Zero Waste Rural Community Complex (ZWRC2)

Abstract

Millions of people living in rural areas in some developing countries are entombed in extreme poverty well beneath any definition of human decency. They live in squalid areas due to the absence of adequate sewage system, lack of agricultural and municipal solid waste management. As an easy and cheap solution to their problems, residents of rural communities either throw their wastes in the streets and in the nearest water way or burn them in the field. These unintended practices contribute to the deterioration of the quality of air, water, soil and food. In addition to the environmental problems, rural communities in developing countries suffer from illiteracy, unemployment, high risk for disease, high mortality rate, and low life expectancy. Due to this tragic situation, it became imperative to find a solution to reach zero pollution in rural areas. Since the emergence of the concept of sustainable development many efforts have been made to apply the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach in different sectors where all waste is used for the production of other goods. Unfortunately, the application of ‘cradle-to-cradle’ concept in rural communities to approach 100% full utilization of all types of wastes is not sufficiently explored. The aim of this paper is to propose solutions for the waste problem in rural areas through the concept of environmentally balanced rural complex called “Zero Waste Rural Community Complex (ZWRC²)”. The idea is to develop a complex in each rural community that groups compatible, simple and low cost technologies including briquetting, composting, biogas, and animal fodder. All wastes generated from the rural community will be transported to this complex and fully utilized as raw material to produce organic fertilizers, energy, animal fodder and other useful products depending on market need.