Involvement Of Local Communities In Solid Waste Management In Dodoma City Council

ABSTRACT

Solid waste management in urban areas in Tanzania is still a great challenge, Dodoma city is among of the urban areas which has not succeeded in management of solid wastes. There is insufficient and sustainable means of collection of wastes in households and communities. Therefore, this study examines roles played and challenges faced by community in the improvement of solid waste management. A cross section design was used to gather information from selected representative wards. Primary data were collected through interviews and observation methods using questionnaire and checklist tools. Secondary data were collected through reviewing various documents including books, internet, journals and report. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive, statistics where frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation were obtained. The findings have shown that waste from kitchen and business activities were major sources of domestic solid waste. Also, the study found out that most of households use dust bins (plastic containers) and rubbish pits to store solid waste generated at source. Moreover, majority of households walk to waste collection points to dispose-off their solid waste, whereas others use open dumping as the method of disposing household solid waste. Also city trucks reported as the tools used to collect waste to dumping/disposal sites twice per week. Furthermore, the study found out that major challenges affecting domestic solid waste management were low income, poor infrastructure, lack of technology, inadequate awareness, inadequate stakeholders support, low by-laws awareness and enforcement, and poor public participation. The study recommends that private firms and the city council should employ an integrated approach and work together in the management of household solid wastes.