ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFICIENCY OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN EASTERN DIVISION, SOROTI MUNICIPALITY

ABSTRACT

Solid wastes are materials that have been discarded from the material flow pattern because they lack value to the owner.

Solid waste management systems are a group of related, proved and effective tools that work together as a whole to reduce the volume of solid wastes from the generation points, storage, collection, treatment, recycling or reusing and disposing off the remaining waste material in an effort to reduce their effect on human health or local aesthetics and amenity.

The study was conducted in Eastern Division, Soroti municipality, Eastern Uganda to assess the efficiency of solid waste management systems. The objectives of the study were to identify the collection and disposal systems of solid waste management, to find out the efficiency of these systems, to explore the challenges associated with these systems and establishing the measures put in place to ensure efficient solid waste management. This was achieved by using purposive and simple random sampling to select the population.

The data was collected using both open and closed ended questionnaires, interview guides, observation and photography for obtaining primary data while secondary data was obtained from reviewing of literature.

The findings of the study indicated that the most common ways of collecting solid wastes being used include vehicles, wheel barrows, bicycles, old jerry cans and used containers, sisal sacks and polythene. The disposal methods being used include open dumping, burning or burying, litter bins, rubbish pits, sanitary landfills, others are cremation, latrine dumping, incineration, pig or animal feeding.

However, the results indicated that these methods were inefficient and this was attributed to indiscriminate and ignorant disposal, lack of awareness, mixing of bio degradable and non biodegradable wastes, inadequate equipments, pollution, inadequate funds hence delayed payment of workers, low frequency of waste collection for disposal, weak laws and regulations.

With this, I concluded that the existing solid waste collection and disposal methods were inefficient in this area in relation to the high population growth rates hence I suggested the following recommendations;

More incentives for solid waste collection and disposal such as timely payment of employees, timely collection and disposal, modern machinery for handling complicated wastes.
Great emphasis on community participation, monitoring and surveillance, increased allocation of funds towards environment management by the Local government, environment education programs for creating further awareness, strict laws and policies.