An Evaluation of People Attitude towards Waste Management...

International Journal of Academic Research in Psychology 2017, Vol. 4, No. 1

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An Evaluation of People Attitude towards Waste Management and its Effects on the Environment

and Water Resources of Ajah Lagos State

Chukwu, Kevin Ejike, PhD. Department of Geography and Meteorology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu State Email: [email protected]

DOI: 10.6007/IJARP/v4-i1/5648 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARP/v4-i1/5648

Abstract This study evaluates the attitudes of people towards waste management and its effects in Lagos State and the study indicates that wastes generation, sorting, handling and disposal were mostly implicated, and that dumping and landfill are some of the current methods being adopted in the disposal of wastes within Lagos, composting and incineration are less often adopted just as industry best practice methods like recycling and re-use are less frequently used. The analysis shows that the attitudes of people within the study area have a negative effect on the waste management system practiced. To this effect, recommendations were given to bring solutions; encouraging good environmental behavior in urban waste management will also help if addressed simultaneously at all levels, starting from households and businesses to society level; provisions should be made to try offenders of indiscriminate waste in courts that will be established within the locality for such purpose and if found guilty, the offender should be charged a relatively substantial amount of money; every home should have a proper refuse collecting bin; amongst others. Keywords: People’s Attitudes; Waste Management; Effects, Ajah. Introduction In many rapidly growing cities, solid waste has become a major source of surface water pollution and therefore a real concern owing to weak authorities, resource constraint and ineffective waste management. Solid waste is supply-driven limited only to local authorities, who are much slower in adjusting to the demands of the residential areas, industries, institutions and even streets and market places despite the various charges levied by the city council. This has made most urban centers in Nigeria to be experiencing an increasing rate of environmental degradation with wastes been dumped along the streets, behind and in front of homes, in surface water ways resources and along drainage channels. In most cities in Nigeria, poor solid waste management practice is due to lack of effective national authority of Environmental Protection, ever-increasing population and the industrial development, low environmental awareness of the citizens, low level of services presented by local municipalities, poor mechanical equipment, lack of funds, (Mbuligwe et. al, 2002) and corruption. All these


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have resulted in higher potential of pollution. Though Lagos state has started the fight against indiscriminate waste disposal systems practiced and a lot of money has been put into the sector to reduce waste issues but there are still a lot of factors affecting the operations and effectiveness of that which has been implemented. Continuity seems to be a major problem in the case of Lagos municipalities. It is therefore necessary to increase the scope and complexities of solid waste management in the nearest future. Though it will consume a considerable proportion of city budgets, it is important for the improvement of people’s health and a good state of the environment. The solid waste management sector therefore deserves careful attention for striking a balance between quality of service and cost effectiveness. This challenge is particularly significant for developing countries, where resources are limited but urbanization is occurring rapidly (Ahmed and Ali, 2004). Statement of the Problem The amount of solid waste within the living environment exerts negative effects on public health. With respect to health, indiscriminate dumping of waste increases the risk of transmission of wide range of communicable diseases. Many different types of waste have negative impacts upon the wider environment. Waste pollution is considered a serious threat by many; the waste deposited could also pollute surface and ground water sources, thereby setting the stage for a wide spread of water borne diseases within the household and community. Typical materials that are found in household waste, and which have specific environmental impacts, include biodegradable wastes. Refuse on roads and around the neighborhood destroys the aesthetics of the environment. Also, refuse dumped in drainage channels and gutters cause flooding of residential and commercial areas, stagnation of polluted drainage thereby providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes and pollution of domestic water supplies. Waste when handled in the improper way does not just create an environmental problem but it also costs money to take care of the problems that wastes poses on the environment. In spite of this, few works have been done to assess the attitude of people towards waste management effects in Nigeria. It is in the light of these problems that this study is focused towards evaluating the waste management practices in Ajah so that steps can be taken for further improvements on the practices of waste management. Objective The specific objective is therefore designed to assess the attitudes of people within the study area as regards waste management and the type of effect this attitude will have. Literature Review In Nigeria, especially in major urban cities, solid waste management has been considered a critical problem. In fact, Nigerian Government has taken different steps in the past to combat the problem without success. You don’t need to look far before you see mountain of refuse in most of urban cities. This occurred as a result of inability of the service providers to cope with waste collection and disposal of generated wastes. Because of this, people then took steps to resolve their personal waste problems that resolve into waste dumping into storm water,


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during the rainfall, open burning, open dumping and stream dumping. Also, solid wastes generated in the country are characterized by a high percentage (60-80%) of organic materials. This gives the wastes high density and makes them very attractive to flies, cockroaches, rats and other vermin. (Fantola, 1997). Based on observation, waste management problem in most of Nigerian communities is multidimensional in nature. It is associated with lack of community participation in solid waste management. Most of the policies that concern this issue are made without considering the community people who are the waste generators. For instance, in a study conducted at Orit- Aperin communities in the year 2004 by the author, it was found out that attitudes and belief of community people affected their waste management practices. (NEST, 1991). Also, in Nigerian context, waste disposal is normally seen by the municipal government as a venture without any financial gain. In addition to this, the question of whose responsibility is to take care of waste generated in a community has not been clearly answered. Unless in some civilized areas, many people do not realize that they are liable to the disposal of the wastes that they generated as they dump them by the road side for government workers to pick up. (Oluwande, 2002). History of Solid Waste Management in Lagos State Although waste removal is one of the most pressing issues in Nigerian cities, it is not a new problem. Various factors have been the causes of the poor performance of local governments and waste management agencies in managing wastes. The problems of waste management became an international embarrassment to Nigeria during the pack of hosting an international festival of Art and culture FESTAC 77, when Lagos, the then Federal Capital city, was described as the dirtiest capital city in the world. (Lasisi,2004). This embarrassment led to the emergency of first waste management agency in Nigeria established by the Lagos State Military Government in 1977. 1st April, 1977 Refuse Disposal Board was formed under Edict Nos 9, of 1977. The Board started as a centralized body with stated duties and the state government completely responsible to sustain it. The board commenced operations with Powell Duferen Pollution Control of United Kingdom as managers. (Lasisi, 2004). In 1980, this changed to waste Disposal Board and it was re-centralized in 1991 where the organization was renamed via Edict No. 55 of Lagos state. (Lagos State Government,1988). The organization was then named Lagos State waste management Authority (LAWMA), with mandate of collection and disposal of municipal and industrial waste in the state and proved commercial services to the state and local governments. (Lasisi, 2004). Between 1994 and 1996, LAWMA initiated the private sector participation (formal/ informal) in waste management in Lagos state. By 1996, a committee comprising Ministries of Environment and Physical Planning and Local Government Administration, chairman Shomolu Local Government and community Development council (CDC), Lagos state chapter submitted proposed for the establishment of Private Sector Participation in domestic refuse management. (Rand,2000). The initial launch of the programme brought to existence, 22 private operators appointed on the basis of a political ward per operator by February 1997 within Shomolu and Kosofe Local Governments. Operators were licensed to collect and transport waste generated in the 22 wards of the two Local Governments. Riding on the success of the pilot scheme, the programme was extended state wide in 1998 (covering a total of 20 LGAS). (Megafu,2003) and


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as of July 1999, a total of 624 private refuse operators were appointed by local government and licensed by the ministry to collect and transport house hold wastes from tenements on street basis to designated landfill sites at fees to be paid by service clients. However, due to resurgence of communal depot through pickup- points, illegal dumping of waste into water and land environment by cart pushers and individual alike, this necessitated the review of waste management and disposal system in the state. In readiness for the Lagos metropolitan Development Governance project supported by the World Bank, the Lagos state restructures the Lagos State waste management Authority in 2005. Since then, LAWMA has taken over the responsibility of waste management in the state. The Agency is presently taking care of refuse on Highways, markets, Hospitals, Industrial and commercial areas and also supervising over 116 PSP operators registered by the ministry under the restructure mega PSP programme. Waste Generation Characteristics in Lagos According to Bamgbose et al (2000) reported the World bank contracted Lavalin Incorporated, a Canadian firm in 1999 to carry out an assessment study of waste composition and generation rates in Nigeria in 1992. The study showed that 70% of total waste generated in Lagos was from domestic sources and the rest from industry. There have also been a few other studies on waste composition in Lagos. There are widely divergent views on waste generation in Lagos. According to the World Bank sponsored study is about 0.21 kg per capita per day (Bamgbose et al, 2000). This result is very likely an underestimation of the reality because it was based on records of waste received at the various disposal sites across the city. In reality about 30% of waste generated never gets to disposal sites (Agunwamba, 1998). This could easily be confirmed by the ‘mountains of waste. Models of Solid Waste Management The first attempt to classify all the solid waste models was made by MacDonald. (MacDonald 1996). In her “state of the art review” the author did not exactly classify the models, but rather selected the main categories of the models and characterizes 15 models using these characteristics. The first category was model’s type. According to MacDonald there were nine types of models:

• Waste generation prediction, WG • Facility site selection, FS • Facility capacity expansion, FC • Facility operation, FO • Vehicle routing, VR • Manpower assignment, MA • Over-all system operation, OS • System scheduling, S CH • Waste flow, Flow

In addition to this, the models were characterized by: their approach to the time variable (static/dynamic), whether or not they minimize the cost of waste treatment, simulation characteristics, applied solving method (linear programming, mixed integer programming,


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heuristic technique, and network problem). Finally, the fact whether the models try to measure the environmental impact of the system was found as one of the characteristic features. The last feature was whether the models try to perform any economic analysis. The author analysed the known models using presented criteria, but was not able to divide them into categories. The second attempt to systematize the MSW models was undertaken by Böjrklund (Böjrklund, 1998). Böjrklund developed MacDonald’s methodology, introducing new types of models (environmental performance, EP; and technology selection, TS) and different characteristics: static, dynamic, simulation, optimization, multi criteria optimization (MCO), scenario comparison, input-output analysis (IO), multiple criteria analysis (MCA), geographic information system (GIS). This classification is not disjoint and many models belong simultaneously to many categories, unfortunately. Other introduced categories were: “Objective” (goal of the model), “Environmental Aspects”, “Waste types” and “Functions” (types of covered processes). Both classifications show how difficult it is to clearly classify the models into the disjoint sets; the used methodology was applied only to describe the models, but not to assign them into categories. The next attempt to fulfil this task was made by Morrissey and Browne (Morrissey, 2003). They introduced three models’ categories: Cost-Benefit Analysis models (CBA), Life Cycle Analysis models (LCA), and multi criteria analysis models (MCA). Unfortunately, this methodology does not give separate sets of solutions either. For example, many multi criteria models use Cost-Benefit Analysis or LCA. In this case, the models are divided into three categories called: White models, grey models and green models, but we will be looking at the white and green models for this research. Using colours to illustrate certain phenomena is a common technique. It is used in mathematics as well as in environmental engineering. One of the distinctive features of each model is its approach to the problem of data reliability. Research Methodology Research Design and Sources of Data Descriptive research method was used for this study, and according to Isaac and Michael (1978), descriptive method is used to describe systematically, a situation or area of interest factually and accurately. The design could be a public opinion survey, fact-finding surveys, or status studies. In this study, survey design was used and it is a method in which a group of items are studied by collecting, analyzing and interpreting data from a few people considered to be representatives of the study population. Sources of Data In other to achieve the aim and objectives of this study, primary and secondary data sources were used. The primary sources of data comprised of reconnaissance survey and the use of well-structured questionnaires. Well-structured questionnaires were administered to the general public within the study area, to the service providers and to the regulators in order to obtain information from respondents in relation to their socio-economic data, the content of waste they generate, their method of waste disposal and their opinion of location/proximity of waste disposal bin. Also, questionnaires were administered among LAWMA officials and finally, an oral interview was conducted with Ministry of Environment officials. Apart from the primary


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method of data collection used as mentioned, secondary data were also collected from already existing documents that are related to the study. The secondary data sources that were used in this research work for gathering data were obtained basically from all available existing literature, journals, Internet materials (Wikipedia, world bank online) publication from relevant agencies (LAWMA), textbooks, and maps. Characteristics of The Population of Study The population of the study is made up of all the inhabitants of Ajah community in Eti-osa local government area of the Lagos metropolis. This is because everybody in Ajah and people in general generate wastes which are classified as useless and have to be disposed of. Thomas estate within the Ajah community was chosen as the study area because it is an emerging settlement in Lagos state and matters have to be looked into early enough. It’s in this area that our study will be conducted, and from this population that we will draw samples and gather the data to be analyzed. Sampling Design Simple random sampling technique was used to select respondents for the study. Procedures The technique is unbiased since each person, event, object or thing in the population is given equal opportunity of being selected for the study, so for this survey, the samples were picked randomly without special preference. Determination of the Sample Size The sample size was determined based on the population living within Thomas estate and those that were available to be interviewed. Questionnaire Design, Distribution and Collection of Responses For this study, the questionnaire was constructed in simple plain English and very clear to the respondents and due to the sample size, a total of 120 questionnaires were administered. 100 were administered among the general public within the study area, 5 questionnaires were administered among the service providers and another 10 questionnaires among the regulators which are the waste management authority and the ministry of environment. These were done by the researcher of which 80 of the administered questionnaires were returned filled. Procedures for Data Collection The number of returned and useable questionnaires represents about 66.67% of the total questionnaires distributed and this was found to be adequate for the analysis. The data was generated mostly by the respondents by answering all the required questions in the administered questionnaire. The organization of the generated data is then carried out by the researcher to make more meaning out of the generated data.The statistical method used in the interpretation of the data is the descriptive analysis. In order to have a comprehensive analysis that will meet the objective demand of this research, simple percentage tables for each


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question in the questionnaire was used to ensure that the results were clear and simple enough for understanding. These percentages were used to take decisions on necessary research question. The research made use of the statistical tables and the collected data were then analyzed using the Chi-square distribution and the hypotheses were tested at 95% level of confidence. Results and Discussions of Findings Demographic Information of the Study Area The study examined the demography of the respondents of the study area to know their ages, gender, educational levels, number of years lived in the area, and the household size of the respondents. It was intended to obtain information on the type of people that live within the study area. This can be illustrated below;

Figure 1: Percentage Age Composition of Respondents from Ajah Community Source: Fieldwork, 2014 This was so because it is believed that those within this age range have the ability to read, write or observe their surroundings to get informed. The majority of the respondents were of age 42 and above (34%) and the least were those between the ages of 34 and 41 (12%).


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Figure 2: Age Composition of the Respondents Source: Fieldwork, 2014

Figure 3: Respective Duration spent in Ajah by the Respondents Source: Fieldwork, 2014 Exactly 46% of the respondents were males while the remaining 54% were females. Among the respondents, 66% had stayed in Lagos for between 1 and 5 years, 22% have stayed less than 1 year while only 12% of the respondents had stayed more than 5 years.


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Figure 4.: Respective Percentage of Formal Education Types received by Respondents Source: Fieldwork, 2014 Also, among the respondents, everyone has had one form of education of which 60% had tertiary education, 28% secondary education, 4% had primary education and the remaining 4% had other forms of education that were not stated.

Figure 5: Percentage Respondent per Category of Household Size Source: Fieldwork, 2014 From this survey also, it was seen that 34% of the respondents had household sizes of above 5 people, 46% were from households of between 3 to 5 people, while the remaining 20% were from household sized 1 to 2 persons. This shows that Ajah is relatively densely populated. Test of Hypothesis In this section of the study, four hypotheses were used based on the objectives of the study. These hypotheses were tested using the chi-square statistical tool by cross tabulating the


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necessary fields from the questionnaire response to get the observed values. The observed and the expected values were then used to get the calculated value for the chi-square which was compared to the tabulated value for the sake of decision making. The Hypothesis used for this study ; H0: The attitudes of the people in Ajah have a negative effect on waste management in the

area H1: The attitudes of the people in Ajah have a positive effect on waste management in the

area In order to carry out the analysis of this hypothesis, the main variables under consideration were collated. The analysis is presented in the table below. Observed table from cross tabulation for hypothesis one

Are there any difficulties faced when collecting the wastes

What is the main challenge youencounter in managing solid waste in Ajah

Inadequate fund

Poor equipment

Negligence of duties

Behavior of the people TOTAL

Yes 0 0

0

3

3

No 1 1

0 0 2

TOTAL 1 1 0 3 5

Expected table for hypothesis Two

Inadequate fund

Poor equipment

Negligence of duties

Behavior of the people

Improper waste management knowledge

0.6 0.6 0 1.8

Lack of proper waste storage bins

0.4 0.4 0 1.2

Using the observed and expected tables, we can calculate the chi-square value using the formula; (fo – fe)2 fe


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Chi-square calculation for hypothesis Two

Fo (Observed frequency)

Fe (Expected frequency)

(fo - fe)2 fe

0 0 0 3 1 1 0 0

0.6 0.6 0

1.8 0.4 0.4 0

1.2

0.6 0.6 0

0.8 0.9 0.9 0

1.2

Χ2cal = 5.0

Degree of freedom = (row - 1) x (column - 1) df = (2 – 1) x (4 - 1) = 1 x 3 = 3 The above table shows that the calculated chi-square value (χ2

cal) is 5.0 while at 0.05 level of significance and 3 as the degree of freedom, the tabulated chi-square value is χ2

tab= 7.815and according to the statistics, we reject the null hypothesis if the calculated chi-square is greater than the tabulated chi-square and accept the null hypothesis if the calculated chi-square is less than the tabulated chi-square. In the above analysis, since χ2

cal < χ2tab, we accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternative

that the attitude of the people has a positive effect on waste management in Ajah. This is to say that the poor attitude of the residents of Ajah has a high negative effect on satisfactory waste management and the manner waste is being handled and disposed of good attitude towards waste will lead to a better waste management system while a poor attitude towards waste will lead to a bad waste management system which will make disposal and collection of wastes a lot more difficult. Conclusion Based on the results derived from the statistical analysis, it was seen that the people have negative attitudes when it comes to waste handling and storage which in turn has affected not only the surface water resources of the urban area but also the waste management system being operated in that area because everybody has a role to play in waste management but we all need to be aware of such roles. In general, the waste management system in Ajah is good but there is still need for some improvements in the area of waste storage by the people and waste collection by the service providers as they are not consistent in their pickup days and time. All these need to be addressed immediately to prevent a further break down of the waste management system being run presently in Ajah.


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Recommendations

• Encouraging good environmental behavior in urban waste management will also help if addressed simultaneously at all levels, starting from households and businesses to society level.

• Provisions should be made to try offenders of indiscriminate waste disposal in courts that will be established within the locality for such purpose and if found guilty, the offender should be charged a relatively substantial amount of money.

• Every home should have a proper refuse collecting bin.

• Community leaders, elders and landlords should encourage better sanitation practices by formulating community by-laws that kicks against indiscriminate waste dumping.

• Sorting of wastes at source should be encouraged and practiced by individuals as it will help in reducing the volume of waste to be discarded in surface water environments.

• They should be involved actively in promoting awareness of waste management in areas that surround them by organizing conferences, workshops, seminars and so on about environmental education.

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Environmental Management 22:6:849-856 Bamgbose, O. Arowolo, T. A., Oresanya, O., Yusuf A. A. (2000). “Assessment of Urban Solid Waste Management Practices in Lagos, Nigeria” African Scientist 1:1:23-31 Chang, Ni-Bin. & Davila, E. (2008). Municipal Solid Waste Characterizations and Management

Strategies for the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Waste Management, 28:776-794. Fadola, A. (1997) Introduction to solid waste management engineering. Bipis press Ibadan Fotelinks (2001) Is government winning the wars against refuse dumps? Newsletter of Friends

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Tanskanen, J. H. (2000). Strategic Planning of Municipal Solid Waste Management. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 30(2): 111-133.doi:10.1016/S0921-3449 (00)00056-2

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Zotos, G., Karagiannidis, A., Zampetoglou, S., Malamakis, A., Antonopoulos, I.S., Kontogiaani, S. & Tchobanoglous, G. (2009). Developing a Holistic Strategy for Integrated Waste Management within Municipal Planning: Challenges, Policies, Solutions and Perspectives for Hellenic Municipalities in the Zero-Waste, Low-Cost Direction. Waste Management, 29: 1686-1692.

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