Spatial analysis of solid waste collection sites in Abakaliki metropolis

Abstract

Waste management is becoming more difficult as a result of the growing population and increased waste generation. Waste collection is a crucial step in the waste management process. This study mapped out the locations of the current waste collection sites in Abakaliki metropolis, analyzed their spatial distribution using the Average Nearest Neighbor (ANN) tool in GIS software, and looked into the implications of these sites. The results showed 373 waste collection sites within the metropolis, of which 77.5% of them were unofficial. In addition, the analysis demonstrated that the distribution of the waste collection sites within the metropolis increases with a residential density waste/area ratio of 15.41, 1.63, and 0.76 for high, medium and low residential density areas respectively. The average nearest neighbor result also revealed that the distributions of the waste collection sites within the metropolis are clustered in three (3) out of the Six (6) classified land uses namely, high residential density areas, medium residential density areas and the commercial areas whereas the administrative and public areas showed dispersed distribution. The study concluded that waste collection sites within Abakaliki Metropolis were not selected based on empirical studies.