1. Introduction
[1] defined solid waste as non-liquid and non-gaseous products of human activities regarded as being useless and could take the form of refuse garbage and sludge. Waste generation and disposal is one environment problem that has been of great concern to local inhabitants, local, state and federal government, as well as the world in general [2], 2008; [3]. In Nigeria, an average resident encounter in his household, institution and industry some tones of solid waste every year. According to [4] a major consequence of rapid urbanization is the growing generation of waste, and many city authorities face unprecedented challenges in managing. However the word “Waste” is highly subjective, while some persons see waste as a risk to public health and the environment, some find it as a mere necessary inconvenience and nuisance-necessary because it must be generated as long as man exist in the world to carry out day-to-day activities. From his perception, waste is a source of income [5]. [6] noted that the disposal and management of solid waste in developing countries, has continued to pose serious challenges due to the absence of an appropriate and organized waste disposal and management culture and technology which arises largely from financial constraints, and this is due to the fact that most towns in developing nations are almost choked up as a result of the process of urbanization, which is one of the major features of the 21st century. In Nigeria, available records show that in 1921 only 8% of Nigeria’s population was living in urban areas, the figure rose to 20% in 1970, 30% in 1993, and 40% in 1996. One of the problems associated with the high concentration of populations is that of waste generation and thus, its disposal and management.
Nigerian cities generate solid waste at an alarming rate such that in most cases, the volume of waste generated is often more than what the city system could absorb or handle. The characteristics of their problems range from inadequate housing, lack of potable water leading to unsanitary neighborhoods. Therefore, the health impacts of the latter problem cannot be far fetched as the incidence of typhoid, malaria fever etc. attacks among urban residents can be attributed largely to the deterioration of their immediate environment. Furthermore, due to rapid urbanization, the provision of infrastructural facilities is not enough to serve the growing population. In effect, most of the available services are often overstretched and this has posed a serious problem to urban inhabitants [7]. In fact the volume of waste, tend to grow with increasing population, production and consumption in Nigeria. Solid waste disposal and management have defiled various solutions mainly due to poor infrastructural facilities, coupled with low budgetary allocations to them [2,8].
[7] have hinted the lack of adequate awareness on the part of the general public on the management of waste from domestic and commercial sources. [1,2] observed that even where there seemed to be an organized refuse collection, disposal is often at open sites without considerations for the environment. Presently, very few cities in Nigeria can boast of a functional waste disposal system. Also, according to [2,7] most industries dump their solid waste in heaps within their premises while most households along the road turn the gutters into dumpsites which in turn, harbor and breed insets like mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches and maggots thereby, constituting public health hazards. [9] asserted that the way refuse are dumped along the road, can result in the blockage of roads. This type of situation is seen in the various communities of Ughelli main town. With the main concentration of refuse heaps at the Iwhreko market bridge, Afiesere junction, St. Theresa Grammar school road in Ekiugbo, Uduraran street, Olori road all other major roads in the town [2]. The problem of solid waste disposal by roadside can also result in flooding [10]. The bridge by Uloho avenue junction in Isoko road, Ikprukpru Street and a stream in Adagaragba road are surrounded by both residential and commercial buildings, which experiences annual flooding during the wet season, as a result of the large quantity of refuse heaps blocking the main drainage channels [2].
In Ughelli, there has been rural-urban drift, which has speedily increased the population of the town and in turn, has led to increase in the rate of waste generation and thus, the subsequent problem of its disposal and efficient management. This drift is as result of influx of workers both in the public, oil and other sector of the economy. Take for example Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), Ministries and Government bodies, Primary and Secondary Schools, Majority of the commercial banks such as, Oceanic, PHB, Zenith, UBA, First, Union, first Inland, amongst others and the sitting of SETRACO Nig. Ltd., a construction company in charge of the dualization of the Warri-Kiama and the Ughelli main town road. As a result of these socio-economic activities, there has been an influx of people from neighboring towns and even foreigners employed by these companies. In addition to these workers there are also a large number of traders engaged in the buying and selling of goods and services in the various markets, especially on market days. These have precipitated in addition to the demolition and construction debris, sachet water nylon, broken bottles, scraps from vehicles animal wastes, vegetable matter, yam and plantain peels, corncobs, pieces of paper, road side banners, posters, etc. in Ughelli and environs.
These wastes can be found in heaps in the area as seen at Uduaran Street in Iwhreko community where there is a very large and illegal dumpsite situated on both side of the road. Also, in Emaearvwhore Street, there is a dumpsite very close to a nearby stream. Olori Street in Otovwodo community also experiences over flow of refuse helps along the road. The lukewarm attitude of the people towards environmental sanitation is very poor. The roads and streets are littered here and there with solid wastes. The major cause of poor environmental sanitation in the area, relates to poor administrative management and the lack of inappropriate technology to recycle wastes. These inabilities make the rapid generation and disposal of waste in the area serious problem, and the questions that agitate our minds is that what are the nature, type, method and volume of waste generated in the area? Based on the aforementioned problems and questions therefore, this study is set to examine the problem of solid waste generation and disposal in Ughell, Delta Nigeria.
2. Study Area
Ughelli is one of the major urban area in Delta state, which is located between latitude 50˚28'N and latitude 50˚32'N of the equator Longitude 50˚58'E and Longitude 60˚03'E of the Greenwich meridian, and Ughelli is a lowlying region of 0 - 100 meters above sea level with hyromorphic and organic soils as the major types of soils found in the area. The soil ranges from brown to sandy loam. As a result, both types of soil tend to develop a surface accumulation of peaty materials (10). The area is drained by river Ase a distributary’s river of the River Niger. Also the area is riddled with an intricate system of natural water channels and valleys, culminating in poorly drained landscape [11]. Ughelli urban has a population of 82,994 [12] the town was originally an agricultural settlement but, rapid industrialization has taken place as seen in the presence of major oil and construction companies such as SHELL, NNPC, SETRACO, etc. There are also a host of other commercial organizations in the town ranging from banks, medical centers, educational centers, hotels religious organizations, etc. The major form of public transportation is the motorcycle, popularly known as Okada. In recent times, there has been a great migration from other part of the Niger Delta and Nigeria in general, making the town a “melting pot” comprising of all major tribes in the country including foreigners who come for investment and expatriate purposes as seen in the presence of the oil and construction companies, and consequently contributed to the volume of waste generated in the area.
Trading is of one the major activities of the people in the area, ranging from petty trading to large-scale outlets. This can visibly be seen in the various markets in the town such as main market, Ekiugbo market, Afiesere market, meat market and other surrounding markets, which plays host to a large number of traders coming from the towns and its environs. This has encouraged the indiscriminate disposal of waste along these areas.
3. Methods of Data Collection
The study adopted field survey research design of direct field measurement and administration of questionnaires. Field observation was carried out by conducting a preliminary field survey of the area under study; observing refuse dumpsites along the major roads and street, household refuse bins and the various methods adopted for their disposal (see Figure 1). During the observation, the various materials composed of the wastes were sorted and characterized into different classes, noting the predominant items and types of solid waste materials discarded by users in the area.
Also, the number of times collection vehicles and individual empting their wastes was also noted.
Direct field measurements were carried out with the aid of scales, pans, buckets, drums, hand gloves, and measuring tape from 1980-2010 with the aid of scavengers in each of the quarters where the dumpsites are
Figure 1. Map of ughelli north local government area showing the study sites.
located on monthly basis. While the household wastes were measured with the aid of field assistants who resides within that neighbourhood, and they does the measurement of the households waste at the end of every week. Quadrant analysis was used to determine the volume of the wastes in the dumpsites. Four major and prominent dumpsites were selected from the four zones in the area. With the aid of the research assistants (scavengers), the length, breadth and height of each dumpsite was determined to get the area covered by wastes. To determine the volume of waste in the dumpsites, it was divided into portions with smaller area cover. That is one portion was measured to determine the area using the length, breadth and height. The portion was then emptied into buckets and placed on the scale to determine the weight (Kg) after the procedure of weighing; a portion of the dumpsite’s area using I by I m2 of the total volume of the dumpsite was determined using a mathematical equation: Area of dumpsite = L × B × H, where L = Length of waste dump, B = Width waste dump, and H = Height of waste dump. The method has been adopted by [2] with a significant level of success. The result obtained was multiplied by the area of the dump site in each zone, and were average for every five years period.
Waste bins were kept at each household for domestic waste collection and measurement. The household wastes were measured on weekly basis by the research assistants in each household and sample analysis was carried out on them to determine the composition and volume (Kg). In doing so, twenty households were selected from the existing zone based on systematic sampling procedure of selecting a household at interval of 5 houses, which then amounted to 20 households in each of the existing four quarters. Thus 80 households were selected and used for the study. Waste disposal buckets were distributed to each of the selected houses. The household wastes collected were sorted and labeled: There was also characterization of the wastes to determine their composition. Weighing of the household waste was done on weekly basis, from which conclusions were made on the average waste generated per week and year.
On the other hand a total of 100 questionnaires were administered on the basis of eighty questionnaires to heads of the households selected and twenty to other sector (industries, schools, markets etc.). This was done to determine the sources of waste, frequency/methods of waste disposal, those responsible for the collection of household wastes, and the effect of waste in the area. Solid waste data were also extracted from the Federal Ministry of Housing and Environment for some Nigerian towns; this was done to aid comparison of waste generated in Ughelli with other urban areas in Nigeria. The data were summarized and discussed using descriptive statistics (mean, percentages).
4. Results and Discussions
During the recognizance survey to the dumpsites it was observed that scavengers visits the dumpsites to pick plastics, metals and inorganic material leaving the organic material made up of food remains, plantain, yam, potato, cassava peels, corncobs and other perishables which are the major cause of the stench and pollution emitted from these dumpsite. It was also observed that the dump sites were not legally sited as they were sited on the sides of major roads and streets, alongside residential and commercial buildings, which is very hazardous to man’s health.
4.1. Volume of Solid Waste Generated
Table 1 shows the estimated and projected volumes of solid waste generated in some Nigeria cities from 1980 to 2010 and it indicate that the volume of solid waste generation in Nigeria has increased over the years. For instance solid waste in Ughelli ranges from 9243 Kg in 1980 to 21,653 Kg in August 2010, indicating an increase of 12,410 Kg for the past twenty five years. However Lagos (944,825 Kg) and New Busa (8331 Kg) had the highest and lowest rate of increased. Same could be said of the other cities (see Table 1).