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Impact of Waste Recycling on Environmental Quality and Revenue Generation: Case Study of University of Lagos, Nigeria

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Impact of Waste Recycling on Environmental Quality and Revenue Generation: Case Study of University of Lagos, Nigeria International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review Received 28-07-2021 | Revised 20-08-2021 | Accepted 24-08-2021 | Published Online 26-08-2021 DOI: https://doi.org/https://ijcrr.info/index.php/ijcrr/article/view/915/918 ISSN (O) 0976-4852 IJCRR 12 (08), 20211−20227 (2021) Forestry and Environmental Impact of Waste Recycling On Environmental Quality and Revenue Generation: Case Study of University Of Lagos, Nigeria Adaobi Okudo Joseph A. Omojolaibi, Oladele Mubarak Abstract Post-consumption environmental impact has become an important is- sue all over the world. Waste generation and disposal is a basic part of any developing or industrial nation. Waste volumes are predicted to continue rising unless action is taken in order to keep down the problem. This study investigates the impact of recycling on environ- mental quality and revenue generation in University of Lagos, Nigeria, using descriptive analysis and two linear regression models’ analyses. Questionnaires were distributed to staff, students and residents of the University, as well as, an interview conducted with a resource person from the recycling unit of the University. The duo analysis employed shows that recycling has a significant impact on revenue generation and environmental quality. Though, it discovers that level of sophistication of technology used has no impact on revenue generated; also, level of income of the people has no significant impact on environmental quality. In this light, the study recommends that the university manage- ment should increase its awareness of the importance of recycling and also provide more disposal bin spots on campus, so as to increase its revenue generation capacity. Furthermore, to spur economic growth while ensuring an excellent environmental quality, there is need for strong institutions to enact effective policy, rules and regulation that will support sustainable development. To this end, we also recommend that government and concerned authorities lend supportive hands to individuals and establishments interested in promoting the recycling process. JEL Classification- D31, P64, H23, Q53, Q31 Keywords: Environmental Quality, Recycling, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Environmental Convergence Hypothesis Copyright : © 2021 The Authors. Published by Publisher. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). IJCRR 12 (08), 20211−20227 MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 20211 1 INTRODUCTION waste can constitute hazards to the society through the pollution of air, land and especially water. aste generation and disposal is a basic part of any developing or industrial nation. Arguably, Nigeria has not done well in the direction Every time a household shops at the store of tackling the menace of domestic waste. This is W even in the face of advanced management strate- and in open markets, he contributes to the mountain of waste accumulation within his immediate environ- gies existing today for domestic waste management ment; and by implication, the country at large. Waste, which have been adopted in many places. A proper both from domestic and commercial sources, has waste management system would help to ensure a good environmental quality and generate revenue grown significantly in Nigeria over the past decade. for the government. The growing volume of waste The percent of Nigeria’s population living in cities spawned by changes in consumption patterns is pre- and urban areas has more than doubled in the last 15 senting a formidable challenge to all. The problem years (Jimoh, 2005). is how to deal with a large increase in waste without A major issue confronting Nigerian Government is changing the lifestyles of the people. effective waste disposal mechanism and waste recy- The current practice in most municipalities is to cling. A considerable amount of waste is generated dispose of their waste into open garbage dumps. when consumers procure and use products. This dis- More economically, advanced countries have opted posal of waste has become a serious problem in Nige- for sanitary landfills and/or incinerators. Basically, ria due to the increase in the number of consumers the search for environmentally safe and socially (population) that led to high waste generation, hence, acceptable lands for waste disposal has become a the need for waste recycling to ascertain a cleaner recurrent concern that seems impossible to solve. environment (Omojolaibi and Nathaniel 2020). Many communities have investigated many options, Generally speaking, recycling of products (waste) but finding a site for a new landfill is becoming ex- has become an area of concern across countries tremely difficult because of the “not in my backyard” because it occupies an important position in the (NIMBY) syndrome. It is expected that with fur- supply chain with the growing necessity of cost min- ther urbanization and industrialization, this problem imization, and reduction of environmental impacts. will get worse. Pressure to protect the environment Recycling prevents the waste of potentially useful and nation at large is now coming from the public materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw through media reports and Non-Governmental Orga- materials, thereby reducing energy usage, air pollu- nizations (NGOs). tion (from incineration) and water pollution (from From the foregoing, recycling is key in reducing landfill). waste threats. While mandatory recycling has been The cities and urban areas experience continuous legalized in countries like New Jersey since 1987, growth which contributes enormously to the gen- there are several countries who are not yet onboard eration of solid and liquid waste. A look into the with recycling and have not realized that recycling implication of this waste accumulation shows that does not only makes environmental sense, but also, a the management of waste is a matter of national sound economic sense. According to Lisa (2015), on and international concern. The volume of waste does a global scale, recycling has encouraged the growth not actually constitute the problem but the ability of industries, increased revenue and created jobs. or inability of governments, individuals and waste disposal firms to keep up with the task of managing Supplementary information The online version waste and the environment. There is no doubt that of this article (https://ijcrr.info/index.php/ijcrr/artic a dirty environment affects the standard of living, le/view/915/918) contains supplementary material, aesthetic sensibilities, health of the people and thus which is available to authorized users. the quality of their lives (Mowoe, 1990). The con- Corresponding Author: Adaobi Okudo sequence is that improper disposal or storage of this IJCRR 12 (08), 20211−20227 MANUSCRIPT CENTRAL 20211 IMPACT OF WASTE RECYCLING ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND REVENUE GENERATION: CASE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, NIGERIA What is more important to the generators of waste, 2.1.2 Environmental Quality however, are the dollar savings that can be real- ized through recycling. Such savings are realized Less technically, environmental quality is the degree when the avoided cost of disposal, reductions in to which the naturally-occurring resources of the planet (land, air, and water) are free of artificial needed solid waste services and potential revenue impurities or waste products generated by human from the sale of recyclables are factored into the activity. Pollution is the primary problem of environ- overall equation. Of course, there are some costs mental quality. As pollution waste residuals are dis- associated with recycling, as there are with all other charged into the environment, environmental quality day-to-day operations overseen by companies and declines. Like other economic notions, environmen- organizations, however, generators of waste will see tal quality is subjective in the sense that it affects the the economic benefits of a well-run and successful satisfaction of wants and needs. recycling program over time. The avoided cost of disposal is the amount of money that is saved by 2.1.3 Environmental Security not having to send waste to a landfill, incinerator or transfer station for disposal. It will vary depending At its most fundamental level, according to Bartone upon the fee charged for garbage disposal at the (1991), security is believed to connote the efforts facility. to protect a population and territory against any organised force while advancing the state’s interests On this note, the overall objective of this study is to through competitive actions. When this definition of examine the impact of recycling on environmental security gained importance, the state was considered quality and revenue generation in University of La- as the sole entity capable of guaranteeing a nation’s gos, Nigeria. The specific objectives are to: security. 2.1.4 Solid Waste Management • Investigate the impact of recycling on environ- mental quality in University of Lagos. Solid waste management reduces environmental problem in the cities and towns. Just according • Examine the impact of recycling on revenue to Stanton (2012), it addresses the problem of in- discriminate dumping of waste in the environment generation in University of Lagos. which has remained a concern to many communi- ties. Poor solid-waste management system portends serious environmental crisis in most towns and cities. 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the amount and determine the composition of the mismanaged solid
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