An Appraisal of Solid Waste Generation and Management in Jalingo City, Nigeria.

Abstract

Solid waste has become one of the greatest menaces in the world over, but the situation in the developing countries such as Nigeria has become pathetic. This paper looked at the relationship between the level of waste generation and management in Jalingo city, Nigeria. The result of the analysis indicated that there is tremendous growth in the population of the city due to its changing role from a town 1980 to the capital city of Taraba State in 1996. The National Population Commission of Nigeria put the population of the town as 62,252 in 1991 and had risen to 1969,509. The volume of waste generated rose from 2,017.35 tonnes monthly in 2000 to about 2,519.01 tonnes monthly in 2008. The management of the waste has been fluctuating over the same period due to political factor, inadequate manpower, and obsolete equipment, socio-economic and cultural factors. The level of waste collection reached its peak in 2006 (1,296.17 tonnes) and at its lowest ebb in 2005 (953.75 tonnes). The analysis of the waste generated indicated that the mean monthly collection is 2,254.98 tonnes and the mean monthly collection is 1,150.94 tonnes. The regression analysis shows that the F calculated is 1.796 while the F-table is 3.890. The P-value is 0.183 which indicated that there is no relationship between the level of waste generation and management in the city. The implication is that the city is fast becoming garbage city as heap of waste is found round the city. There should be adequate provision of waste management strategies that will include private sector participation in the management.

Keywords: Solid Waste, Management, Municipal, Environment, Waste Generation.