ABSTRACT
Solid waste management has become the greatest problem facing many urban and semi-urban areas in Nigeria. The management of solid wastes in recent time has become a very big challenge. The problem of waste generation, handling and disposal has reached a disturbing level in Nigerian urban centers. The study analyzed domestic solid waste management strategies in Tunga, Chanchaga Local Government, Niger State, Nigeria. This was achieved through characterizing the types of domestic solid wastes generated in the study area, examining the domestic solid waste management strategies employed in the study area, identifying the key players in domestic solid waste management in the study area, examining the frequency of waste generated and waste disposed and ascertaining the effectiveness of the domestic solid waste management strategies employed in the study area. The primary data used in this study was obtained by direct field observations, questionnaire administration, oral interviews, images and photos of the study area. 327 out of 2040 households were sampled. The research questions were answered using tables of frequencies and percentages, bar and pie charts, Chi Square and Kruskal Wallis tests. The results showed that the kinds of domestic solid wastes generated in the study area were mainly organic, paper, plastic, old and rusted metals and textile wastes. The domestic solid waste management strategies in place were burning, open dumping and burying, with open dumping being the most common domestic solid waste management strategy practiced in the study area (about 72%). The key players involved in the management of solid wastes were the government and individual households. The daily generation of waste (about 74%) exceeded the daily disposal of wastes (about 49%) in the study area. 63% of the respondents reported that burning of domestic solid waste is effective, 84% reported that burying domestic solid wastes is effective while 14% reported that open dumping of domestic solid wastes is effective. The Chi Square analysis showed a significant difference between the frequency of wastes generated and waste disposed in the study area with an alpha value of 0.01, while the Kruskal Wallis H test showed no significant difference in the effectiveness of the domestic solid waste management strategies in the study area (α= 0.646). The findings of this study showed that the methods of waste management adopted in the study area do not conform to sustainable waste management practices. This implies that much attention has not been given to domestic solid waste management in the study area. The study thus recommended Public Enlightenment and Education on issues of waste management and a better public awareness strategy on the subject matter, Increase in Waste Collection Frequency and the adoption of composting as a method of waste management since majority of the domestic solid waste generated is organic in nature.