THE IMPACT OF INEFFICIENT WASTE MANAGEMENT TO OCEANS IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Waste or household waste is the waste generated by households. It must be discerned from municipal solid waste, which is the waste collected by the municipal collection system. Waste can be divided mainly into paper and cardboard, glass, plastic, organic fractions, hazardous waste and bulky waste (Giusti 2002). Giusti (2002) described further that wastes are useless, unwanted or discarded materials resulting from everyday items that man consumes and discards. It predominantly includes food wastes, yard waste, containers and product packaging, and other miscellaneous inorganic waste. Example of inorganic household waste are appliances, newspapers, clothing, food scrapes, boxes, disposable tableware, office and classroom paper, furniture, wood pallets, rubber tires and cafeteria wastes. Others include medication, paints, chemical, light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, spray cans, fertilizer, pesticide container, butteries, shoe polish etc,
According to Datol (2005), Daily household and commercial activities generated around 400kg of waste per person in 1996. This included both mixed household rubbish and separately collected waste such as paper and glass factor in the trend towards increased waste generation since 1996 and it becomes clear that the 300kg limit will not be reached without significant cuts in household waste generation. He added that as household activities increase so would the generation of refuse or waste increases especially in the urban communities.
It would not occur that waste generation and disposal being reduced in 1998-2003 over 822 millions tones in UK and other part of African countries, the mean reduction of daily household and commercial waste in cities have increased significantly, which demands for effective domestic waste control and management. Domestic waste generation and disposal is hazardous to human health, which need the use of technology for proper management. Waste management is the collection, transportation, processing, recycling or disposal and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health and environment. Waste management is also carried out to discover resources from it. Waste management can involve solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances, with different methods and fields of expertise for each. The more solid, liquid and gaseous waste generated daily, the more professional personnel and technologies needed for effective domestic waste management (Okafor 2002).
Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas and for residential and industrial producers. Management for non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibilities of local government authorities while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibilities of the generator (Emehorale, 2000).
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