IMPROVISING MUNICIPAL WASTE DISPOSAL THROUGH INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE SOUTHERN NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

¹Ndinwa, Chuks Chukwuka Gabriel, ¹Akpafun, Amatoremidedon Solomon, ¹Chukumah, Omoikhekpen Charity, ²Osubor-Ndinwa, Nwakaego Praise

¹Department of Industrial Safety and Environmental Management Technology, Delta State School of Marine Technology, Burutu, Nigeria

²M.Sc Student, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

E-mail: gndinwa@yahoo.com, chuksgabriel@ymail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper is aimed at investigating how municipal solid waste are disposed in Nigeria, so as to design an environmental friendly approach to the management of waste in order to effectively control the resultant environmental implications of solid waste. This study involved both personal observation and oral interview of the inhabitants. Also published and unpublished materials were reviewed. Findings of the study revealed that solid wastes that are generated in the study area are mainly from market places, homesteads, factories, workshops, hospitals, seaport, post-primary and tertiary institutions. Pedestrians and hawkers generate a lot of waste on the roadside and streets. Each commercial place in the study and household generates a specific amount of commercial/domestic waste on daily basis. In terms of the problems facing solid waste disposal in the study area, the findings revealed that, there is no public system of primary collection from the source of waste generation. The waste discharged here and there is later collected by municipal sanitation workers through street sweeping and drain cleaning. There is no practice of storing the waste at source in a scientifically segregated way. Irregular street sweeping was also observed to be prevalent. Solid wastes in the study area are collected through traditional handcarts/tricycles which carries only a small quantity. Open sites, masonry bins or concrete structures are used for temporary bulk storage, which necessitates multiple handling of waste. Most of the transport vehicles are old and open. They are usually loaded manually. The fleet is generally inadequate and utilization inoptimal. Disposal of waste in the study area is the most neglected aspect of solid waste management services, and the current practices are grossly unscientific. Almost all municipal authorities deposit solid waste at a dump-yard situated within or outside the city haphazardly and do not bother to spread and cover the waste with inert material. This paper therefore considered and answered some basic question: What are the types of waste generated? How are the wastes disposed? What are the environmental implications of the waste disposal methods? And what new method of municipal waste management will be needed to effectively stored and disposed solid waste in a healthy and friendly manner.

Keywords: Municipal, Solid Waste, Niger Delta, Landfill, Environment