Abstract
Open dumps and ill equipped landfills are some of the characteristics of solid waste management in Nigeria. This paper therefore seeks to investigate the viability of anaerobic digestion as part of an integrated waste management strategy for the city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In order to achieve this aim, the paper reviews literature on solid waste management in the study area. Alaboratory experiment was also conducted using organic solid wastefrom Port Harcourt. From the findings, it was revealed that anaerobic digestion could play a major role towards the attainment of sustainable solid waste management in Port Harcourt. The small laboratory sample of 10 grams used for the experiment produced about 0.796 litres of methane gas, means that 1 tonne of organic waste in Port Harcourt will generate about 79600 litres of methane gas with energy equivalent of about 1592000_kj. The paper concluded that in a city like Port Harcourt where several tonnes of solid wastes are produced every day, a substantial amount of methane gas could be recovered for electricity generation. It was therefore recommended that anaerobic digestion should be used in order to boost the electricity capacity of the city whilst also improving the quality of life of the people.
Highlights
The generation of wastes is an integral part of human society
Omuta (1987) observed that waste management is one of the major sources of environmental degradation in Nigeria. He pointed out that poor urban structures as a result of uncontrolled development, lack of disposal sites, finance, poor infrastructures and equipment are some of the challenges that needs to be addressed in order to improve solid waste management operations in the country
Agunwamba (1998) reported that the lack of adequate planning and implementation of environmental policies in Nigeria has resulted to failure in basic waste management operations; Imam et al (2009) reported that the high rate of population growth and the continuous rural-urban migration are some factors that has further exacerbated the problems of waste management in the country
Summary
The management of the generated wastes present a major challenge to many countries (Sharma et al, 1999) These challenges are enormous in developing countries where solid waste management poses serious problems to city authorities and environmental agencies (Adeyemi et al, 2001). Omuta (1987) observed that waste management is one of the major sources of environmental degradation in Nigeria He pointed out that poor urban structures as a result of uncontrolled development, lack of disposal sites, finance, poor infrastructures and equipment are some of the challenges that needs to be addressed in order to improve solid waste management operations in the country. Efe (2013) observed that, the rate at which wastes are being generated in Nigerian cities often surpass the ability of the waste management authorities to effectively collect, transport and dispose of the waste
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