POPULATION GROWTH AND WASTE
MANAGEMENT IN AN AFRICAN CITY
OMOLOLU, O.O Ph.D.
Department of Sociology
University of Ibadan
Ibadan, Nigeria.
And
LAWAL, S.A
Centre for Global Health,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin, Ireland.
Introduction
• In mid 2010, data shows that 1,030 million
people reside in the continent of Africa
(PRB, 2010).
• While 158 million of the continents
inhabitants are found in Nigeria.
• 47% now live in urban spaces thereby
increasing the competition for resources
on a daily basis leading to:
• Inadequate infrastructures and amenities
• Inadequate housing for all
• Increase in slums dwellers
• High crime rates
• Traffic congestion and
• High volume of waste generated daily.
Introduction (2)
Population in Lagos is put at 9, 113, 605 million
(NPC, 2006).
Highest concentration of industries in the West
African sub-region (Uroko, 2008).
Waste management in Lagos gulps between 2025% of government funds on the average and;
Only two trips of waste is made before the end of
the day, but close to 40 trips can be made in other
cities (Owoh 2006).
This study is significant because it provides
insights into environmental health and make
recommendations for policy improvement.
The Challenges of waste in Lagos
According to Kofoworola (2007) problems of
waste management in Lagos includes the
following:
• Improper collection system,
• lack of adequate waste collection equipment and vehicles,
• indiscriminate dumping of waste,
• lack of continuity and implementation of government
policies, and
• the current waste management practice in Lagos
Implications of waste on health
• These includes an increase in health outcomes such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Headaches
Sleepiness
Respiratory symptoms
Psychological conditions
Gastrointestinal complaints
Cancers
Adverse pregnancy outcomes
Abnormalities in liver function and
Renal diseases (Vrijheid, 2000).
“The rate of hospitalisation for diabetes
has increased in populations close to
hazardous waste site” (Kouznetsova,
Huang, Ma, Lessner, and Carpenter,
2007).
Objectives
The overall objective of the study was to examine the influence
of population growth on waste management in Lagos
metropolis.
Specific objectives:
• To explain the effect of population growth on waste generation in Lagos
metropolis.
• To examine the pattern of waste collection, transportation and disposal
in Lagos.
• To ascertain the effectiveness of public-private partnerships (PPP)
towards waste management in Lagos.
Definition of Waste
Waste (also known as rubbish, trash, refuse, garbage, or junk) is
unwanted or unusable materials, which has been disposed off
(wikipedia online).
Classification of waste
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(i) Domestic/Residential Waste
(ii) Commercial Waste
(iii) Institutional Waste
(iv) Garbage
(v) Rubbish
(vi) Ashes
(vi) Bulky Wastes
(viii) Dead Animals
(ix) Construction and Demolition Wastes
(x) Industrial Wastes
(xi) Hazardous Wastes
(xii) Sewage Wastes
(xiii) Medical wastes
Waste Collection and transportation
• Various waste collection methods has been adopted in Lagos metropolis.
These include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
House to house
Communal depots
Kerbsides
Block systems of collection
Commercial and industrial waste collection
Bulk loading
Cart
Open bed trucks
Trucks
Compactors
Methodology
• Secondary data (Lagos State Waste Management Authority
(LAWMA)-domestic waste unit;
• Primary data (questionnaires and in-depth interview-IDI);
• A multi-stage sampling approach was adopted;
• The clustering of the study area into council wards;
• A random selection of households and industries;
• A purposive selection of educational institutions and 10 IDI was
done;
• A total of 290 respondents were administered the questionnaires;
• The data were analysed in form of simple percentages;
• The (IDI) was interpreted to match the objectives of the study;
• The secondary data collected was interpreted to explain the
causal relationship between population growth and waste
management in Lagos metropolis.
Findings
• The study showed that majority of the respondents were single
181(62.4%), while 109(37.6%) were married.
• The secondary data showed that as the population
increased, the amount of waste generated also increased as
per capita waste generation per person is put at 0.5kg/p/day.
•
•
•
•
•
Alimosho LGA
Year
Population
2006
1, 362, 077
2007
1, 432,164
2008
1, 546, 737
•
“The continuous increase in population as experienced in Lagos brings about
increase in waste generated daily...” Female (Corporate Intelligence Unit)
Waste generated
248,579.60 tones
261, 369.20 tones
282, 280.05 tones
• (87.8%) population growth has an effect on waste management
(12.2%) of them think otherwise.
Therefore “population growth has a causal relationship with waste
management in urban centres”... (Zerbock, 2003)
Waste collection, transportation and disposal
•
Waste collection-
•
•
•
•
•
Once a week (46.3%)
Twice a week (21.1%)
Not collected (12.6%) and result to burning at night
Once in two weeks (11.6%)
Once a month (8.4%)
•
Waste transportation and disposal
Study Findings
• (61.1%) engage the services of cart pushers (kọlẻ kọlẻ)
• (38.9%) do not
• (58.9%) engage the services of private operators
• (38.9%) do not and
• (2.1%) sometimes engage their services and sometimes do
not engage their services.
PPP and waste management in Lagos
• (47.0%) LAWMA have been effective in the management of waste
(12.2%) LAWMA have been ineffective and
• (40.8%) were undecided.
• “LAWMA operates during the day and at night, it does street sweeping
and refuse evacuation across the metropolis”... Male (Domestic waste Unit).
• (56.1%) private operators are effective in the management of waste
(22.4%) private operators have been ineffective and
(21.5%) were undecided.
• A shared IDI response revealed that:
“Their performance is satisfactory because the private operators are
very effective, though some perform averagely; their participation is
still required as LAWMA directs some of the Private Sector
Participation (PSP) activities”.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The study showed that waste generation in Lagos state from 2006-2008
increased as population growth was found to have a significant influence on
waste management in Lagos metropolis.
• Therefore;
• The need for increased waste education and awareness programmes on
radio and television stations daily
• The need to introduce waste management practices into the school
curriculum
• Establishment of recycling plants across each L.G.A of the state
• The need for mobile phone alerts as a medium of advocacy
• The fee for payment on waste collection should be made affordable
• Public private partnerships should be widely encouraged in the collection,
transportation and disposal of waste in Lagos state, Nigeria.
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
(Lagos will not get spoilt).