Waste Disposal Practices and its Environmental Implications

Abstract

Waste generation is inevitable in every human society, although methods of disposal may differ from region to region especially developing and developed nations, yet waste disposal is generally necessary. This study therefore investigated waste disposal practices amongst residents of Oluyole local government area of Ibadan, Oyo State. It was observed that (44.4% ) and (32.4%) of the residents dumped their household refuse with government and private waste collectors respectively, but majority utilized improper waste disposal methods such as dumping in rivers (10.3%), roadsides(14.8%), open dumpsites (20.4%), gutter (9.3%), and open-air burning(33.3%). Larger proportion (97.5%) of the respondents strongly agreed that indiscriminate waste dumping has inimical environmental implications such as flooding, disruption of aesthetic beauty, disease, river pollution amongst others. In order to bring the situation under control, the respondents prefer the full involvement of the government waste collection agency instead of private waste collectors. It is therefore recommended that government waste collector should be empowered to penetrate more traditional core areas for more effective waste collection.