The state of solid waste management in Nigeria.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. Located on the western part of Africa, it has a population of over 140million people. The country has had an annual increase in population growth rate of 3.2% from 1991. The rate of urban growth has also been estimated at 5.5% per annum. Nigeria is made up of 36 states, excluding the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, with Lagos and Kano States having populations of over 9 million persons. The FCT has shown the highest growth rate in population between 1991 and 2006, with a 9.3% increase even though it has the lowest population of slightly over 1million compared to all the 36 states. An insight into this population data is necessary as an increasing population poses a major obstacle to effective solid waste management. It results in increased amounts of waste generation and as a consequence, greater capital input in managing the waste; difficulty in monitoring and controlling indiscriminate littering and dumping practices; creates general enforcement problems and also hinders efficient transportation of wastes to disposal sites. Generally, problems with solid waste management in Nigeria besides increasing population are a lack of continuity in implementation of government policies, inadequately formulated policies, financial and operational constraints, and poor attitude of citizens towards waste management. Solid waste (SW) management is a serious problem in Nigerian cities. It is estimated that an average Nigerian generates about 0.49 kg of solid waste per day with households and commercial centres contributing almost 90% of total urban waste burden. Little information exists on industrial, agricultural and biomedical waste profiles. As with most developing countries, a greater percentage of solid waste is composed of organic (putrescible) matter but recently there has been a marked increase in the amount of plastic wastes generated in Nigeria. Waste storage and collection in Nigeria is handled either by the State Environmental Agencies or Private Companies or both. Most often, high and medium class residential areas get better services than low class ones mainly due to willingness of the former group to pay for the services which is facilitated by proper planning in these areas thereby making monitoring and enforcement less difficult. Solid waste is mainly disposed of in controlled landfills, open dumps, and water bodies. Different types of wastes including hazardous wastes are dumped together without any real awareness as to their compatibility with one another. Uncontrolled burning of dumps as well as burning of refuse from homes such as confidential documents, rags, and tyres is common. The activities of scavengers are well-pronounced at dump sites where they collect recyclables such as cans, plastics and bottles. One of the early steps towards addressing SW problems in Nigeria was the establishment of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1988. The main functions of FEPA as regards solid waste management is to establish, monitor, enforce standards for all aspects of solid waste management and oversee