Solid waste management in urban areas: the case of Arusha municipality, Tanzania.
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Date
2008-10
Authors
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Publisher
Kampala International University, College of engineering and applied science
Abstract
The study examined the management of solid waste in Arusha Municipality, northern Tanzania. The specific objectives were: to identify types of solid wastes generated, methods used in solid waste disposal, causes and the effects of poor solid waste management on people and the environment. The study was carried out in two wards, namely Unga Limited and Ngarenaro, which were randomly selected from 17 wards of the Arusha municipality, A descriptive research design was used for the study; whereby questionnaires for the households and key informants’ interviews were employed for data collection. Simple random sampling was used to select 110 households while 10 key informants were purposively selected from the municipal officials basing on their leadership roles. The findings indicated that 75% of solid waste generated by the Arusha municipality is organic. Out of 259 tons generated daily about 60% is not disposed, posing health problems to people and the environment. Open dumping is the common method of waste disposal used, leading to scattered and striking heaps of solid waste in the study area. The major causes of poor solid waste management were inadequate funds and limited awareness on environmental sanitation education, Land degradation, environmental pollution and diseases were the major effects associated with poor solid waste management. The study recommends that, the Arusha Municipal Council (AMC) should; encourage sorting of solid wastes at the source to reduce big volumes generated: consider constructing solid waste collecting bays for waste disposal to avoid the scattering of waste in open spaces, streets and water streams; use landfills instead of the open dumping system currently used; involve communities and the private sector in solid waste management; and strengthen environmental sanitation education. As a long-term plan, AMC should consider recycling of solid wastes as a lasting solution to improve solid waste management in the municipality. More research on the impact of plastic bags used for solid waste storage to the environment is recommended
Description
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of master of science in environmental management and development of Kampala International University
Keywords
Solid waste management, Urban areas