Waste picking and the effects of solid waste separation by households in Ibadan metropolis, SW Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Waste pickers are ubiquitous in major cities and involved in sorting, reusing, recycling, and sales of recyclables. Waste picking serves as a source of livelihood and helps where the formal sector is encumbered with municipal waste management. This study focuses on waste picking and pickers’ views on the effects of households’ separation of solid wastes on their jobs. An intercept survey was conducted amongst 65 waste pickers in Ibadan metropolis. Data were analysed via descriptive and inferential statistics. Most waste pickers were males (92.3%) and single (53.8%) and 61.5% faced repression from law enforcement agents. Although aware of the benefits of source separating solid waste, 61.5% of respondents were not in support of the government making it mandatory, fearing that their income would suffer. The study recommends integrating waste pickers into the city’s waste management plan. This would improve the livelihood of waste pickers and ensure a sustainable and clean environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Waste
• household segregation
• regulation
• health risk

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the British Academy Writing Workshops Grant 2021 for Early Career Researcher development in Africa through writing workshops and mentoring (Grant reference number: WW21100104); and to the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health (SEGH) for helping us to write better.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the African Union via a Pan African University (PhD) scholarship awarded to Modinat Mosunmola Adekunle.