are in the upswing in the formal economy, the role of the informal economy in engendering sub-regional material linkages and livelihoods remain unexplored. Adopting a multi-stakeholder approach and data from interviews, this study critically examines how value reclamation from informal MSWM advances green neoliberalism and inclusive development. It shows that while informal transboundary trade of recyclable materials in the West African sub-region have previously been left out of analyses of MSWM in Lagos, the informal economy of waste and new investments in MSWM have neoliberal underpinnings beyond the megacity scale. The paper concludes that integrating the informal economy in framing MSWM policy in the megacity offers scope for evolving an inclusive development strategy while also enabling sustainable MSWM in the post-2015 era.     

Congenital cervical teratoma,associated with agenesis of corpus callosum and a subarachnoid cyst

Cervical teratoma is a neoplasm composed of embryonic tissues with representation of all three germ layers. We report an extremely rare case of fetal cervical teratoma presenting at 24 weeks of gestation. A submaxillary mass and agenesis of corpus callosum were identified on ultrasonography, associated with agenesis of corpus callosum and a subarachnoid cyst. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microplastic emissions from household washing machines: preliminary findings from Greater Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics have been recognized as emerging pollutants with potential ecotoxicological impact. The contribution of washing machine use to...     

A review of the public health impacts of unconventional natural gas development

The public health impact of hydraulic fracturing remains a high profile and controversial issue. While there has been a recent surge of published papers, it remains an under-researched area despite being possibly the most substantive change in energy production since the advent of the fossil fuel economy. We review the evidence of effects in five public health domains with a particular focus on the UK: exposure, health, socio-economic, climate change and seismicity. While the latter would seem not to be of significance for the UK, we conclude that serious gaps in our understanding of the other potential impacts persist together with some concerning signals in the literature and legitimate uncertainties derived from first principles. There is a fundamental requirement for high-quality epidemiological research incorporating real exposure measures, improved understanding of methane leakage throughout the process, and a rigorous analysis of the UK social and economic impacts. In the absence of such intelligence, we consider it prudent to incentivise further research and delay any proposed developments in the UK. Recognising the political realities of the planning and permitting process, we make a series of recommendations to protect public health in the event of hydraulic fracturing being approved in the UK.     

Costa Rica — Assessing Climate Mitigation Pathways to Support NDC Implementation

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Costa Rica has set a very ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Despite the low-carbon footprint of its power sector, the goal set in its NDC...