Abstract
Solid waste management is no longer a non-priority issue anymore as improper waste disposal will lead to public and environmental health crisis as well as economic loss. Many nations that are developed have achieved considerable success in management of solid waste but the case is different for the developing countries as they are still grappling with issue of waste. Hence in order to bridge this gap this study calls for prioritizing and adoption of the right attitude towards proper solid waste management for the Nairobi City County. The study was conducted in order to assess residents’ knowledge and attitude on solid waste management in Eastleigh South Ward, Kamukunji Sub-county in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study evaluated and documented resident’s knowledge and attitude on the types of waste generated, pre-disposal storage, management needs and associated environmental problems. The assessment employed semi-structured questionnaires with open-ended and closed questions, interviews and observations to gather information on resident’s knowledge and attitude on solid waste management. The study findings indicated that residents had sufficient knowledge on solid waste management mainly on the type of waste generated at household level and environmental problems posed by poor waste management with the main source of information being from County workers. Despite the resident’s knowledge, their attitude was found to be poor, more so in taking up solid waste management as part of their responsibility. About 63.6% of the respondents indicated that waste was fairly well managed with 19.5% finding it poorly managed. The findings of the study concluded that the residents had a good knowledge but poor attitude towards solid waste management. The study recommends that the County Government should organise regular clean-up exercises involving the residents as well as enforcing existing waste management rules and regulations. A sustained campaign should be mounted on the need for a clean environment as this will help avert the feeling that waste management is a sole responsibility of the county government.
Highlights
Various studies have identified a number of problems facing urban development that concern management of waste such as: lack of effective waste collection systems, neglect of basic solid waste management strategies at household level and improper disposal methods, posing a threat to ecological and public health systems
The study findings indicated that residents had sufficient knowledge on solid waste management mainly on the type of waste generated at household level and environmental problems posed by poor waste management with the main source of information being from County workers
The findings of this study show that the residents of Eastleigh South Ward have good knowledge on many aspects related to solid waste management
Summary
Various studies have identified a number of problems facing urban development that concern management of waste such as: lack of effective waste collection systems, neglect of basic solid waste management strategies at household level and improper disposal methods, posing a threat to ecological and public health systems. Since people play a prominent role in solid waste management elements such as waste generation, source separation, storage, collection, recycling and disposal, public participation in recycling programs, would greatly reduce the amounts of waste dumped in undesignated places [5]. For successful solid waste management programs, urban authorities should invest in the solid waste management (SWM) infrastructure, but rather involve people by creating awareness on the value of a clean environment. Encouraging the public to recycle used materials has been found to alleviate harmful impacts of increasing amount of waste [6] This model has worked successfully in developed countries, where 60% - 80% and 20% - 32% of municipal solid waste is recycled or reused, with the remaining 8% buried hygienically [3]
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