Environmental Literacy levels on Waste Management in Ibadan, Nigeria

Waste management is at its lowest ebb in most towns and communities in Nigeria. Most parts of the city centres do not benefit from public waste disposal services. The goal of this study was to assess the level of environmental literacy in the management of solid waste in Ibadan, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to investigate the waste management practices, assess the level of awareness, their willingness to participate, concern for waste management, attitudes to waste management and governmental strategies used to educate residents about waste management in Ibadan. A total of three hundred and eighty four questionnaires were administered to randomly selected households. Key informant interviews were conducted with officials at the Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Oyo State Waste management Authority. Statistical package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyze the quantitative data. The statistical methods used included descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage. The result on waste management practices amongst residents showed that food waste was the most generated in Ibadan, followed by polythene and paper. With regards to awareness, findings showed that residents were generally aware of what waste is and also aware of waste management practices such as recycling and composting. The findings on attitude to waste management revealed that positive attitude was only exhibited towards the benefits of waste management while negative attitude was displayed toward the practicality of waste management. With regards to governmental strategies, result showed the major governmental strategies as public education through media jingles, community awareness campaigns, and inspection of market places, printouts and town meetings. One of the recommendation was that incentive based recycling programs should be introduced to encourage the practice amongst residents.