Economic sustainability of Kira Municipal solid waste management

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the economic sustainability of solid waste management in Kira Municipality. Kira Municipality is an emerging urban center with a growing population and numerous economic activities that generate solid waste within the municipality. Using primary data, the study established that 65 percent of household generated solid waste in Kira municipality is disposed of in trenches. Kira Municipality department of public health collects only 3 percent of the household generated solid waste in Kira Municipality. The study also established that there is limited recycling of solid waste in Kira municipality as only 13.5 percent of household generated solid waste in recycled in Kira Municipality while only 21 percent of institutionally generated solid waste is recycled. This poses both environmental and health threats to the citizens in the Municipality in form of environmental degradation and waterborne diseases respectively. This has a trickledown effect of reducing economic productivity within Kira Municipality and could exacerbate poverty among the Kira Municipality citizens. The study therefore recommends that Kira Municipality adopts effective and efficient means of solid waste disposal to match the teeming degrees of urbanization and population growth within the municipality.