Event Waste Management: A Study of a Religious Event in Ho

Abstract

Events attract large numbers of visitors across the globe as it serves as a motivation for travel and tourism. Travel to attend religious events is a common trend as different types of religious celebrations attract pilgrims annually. Whatever the type, all events generate waste, litter and trash both on the venue and its surrounding environments. This study evaluates a crusade organized by the Christ Embassy church held at the Ho Sport stadium on the 20^th May, 2017 attended by about 15,000 visitors across Africa. A descriptive design was adopted to assess waste management at the event. Data was obtained  from the five (5) members of the event organizers waste management sub-committee in a focus group discussion who were purposively selected in addition to a semi-structured interviews with five (5) event attendees sampled at random and analyzed using the conversation and narrative analytical techniques based on emerging themes. From the study, it was revealed that ZoomLion Ghana Ltd, Volta region was contracted to manage waste at the event. Their functions were to fumigate the venue before the program and manage the waste during and after the program. ZoomLion Ghana Ltd, Volta region provided mobile toilets, dustbins and personnel to empty the bins to avoid spillage. However, there were challenges of indiscriminate littering and defecation on the premise. It is concluded that event waste management was less satisfactorily in the case of the Ho religious Crusade. It is recommended that forecasting event attendees should be done taking into consideration all the factors that are likely to affect attendance and if could also be contracted to an event professional.

Keywords: event, waste, attendees, waste management, religious events, tourism, cultural event