Assessment of solid waste management practices in Nakasero Market, Kampala.
Abstract
Solid Waste Management in markets is one of the biggest challenges facing city authorities across the world due to exponential rise in volumes generated exceeding the technical and financial capacity for collection and disposal. Uganda is one of the developing countries which has not been spared with issues of solid waste management.The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) recognizes that given the huge cost of collection, the amount of solid waste generated exceeds the capacity to collect and dispose it off where by, of approximately 1500-2000 tons of garbage collected per day, only 400-500 tons are collected and only 40 percent is stored.
Objective: To assess solid waste managed practices in Nakasero market so as to inform future interventions promoting proper waste management among vendors in the market. Methods: This was across-sectional study design among 78 vendors of Nakasero market aged 20 years and above. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on the practices of solid waste management among the vendors. Data was analysed descriptively to obtain frequencies and percentage of cases. Results: From the results, majority of the waste generated (52.6%) is collected in sacks, 23.10% collected in dustbins, 15.4% collected in old containers, 7.7% collected in polythene bags and the remaining little portion of the waste about 1.3% is dropped on the ground. Where, around 87.2% of the respondents dispose off waste on a daily basis.Results show that from the sampled respondents, majority (80%) generated organic waste comprised of food waste (peelings, spoilt food items and food remains) as the most generated waste, followed by yard waste (vegetable leaves, plant stalks, stem cuttings) and the least generated was metals with (1.3%).More than half (72%) of the vendors cited high market population as the most influencing factor, and that variation in seasons, accounting for 1.3%, was as the least influential factor based on the respondents that were sampled. Provision of waste collection equipment (trucks, waste bins/sacks) and support from the market leadership were mentioned as key enablers to proper solid waste management in the market. Conclusion:The findings from the study revealed that the vendors in Nakasero market had poor practices on management of waste in the market. From the study, it was found out that, there are some issues/factors hindering solid waste management in Nakasero market such as congestion, limited waste collection and storing equipments etc. and need to addressed by the concerned parties. Information from this research will therefore be useful in guiding the waste management activities and promote possible strategies and approaches that will build capacity on solid waste management.