Evaluation of the solid waste management system for Makerere University

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Solid Waste Management System (SWMS) at Makerere University main campus in handling food, paper and plastic waste. It arose out of the observation that despite Management innovations in handling Solid Waste (SW), there were gaps that needed to be closed to ensure a clean and healthy environment in the campus. An evaluative, cross sectional survey design using a quantitative approach in a non-contrived setting was used. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of 381 respondents from a target population of 42,378 (including students and staff of Makerere University main campus and staff of Bisons International Consult Limited, the private garbage management company in the campus). Data was collected by questionnaire survey and documentary review. The data was summarized and analyzed using SPSS to come up with descriptive statistics (frequency distributions). The study findings revealed that the SWMS at Makerere University is ineffective in handling food, paper and plastic waste from the campus. The study recommends engagement in Public-Private and Public-Public partnerships for innovative waste management, introduction of investment contracts in addition to the existing solid waste management contract, set up of appropriate technical separation, collection, re-use, recycling, and resource recovery projects within the SWMS as learning centres for students and promoting research in effective waste management. The study further recommends advocating for promulgation of comprehensive national solid waste policies and regulations, awareness campaigns, seeking support from government and NGOs especially KCCA and benchmarking with other leading universities on how to effectively manage SW (food, paper and plastic).