Health Implications of Solid Waste Disposal and Management Methods in Abeokuta Metropolis and Its Environs, Nigeria

The quantities and rates of solid waste generated in Abeokuta and its environs have increased over the years at an alarming rate. This could be linked to the rapid population growth, increasing industrial activities and inefficient modern technology for waste management. This study will examine the health implications of solid wastes disposal and management methods; it will also look into the factors influencing generation, types of solid waste, collection, disposal, reuse and recycling, and its health implications on the inhabitant of Abeokuta and its environs. The study will adopt the descriptive survey research design; three hypotheses will be formulated to guide the study. The population will comprise the inhabitants of Abeokuta metropolis and its environs. In all, 320 respondents will be selected using multistage sampling procedure; stratified sampling techniques shall be used to select the four districts (Ake, Gbagura, Oke Ona and Owu) that constitute Abeokuta metropolis while simple random sampling techniques will be used to select eighty respondents from each of the districts. Structured questionnaires, interviews and observations will be used to collect data and data gathered will be analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency count and simple percentage to answer the research question while inferential statistics of chi-square (x2) will be used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The implication of this study to public health may be enormous and will strongly advocate that individuals, agencies and government organizations/institutions should make concerted efforts to inculcate standard practices (sorting, reducing, reusing and recycling) in solid waste management.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Benjamin Edegbai, Department of Human Kinetic and Health Education, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria, benjaminedegbai@gmail.com (Corresponding Author)The increase in solid waste generated in Abeokuta could be linked to population growth and increase in industrial activities coupled with inefficient waste management. The study population will be comprised of inhabitants of Abeokuta and environs, while 320 respondents will be used as the sample size. The instrument for data collection will be a structured questionnaire, interviews, and observation. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics to answer research questions and inferential statistics to test the hypotheses. The implication of this study to public health will advocate that individuals, agencies, and government should make an effort in inculcate best practices in solid waste management