Factors Influencing Utilisation of Plastic/Nylon Materials Causing Pollution in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study examined factors influencing the intensive use of plastic/nylon, which invariably leads to environmental pollution. The study was conducted in eleven (11) Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Oyo State, which was randomly selected out of the 33LGAs using structured questionnaire with fifty respondents randomly selected per LGA. A total of 454 questionnaires were valid for the research from 550 questionnaires collected.  The analytical tools used were descriptive statistics (such as percentage, frequency counts and mean) and multinomial logit regression. Result showed that the average age of the respondents was 36.4years, about 81.1% of the respondents were married and 88.6% educated; attained primary, secondary or tertiary level.  The average household size was 2 persons, while income was ₦32,000 per month. About 36.6% of the respondents used plastics and nylon as refuse bins, 22.5% used it for carrying material, 19.6% for storage, 11.9% for wrapping food and other items, and 9.5% as aesthetics. About 32% of the respondents affirmed that availability of plastic and nylon at their disposal influenced its utilization and many indicated using paper (38.5%) and leaves (35%) in place of plastic/nylon. Important (significant) factors influencing the use of plastic/nylon were age, occupation, income, household ownership, sources of plastic and price. It is therefore recommended that awareness on degradable, alternative materials should be encouraged because of the menace of disposal of the materials