An investigation of management of solid waste: a case of the Municipal Council of Ruiru

Abstract

The study focused on solid waste management practices in the Municipal Council of Ruiru. The study was undertaken out of the appreciation of the challenges faced by many local authorities in sold waste management. The study covered the goals and principles of solid waste management. It also considered the composition of solid waste. The study further considered the main actors in solid waste management and their respective roles in solid waste management. The study made suggestions on how they could better play their role in solid waste management. The study was a survey covering pertinent issues in solid waste management. It gave a glimpse of the several strategies of solid waste management and the various options available in different circumstances. A total of ninety four (94) people were involved in the study where they were either interviewed or responded to questionnaires. 7 The study made use of questionnaires and interview schedules to collect data from various clusters, that is, households, institutions, market traders, general traders, industrialists, plantations and informal waste collectors. Personal observation was also relied upon to gather data. The data was the analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings were then analysed using descriptive statistics. The study established that the council and the other actors were not providing garbage collection services to all the residents in the municipality mainly due to lack of capacity. It was also clear that the waste disposal methods in use are not hygienic and environment friendly since the predominant methods were open field dumping and burning.