Public Participation in Solid Waste Management Practices within Owerri Urban of Imo State, Nigeria

Municipal waste disposal have reached a crucial point in major urban areas in Nigeria especially Owerri urban and householders readiness to participate in waste management are still declining moreover the problems of indiscriminate dumping of refuse at central places and open dumping and burning at private residents continue to persist. A structured questionnaire was provided to residents of Owerri urban areas addressing lack of knowledge and attitude as a factor in waste recycling, methods of waste disposal, participation and practice using SCHOM analysis that identified 24 active waste dump/disposal sites. ANOVA at 0.95 % value of F calculated was 0.25 and less than the value of F critical at value of 4.25 which shows that the burning and burying of waste was unaffected by usage of bins within any location but rather a habit acquired over the years. Also F calculated in column of ANOVA was less than F critical and showed that different zones exhibit different disposal habits and their levels of participation are affected by levels of quality of surrounding environment, popular trend, sex, age and income. SCHOM participants revealed a trend in volume of waste generated among householders to be Metalsless thanGlassesless thanGarden wasteless thanPapersless thanplasticsless thanKitchen Litter. Analysis showed that Owerri urban residents had high level of awareness in waste sorting and it should be introduced because the public is more likely to participate in recycling programs when they contribute to the designing of such programs