Assessment of landfill sites for solid waste management in Delta state, Nigeria

Abstract

Landfills remains an important component in waste management as it deals with municipal solid waste directly and complements alternative waste management technologies, which in themselves give rise to residues that require disposal ultimately via landfill. As an assessment study, the work was carried out by visitation to existing dumpsites to obtain needed data and information through the instrumentation of a checklist, interviews, questionnaire and focus group discussions. Stratified random sampling was also used to provide appropriate representation of the societal classes in the population across the 25 Local Government Areas in the State. Results showed that most solid waste collected are deposited in open dumpsites/ landfills on the outskirts of urban areas thereby forming breeding sites for disease vectors and polluting the environment and plausible recommendations for improved waste and environmental management in the State.