Household Waste Quantities and Problem of Management in Port Harcourt

Abstract

The research evaluated the progressive increase and in-depth analysis of the quantity and the percentage composition of household waste generated and the problems of management in Port Harcourt metropolis, Rivers state of Nigeria. The accumulation of large quantities of household waste in the city and the unsustainable management is worrisome because of the strategic position of Port Harcourt as the hub of multinational companies especially in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria and its status as the garden city. This has led to flooding as it blocks the drains, poor aesthetics, increased surface temperature as a result of emissions of greenhouse gases and a factor to public health risk. The state government in 2001 set up a technical committee on urban solid waste management for Port Harcourt metropolis to prepare a blue print on solid waste management between 2001 and 2031 and quantitative determination of household wastes generated. This present research work focused on data gathering of volume of household wastes generated and their compositions ten years after field work data of the committee. The results of the research indicated that a total of 647,066 metric tonnes of household waste was generated by an estimated population of 1,911,000 inhabitants in Port Harcourt and the percentage composition is as follows, food waste 44.5%, sachet bags 17.3%, paper 15.7%, plastics 7.5%, garden waste 4.4%, Textile 2.2%, Electricals, 1.8%, glass 1.2%, Napies and others 1.3%. There was an appreciable increase from the quantity generated in 2001 which was 342,352 tonnes by an estimated population of 1,148,000. The progressive rise in the quantity of household waste generated without any appropriate management strategy in place remains an obstacle to sustainable waste management in Port Harcourt metropolis. It is recommended that key elements of waste management and modern waste management strategies of prevention and reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery operations be adopted by people, government, service providers in Port Harcourt metropolis.