Generation rate and physical composition of solid waste in Wolaita Sodo Town, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The ever increasing amount of solid waste generated which is exacerbated by lack of proper waste management system is of growing environmental and public health concern worldwide and in major towns and cities of Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess the current solid waste generation rate and compositions in Wolaita Sodo town, Southern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey and quantitative methods was used, and a multi-stage sampling method was employed including stratified random sampling, systematic random sampling, and purposive sampling. For house hold survey, sample size was determined using a population proportion formula. Structured and semi-structured questionnaire were used for interview, and direct waste analysis at source was used for waste characterization. A total of 378 household heads and 30 key informants were interviewed. The study showed that solid waste generation rate of Sodo town is 0.47 Kg/cap/day and this is greater than most major towns of Ethiopia. The major sources of municipal solid waste were residential, commercial and institutional sectors. The composition by weight of the households were food (59.5%); ash and dust (25.08%);  yard waste (11.6% ); plastics and rubber (2.04%); paper and cardboard (1.12%); and textile, wood, glass and metals accounted only  0.1%, 0.16%, 0.2% and 0.2% wastes, respectively. More than 97.6% of solid wastes generated from households and 93.7% of municipal solid waste were biodegradable wastes. The study revealed that the town generates about 18,858,464 Kg of solid waste by wet weight per year. The town municipality must develop an appropriate solid waste management plan and implement to properly manage this huge amount of solid waste.

Keywords: Wolaita Sodo, Solid waste, generation, composition