THE WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN LOW INCOME AREAS OF JOS, NIGERIA: THE CHALLENGES AND WASTE REDUCTION OPPORTUNITIES JANET AGATI YAKUBU A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Brighton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2017 ABSTRACT An estimated 2 billion people do not have access to waste collection services, and 3 billion do not have access to controlled waste disposal. This lack of services and infrastructure has a detrimental impact on public health and the environment with waste being dumped or burnt in communities. With waste levels projected to double in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) by 2025 there are significant challenges facing municipalities who already lack the basic resources needed to manage waste. The United Nations acknowledged the problems of poor sanitation and waste management in the Sustainable Development Goals which sets targets to address these challenges, including the target by 2030 to substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, reuse and recycling. Jos, the capital of Plateau state in Nigeria, shares the waste management challenges facing cities in LEDCs. The population of Jos is projected to increase from 1.3 million in 2007 to 2.7 million in 2025, with much of the population living in densely populated areas that lack basic sanitation and controlled disposal of waste. This thesis presents the results of a detailed investigation into the current waste management system in Jos with a focus on low income areas. Through the adoption of mixed methods the thesis identifies how waste is currently being managed and establishes the challenges to sustainable waste management. The existing waste management system was found to be grossly inadequate with 64 communal collection containers being used to collect waste for the entire city, this equates to 20,313 citizens per container. The system leads to most residents disposing of their waste through open dumping in public space and water bodies, and open burning, with impacts to public health and the environment. Key challenges identified include the lack of suitable resources, political interference, poor governance, overlapping responsibilities of agencies, lack of waste awareness amongst the public, and poor infrastructure. 13 recommendations are presented to help develop an improved waste management system in the study area. Despite reduction and reuse being the priorities of the waste hierarchy there is a paucity of research on the potential of waste prevention within LEDCs especially low income areas. With waste levels projected to increase, waste prevention interventions could play an important role. Following waste analysis and a review of waste prevention initiatives adopted globally, a shortlist of options suitable for the study area was developed. This shortlist was assessed using Ketso and SWOT analysis facilitated in focus groups representing the waste industry and the community. Community composting was identified as waste prevention intervention with the most potential due to 65.2% of the waste stream in the study area being biodegradable, and only 5.2% of the community currently composting. Benefits of this approach would be less pressure on the waste collection system, reductions in waste being indiscriminately dumped, increased awareness of waste issues, and compost production that could be utilised in the community. 2 7 recommendations are presented that in the long term could help to promote waste prevention in the study area including training of community volunteers, engagement with community leaders, and the developmenttof holistic waste awareness campaigns. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 2 LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................. 12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... 19 DECLARATION ....................................................................................................... 21 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 22 1.1 DEFINITION OF SOLID WASTE ............................................................. 22 1.2 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH ....................... 25 1.2.1 Waste management in LEDCs ............................................................. 25 1.2.2 The waste hierarchy and the importance of waste prevention ............. 29 1.2.3 An introduction to Jos, Plateau State ................................................... 31 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ......................................................................... 33 1.4 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ...................................................... 36 1.4.1 Existing research on SWM in Nigeria ................................................. 36 1.4.2 Gaps and proposed contribution to knowledge .................................... 36 1.5 AN OUTLINE OF THE THESIS STRUCTURE ....................................... 38 2 A REVIEW OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA ................................................................................................................... 41 2.1 BACKGROUND TO NIGERIA ................................................................. 41 2.1.1 Geography and demographics .............................................................. 41 2.1.2 Socio-economic status .......................................................................... 45 2.1.3 Governance structure in Nigeria – waste management ........................ 48 2.2 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA ............... 51 2.2.1 History of waste management in Nigeria ............................................. 51 2.2.2 Development of national waste policy ................................................. 52 2.2.3 Solid waste generation ......................................................................... 54 2.2.4 Municipal solid waste composition in Nigeria .................................... 56 2.2.5 Municipal solid waste collection .......................................................... 57 2.2.6 Municipal solid waste management options ........................................ 58 2.2.7 Impacts of waste management ............................................................. 69 2.2.8 Challenges to sustainable waste management in Nigeria .................... 77 2.3 Summary of chapter .................................................................................... 86 3 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN JOS ............................... 87 3.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 87 3.1.2 Growth in low income areas and infrastructure ................................... 89 3.1.3 Demographics of residents ................................................................... 91 3.2 WASTE MANAGEMENT IN JOS ............................................................ 92 3.2.1 Levels of waste generation ................................................................... 92 4 3.2.2 Waste composition ............................................................................... 94 3.2.3 Municipal waste collection .................................................................. 94 3.2.4 Waste disposal in Jos ........................................................................... 95 3.2.5 The impacts on public health and the environment ............................. 95 3.2.6 Resource recovery ................................................................................ 96 3.2.8 Challenges to waste management in Jos .............................................. 97 3.3 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER ....................................................................... 99 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN ........................................... 100 4.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 100 4.2 RESEARCH PROCESS ............................................................................ 101 4.2.1 Nature of research .............................................................................. 101 4.2.2 Research Approach ............................................................................ 102 4.2.3 Research Strategy ............................................................................... 103 4.2.4 Pilot testing of questionnaire .............................................................. 107 4.2.5 Sampling ............................................................................................ 107 4.3 DATA COLLECTION STRATEGY ........................................................ 108 4.3.1 Overview ............................................................................................ 108 4.3.2 Background fieldwork ........................................................................ 111 4.3.3 Direct observations............................................................................. 111 4.3.4 Focus group discussions ..................................................................... 112 4.3.5 Semi structured Interviews