Municipal household solid waste collection strategies in an African megacity: analysis of public private partnership performance in Lagos.

Abstract

Managing municipal solid waste is a pervasive urban problem globally. While several strategies have been applied for efficient municipal solid waste management in developing economies, their performance level has not been critically investigated. Among these strategies, the public private partnership has widest appeal. This study examines the performance of public private partnership in household solid waste collection in Lagos, Nigeria. We collected primary data using a municipal solid waste survey in three residential density areas of Lagos megacity. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Two indexes of service performance, namely the service reliability index and operational quality index, were created to produce evidence on public private partnership performance in municipal solid waste collection in Lagos. Results show that the average amount of household solid waste generation per week ranges between 22.75 kg in the medium residential density area and 30.39 kg in the high residential density region of the city. The estimated per capita waste generated in Lagos Megacity is 0.95 kg day(-1). Regression models indicate that the public private partnership performance is significantly influenced by economic status, affordability, flexibility, consistency, cleanliness, coverage and accessibility, as well as number of waste collection vehicles, vehicle maintenance, capacity, trip rate, frequency, number of personnel and quality of personnel. Findings from this study reveal that Lagos residents have strong positive perception of public private partnership as a waste collection policy framework. The study has important policy and practical implications for urban waste management, public health and sustainability in developing economies.