Assessing the impacts of poor solid waste management at Masese landing site

Abstract

Masese Landing site is located on the eastern shoreline of Lake Victoria outside Jinja town where fishing boats come to sort their catches. The poor solid waste management situation in the area in recent years has led to high incidences of drainage problems on Lake Victoria and environmental degradation related challenges. This study was therefore carried out to assess the types of solid wastes generated by households and the methods used by households to collect and dispose off solid wastes and establish the impact of poor solid waste management on Lake Victoria and the livelihood of people in the area. The study was guided by the following objectives; To assess the types of wastes generated by households at Masese Landing site, to assess the methods used by households to collect and dispose off solid wastes at Masese landing site, to assess the impact of Poor solid waste management on Lake Victoria and livelihood of people at Masese landing site The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative research designs and a sample size of 100 respondents was used. The study population included adults in the community of Masese Landing site and all its households, fishermen, business men and women, health workers, local leaders, and farmers living in the area. According to the results of the study, 45.2% of the respondents indicated that the most common type of waste generated in the area was plastic waste. 12.5% indicated that food stuff wastes were also prevalent in the area. Still more than 14.4% of the respondents failed to tell how they collected and handled solid waste in their homesteads but 34% indicated that they used sacks and others usually preferred to collect waste in a certain corner whereas only 1 respondent admitted that they collected their solid waste in polythene bags which would then be put somewhere out in the environment. The government should favor progressive and modern technocratic solutions in as far as solid waste management is concerned. Current solutions are not necessarily as efficient at collecting, sorting or recycling waste. Replacing regulations that recognise waste as a renewable energy source with regulations that favour composting and the reuse and resale of resources could have beneficial effects on waste management budgets, and the environment in general.