Practices, Concerns, and Willingness to Participate in Solid Waste Management in Two Urban Slums in Central Uganda.

Trasias Mukama,David Musoke,Geofrey Musinguzi,Rawlance Ndejjo,David O Carpenter,John C Ssempebwa,Abdullah Ali Halage

doi:10.1155/2016/6830163

Abstract

Poor solid waste management is among the major challenges facing urban slums in developing countries including Uganda. Understanding community concerns and willingness towards involvement in solid waste management improvement initiatives is critical for informing interventions in slums. Methods. We used a cross-sectional study to collect quantitative data from 435 residents in two urban slums in central Uganda. A semistructured questionnaire was used which assessed waste collection practices, separation and disposal methods, concerns regarding solid wastes, and willingness to participate in waste separation and composting. Data was analysed using STATA 12. Results. Food remains (38%) and plastics (37%) formed the biggest proportion of wastes generated in households. Most households (35.9%) disposed of general wastes by open dumping while 27% disposed of plastics by burning. Only 8.8% of households conducted composting while 55% carried out separation for some decomposable wastes. Separation was carried out for only banana peelings and leftover foods for feeding animals. Respondents expressed high willingness to separate (76.6%) and compost (54.9%) solid wastes. Conclusion. Practices in waste disposal and separation were poor despite high willingness to participate in initiatives to improve waste management, highlighting a need for authorities to engage residents of slums to improve their practices.

Highlights

Solid waste management is one of the greatest environmental health challenges and continues to overwhelm local authorities and national governments as urban populations continue to rise and consumption patterns change [1,2,3]
Cities generate about 1.3 billion tonnes of solid waste per year, a volume expected to rise to 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025, a more than double increase for developing countries [4]. Like many of such countries, is facing rapid urbanization of 5.1% per annum [5]. This has led to overcrowding and the development of slums that are inadequately provided with basic infrastructure and services characterized by poor solid waste management
Respondents who were married were 2 times more likely to be willing to participate in composting (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.22–2.76) (Table 4). Biodegradable wastes such as leftover food formed the bulk of wastes generated in slums in this study

Summary

Introduction

Solid waste management is one of the greatest environmental health challenges and continues to overwhelm local authorities and national governments as urban populations continue to rise and consumption patterns change [1,2,3]. Like many of such countries, is facing rapid urbanization of 5.1% per annum [5] This has led to overcrowding and the development of slums that are inadequately provided with basic infrastructure and services characterized by poor solid waste management. This leads to numerous environmental and health risks including contamination of surface and groundwater, ecosystem degradation, and soil pollution as well as greenhouse gas emissions by anaerobic decomposition of waste [6, 7]. The problems are severe in slums in developing countries where the solid waste management systems are inadequate [3, 8]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion