An assessment of house-hold solid waste management in a large Ghanaian district

• Main Authors: Stephen T. Odonkor, Kwasi Frimpong, Napoleon Kurantin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-01-01
• Series: Heliyon
• Subjects: Environmental science; Waste; Environment; Pollution; Safety
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584401936699X

The importance of waste management cannot be overemphasized. Improper waste management and disposal has rippling effect on the environment and human health. The aim of this study is to assess solid waste management among household in a large Ghanaians district. Multi-stage sampling technique comprising a cluster, simple random sampling, and systematic sampling techniques were used to select 600 respondents for the study. Data was analyzed using (SPSS) version 23.0. Results indicates that communal waste collection bins were far from households as confirmed by the majority (57.3%) of the respondents. The majority (56.5%) of the households walked a distance of 11–15 min before reaching the refuse site. The study found that the number of waste collection point in the community were few (1–3 collection bins) as confirmed by majority (92.2%) of the respondents. The distance from the center of the community to the final waste disposal site covered 1–2 h journey. There was a significant relationship between the number of waste disposal sites in the community and the average distance (in kilometers one way) from the city center to a disposing site. In conclusion, the study found that communal waste collection bins were far from households; number of waste collection point in the community were few. This indicates that the distance from the center of the community to the final waste disposal site covered 1–2 h journey. Based on the major findings of the study, we recommend that district assembly should provide waste collection bins to every household to ensure that residents do not dispose their housrhold waste indiscriminately. District by-laws should be strengthened to ensure proper household waste disposal at all districts in Ghana.