WASTE DISPOSAL SYSTEM IN LAGOS: A MODERN SYSTEM OF GARBAGE DUMPING/DISPOSAL
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to Study
Lane and Peto (1995) and Williams (1995) assert that the historical development of waste treatment and disposal has been motivated by concern for public health. The industrial revolution between 1750 and 1850 led to many people moving from rural areas to the cities, a massive expansion of the population living in towns and cities, and a consequent increase in the volume of waste arising. The increase in production of domestic waste was merged by increases in industrial waste from the burgeoning new life scale manufacturing processes. The waste generated contained a range of materials such as broken glass, raw steel metal, food residue and human waste, and was dangerous to human health. In addition, it attracted flies, rats and other vermin, which in turn posed potential threat through the transfer of diseases. This leads to an increasing awareness of the link between public health and the environment.
In order to deal with these potential threats to human health, legislation was introduced on a local and national basis in many countries. For instance in the united kingdom throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, a series of Nuisance Removal and Desist Prevention Acts were introduced which empowered local authorities to set up teams of inspectors to deal with offensive traits and control pollution within city limits. In the United States of America, early legislature included the 1795 law introduced by the corporation of Georgetown, Washington, DC, which prohibited waste disposal on the streets and introduced the requirement for individuals to remove waste themselves or hire private contractors. By 1856, Washington had a city- wide waste collection system supported by taxes. By 1915, 50% of all major US cities provided a waste collection system, and this figure has risen to 100% by 1930{NEAL AND SCHUBUL 1987: McBean et al 1995}. This trend spread to other part of the world particularly the developed world.
Following the 2nd world war waste treatment and disposal was not seen as a priority environmental issue by the general public and legislature, and little was done to regulate the disposal of waste. But, a series of incidents in the late 1960’s and 1970’s alighted waste as a potential major source of environmental pollution. Then series of toxic chemical waste dumping incidents led to increasing awareness of the importance of waste management and the need for a more stringent legislative control of waste. Today in UK, USA, and Australia and even in South Africa majority of waste is disposed of in land fill sites.
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