A Systematic Review of Waste Management in Lead City University, Ibadan
Chapter One
Objectives of the study
The main objective of the study is to carry out a systematic review of waste management in Lead City University, Ibadan. Specifically, the study sought to carry out;
- Comprehensive characteristics and quantification of waste generated in lead city university, Ibadan.
- Assessment of health & environmental hazard of solid and health care waste in lead city University.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual review
Concept of waste
Waste is a material with no apparent market or environmental value, at times, even of negative one that the producer no longer wants in a given place and at a given time. Waste can also be anything discarded by an individual, household or organization. As a result, waste is a complex mixture of different substances, only some of which are intrinsically hazardous to health (Rushton, 2018). Municipal solid waste (MSW) is defined to include refuse households, non- hazardous solid waste from industrial, commercial and institutional establishments including hospitals, market waste, yard waste, and street swiping (Chadyl et al., 2019). Domestic wastes are wide variety produced from household activities such as food preparation and consumption, sweeping, burning, and garden wastes, and used items like clothing, furnishings, and abandoned equipment. Domestic waste includes both solid and liquid and sometimes hazardous wastes generated from residential areas and sometimes referred to as household wastes (Mohammed, et.al, 2017). Insider Weekly newspaper of August 2nd, 2017 reported that findings have shown that diarrhea, especially, among the infant population, is on the increase in recent times. And some medical experts have attributed the outbreak of these diseases to the polluted air arising from waste mismanagement (Zemena, 2016). The increase in production of domestic waste is as a result of increase 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. Among the disease-transmitting insects, the mosquito is the greatest menace, spreading malaria, dengue and yellow fever, which together are responsible for several million deaths and hundreds of millions of cases every year. Mosquitoes also transmit lymphatic filariasis and Japanese encephalitis. Emergence and resurgence of these mosquito-borne diseases in tropical and subtropical regions are devastating. It is estimated that 500 million – one in every ten persons suffer from one or more tropical diseases and the global situation of lymphatic filariasis is reported as the fourth rank. The geo-climatic conditions in South-East Asia are conducive for the transmission of vector-borne diseases (Wali, 2014). The magnitude of the mosquito menace and prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases depend upon various factors such as developmental activities, human interference, climatic changes, availability of parasitic load in the community and socio-cultural practices. This article highlights the impact of improper solid waste management on the public health.
Waste generation is an integral part of human activity influenced by social dynamics and economic development. Although nature has the capacity to dilute, disperse, degrade, absorb and reduce the impact of unwanted residues in the environment. Ecological imbalances have occurred where the natural assimilative capacity has been exceeded (Tchobanoglous et al., 2016). Improper waste handling and management pose great threats to the environment and public health. In Nigeria, the commonly practised waste management option involves the collection of mixed waste materials and subsequent dumping at designated dumpsites. It is not a practice to separate waste materials at source or any point during its management (Adekunle et al., 2011). The major types of waste generated can be grouped into liquid or solid.
Solid waste is generated from households, offices, shops, markets, restaurants, public institutions, industrial installations, water works and sewage facilities, construction and demolition sites, and agricultural activities (emissions from manure management as well as on-site burning of agricultural residues are treated in the Agriculture, Forestry and other land use). It is good practice to account for all types of solid waste when estimating waste- related emissions in the greenhouse gas inventory (Riitta et al., 2006).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter outlines in detail how the study was conducted. It describes the research design, brief profile of the setting, description of the population and sampling procedure.
Research Design
The research design employed in this study is the descriptive one which refers a systematic and empirical investigation where the researcher has no or little control independent variables due to their inherent nature, thus non-manipulated (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). This research was descriptive cross-sectional in design.
Population
The study participants were both staff and students in Lead City University, Ibadan. The overall populations of the respondents were one thousand one hundred and fifty-four (1,154).
Sample and sampling Technique
The sample size for this study was determined by using Leslie Kish formula from population of 1,154 participants. The formula for Leslie kish is:
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Results
This chapter presents data gathered from the field, followed by reports on the study’s analysis and interpretation of findings how the data were analyzed with appropriate statistical tools and highlights the findings of the research. A total of three hundred and seventeen (317) copies of questionnaire were randomly administered to respondents. Three hundred and three (303) copies of the questionnaire were retrieved, which amounted to 96% response rate. Below are the tables showing the frequency distribution of variables and responses of respondents to administered questions.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary
This study investigated systematic review of waste management in lead City University, Ibadan. The study shows that majority has the knowledge of what waste management is all about but there are some factors that associate with Solid and health waste Management. The factors included: lack of supply of colour coded bag, inadequate training for all the respondents, lack of weighing scale and lack of incinerator.
According to WHO, (2020), Solid and health waste must be segregated at the point of generation by using colour coded bags. The findings revealed that 88.8% segregated solid and health waste generated inside colour coded bags but it was observed that only tertiary and secondary healthcare facilities do partial segregation by separating sharps from other waste inside black bags and dustbin but the two primary health centres use nylon bag (poly bag). Although, 53.8% of respondents rated segregation of solid and health waste as good while 25.1% rated it poor but it was observed that segregation is very poor in all the four healthcare facilities surveyed. Findings of this study related to the study conducted in Jordan, which reported that the main problem facing Solid and health waste Management is improper segregation. A survey done by Hassan et al, (2018) in Bangladesh revealed that no proper and systemic segregation of medical waste is done.
It was observed that sharps container always fills the boxes most of the time especially where they are practicing partial segregation before they replace it, which is contrary to WHO, (2017) recommendation which stated that bags or sharp containers should be replaced when it is ¾ full. Majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge of solid and health waste management which is similar to the study conducted at Anambra by Azuike, et al., (2015) reported that the knowledge of the respondents on solid and health waste was high and it further agrees with the findings of a study done in India by Saini, et al., (2017) which reported that 91.7% of respondents had high knowledge. Tejas, et al., (2019) with the findings of Saini, et al., (2017) in India reported high knowledge of solid and health waste management among the respondents 86%, however on the contrary, a study done in Egypt by Mostafa, et al., (2019) reported a poor knowledge of the healthcare workers regarding solid and health waste management. The findings could be as a result of a good number of them having received training on solid and health waste management (SHWM) at an earlier time before the commencement of the study.
The type of SHW generated by selected healthcare facilities were mostly sharps, followed by general, pathological, chemical and radioactive wastes. Hazardous wastes was not properly segregated, collected and disposed. In fact, open dumping was commonly used for final disposal of solid and health waste by all the examined health facilities which is similar to Anozie, (2017). Findings reveal that respondents and the public are exposed to hazardous wastes. Moreover based on these findings, it is stated according to WHO, 2016 that improper disposal of hazardous solid and health waste (SHW) can pose health risk to respondents, patient and the public through environmental pollution by contaminating soil. (Abah and Ohimain, 2021) Even this observation is consistent with several studies (Allsopp, 2015; Echegaray, 2016; Ndidi , 2019; Ogbonna, 2021). There are no health facilities that practice incineration of solid and health waste and this is contrary to the study conducted by Njoroge, (2021) which reported that incineration is recognized as best standard and effective means of biomedical waste disposal.
Conclusion
The level of knowledge of the respondents of waste management was high; the practice of discarding sharps into the safety box by respondents was high. The current management practices for solid and health wastes generated at the health facility studied is unsustainable and cannot be relied upon to protect human health and environmental integrity. There is no existing policy or plan and no systems in place for sustainable management of solid and health waste management (SHW). There is urgent need to take practical steps aimed at ensuring the ‘duty of care’ and safeguarding the environment for current and future generations.
It was observed that solid and health waste was not quantified in all the four healthcare facilities that were surveyed due to lack of weighing scale. ‘You cannot manage what you don’t measure, is a classical management adage that has been proven by Ananth et al (2020)’. Partial segregation were done by tertiary and secondary healthcare facilities by separating sharps from other waste while primary healthcare centres did not segregate their waste. Black bags and dustbin were used for hazardous waste. Healthcare facilities transport solid and health waste with open vehicle to dispose openly in dumpsites. The choice of waste treatment technology according to Abah and Ohimain (2021) should be tailored to urban or rural health facility. Waste segregation therefore, should be employed as a critical step to achieve waste minimization, cost reduction and sustainable waste management practice. The knowledge of respondents on solid and health waste management was high, their practice was moderate but inadequate and that exposes respondents and the public to health hazards.
Recommendations
Based on the findings from the study, the following recommendations were made:
- The management of each hospital should provide colour coded bag for segregation of solid and health waste in their healthcare facilities.
- Training and retraining of all respondents on solid and health waste management must be done from time to time.
- The necessary equipment like solid and health waste weighing scale, incinerator must be provided for proper solid and health waste management.
- Formulation of appropriate institutional and national policies on Solid and health waste (SHW) and enforce the policies nationwide.
Contributions to knowledge
The researcher suggests that the students should be educated on the importance of using adequately and properly handling waste for example by using gloves, appropriate cloths, masks, etc. for handling waste. The researcher also recommends that the school should come up with environmental topics in the curriculum, educate the public on the effects of environmental pollution, putting proper signage among others. The researcher recommends that the schools should put in place measures to deal with challenges associated in waste management and where possible ask intervention from county authority or the government on the same especially in mitigation of possible human and environmental health problems.
Suggestion for further Studies
Findings from this research revealed the need for further studies on quantity of waste generated by the Lead City University, collection, storage and treatment of waste.
References
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