Effects of Solid Waste Management in Kitengela Ward: a Case Study of Kajiado County

Abstract

As the world becomes more urbanized and developed, consumption rates are on the rise. An inevitable consequence of more consumption is the rapid increase in the amount of solid waste that is produced. Today, solid-waste management (SWM) conditions in the developing world are often quite dire and reminiscent of those found in the developed world several generations ago. The impact of inadequate SWM practices on natural and human environments is now being acknowledged. This research intended to study the effects of solid waste management in Kitengela Ward, a case study of Kajiado County. The general objective of the study was to examine the effects of solid waste management in Kitengela. However, the study also focused on the following specific objectives as well: - to determine the sources contributing to solid waste in Kitengela; to examine the methods of solid waste disposal in Kitengela; to examine the effects of solid waste man-agement on commercial institutions and households in Kitengela, and to investigate bar-riers in solid waste management in Kitengela. The study tested three null hypothesis; Household waste types does not affects solid waste management, secondly, there is no relationship between household waste types and the reason for household disposal pref-erence method, and lastly, there is no relationship between age and household waste types. Using a survey research design, the study collected data from a systematic random sample of 100 households selected from a population of 58208 households in the study area. The sample size was 100 randomly selected households. Data collection instru-ments for this research were questionnaires, interviews and observation. Further the re-searcher used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data. The quantitative method employed was to present data in tables and percentages. Data were analyzed by first generating an SPSS dataset on which various analytical operations, within SPSS; IBM version 21, were done including generation of percentages, and descriptive and in-ferential statistics. The findings of this research supports results of test hypothesis, that indeed Household waste types affects solid waste management, secondly, there is a rela-tionship between household waste types and the reason for household disposal prefer-ence method, and lastly, there is a relationship between age and household waste types. Conclusion of the study were that there should be storage receptacles in the households and commercial institutions; availability of land properly selected and demarcated for use as dump site, engage and improve public awareness of and community participation in waste management. The recommendations of the study were in terms of policy and future recommendations; recommendation for policy are; bylaws concerning waste in the Ward should be enacted; existence of public health offices and officers should be present in the study area, whereas recommendation for future are; waste minimization through waste management value chains should be encouraged; develop a properly engineered landfill site at a suitable location; allocation of skips in households and within the Ward; waste segregation and recycling should be encouraged; increase in the personnel who are engaged in the solid waste management process; route optimization using geolocation and big data to reduce garbage runs and transport costs.