# Extracted text from abuja_msw_characterization_abur_2014.pdf

Global Journal of Science Frontier Research: H
Environment & Earth Science
Volume 14 Issue 2 Version 1.0 Year 2014
Type : Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal
Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA)
Online ISSN: 2249-4626 & Print ISSN: 0975-5896
Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the Federal
Capital Abuja, Nigeria
By Benjamin Ternenge Abur, Emmanuel Enomena Oguche
& Gideon Ayuba Duvuna
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Nigeria
Abstract- Municipal solid waste management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges
facing environmental protection agencies in developing countries. This paper presents a
characterization study of the municipal solid waste generated in the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja, Nigeria. The characteristics of the municipal solid waste were determined in terms of the
components, average mass (kg) and percentage generated per district. It was found that
56.20%/52.0% of the solid waste generated in the area is made up of food/ petrucsible; rubber
10.20%/3.56%; paper 10.00%/ 12.46%; glass/ceramics 7.60%/1.42%; plastics 7.4%/2.85%;
metals 2.60%/0.71% and other forms of waste 5.60%/25.62% (dust particle, Ash, stones) for wet
and dry seasons respectively and the waste generation rates ranged from 0.59 to 0.79
kg/capita/day. The AEPB is faced with constraints like lack of institutional framework, inadequate
budgetary provision, lack of institutional framework, inadequate bylaws and regulations and
insufficient information on the quantity and composition of the solid waste. It is suggested that
adequate financial provision, proper waste legislation, training and re-training of staffs and
community full participation in waste management be encourage while formal composting and
recycling facilities should be setup.
Keywords: characterisation, municipal solid waste, abuja, composting, recycling.
GJSFR-H Classification : FOR Code: 050299
CharacterizationofMunicipalSolidWasteintheFederalCapitalAbujaNigeria
Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of:
© 2014. Benjamin Ternenge Abur, Emmanuel Enomena Oguche & Gideon Ayuba Duvuna. This is a research/review paper,
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the
Federal Capital Abuja, Nigeria
Benjamin Ternenge Abur α, Emmanuel Enomena Oguche σ & Gideon Ayuba Duvuna ρ
Abstract- Municipal solid waste management has emerged as Residential Single and multifamily dwellings generate
one of the greatest challenges facing environmental protection food wastes, paper, cardboard, plastics, textiles,
agencies in developing countries. This paper presents a leather, yard wastes, wood, glass, metals, ashes,
characterization study of the municipal solid waste generated
special wastes (e.g., bulky items, consumer electronics,
in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. The
white goods, batteries, oil, tires), and household
characteristics of the municipal solid waste were determined in
hazardous wastes. Commercial Stores, hotels, terms of the components, average mass (kg) and percentage
restaurants, markets generate paper, cardboard,
generated per district. It was found that 56.20%/52.0% of the
solid waste generated in the area is made up of food/ plastics, wood, food wastes, glass, metals, special
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petrucsible; rubber 10.20%/3.56%; paper 10.00%/ 12.46%; wastes, etc (Tchobanoglous et al., 1993).
glass/ceramics 7.60%/1.42%; plastics 7.4%/2.85%; metals Waste characterization is a fundamental
2.60%/0.71% and other forms of waste 5.60%/25.62% (dust component in any municipal waste management
particle, Ash, stones) for wet and dry seasons respectively and scheme (MWMS) of urban solid waste in a city but such
the waste generation rates ranged from 0.59 to 0.79
data are not commonly compiled in cities across Africa
kg/capita/day. The AEPB is faced with constraints like lack of
(Guadalupe et al, 2009).
institutional framework, inadequate budgetary provision, lack
Waste characterization data consists of
of institutional framework, inadequate bylaws and regulations
information on the types and amounts of materials
and insufficient information on the quantity and composition of
the solid waste. It is suggested that adequate financial (paper, food waste, glass, yard waste, etc.) in the waste
provision, proper waste legislation, training and re-training of stream. It depends on a number of factors such as food
staffs and community full participation in waste management habits, cultural tradition, socioeconomic and climatic
be encourage while formal composting and recycling facilities conditions. It varies not only from city to city but even
should be setup. within the same city itself (Gawaika, 2004).
Keywords: characterisation, municipal solid waste, The composition and characteristics of
abuja, composting, recycling.
municipal solid waste is influenced by certain factors,
which include the area (residential, commercial, etc), the
I. Introduction
economic level (differences between high and low-
S olid waste can be defined as garbage, refuse and income areas), the season and weather (differences in
other discarded materials including waste the amount of population during the year, tourist places)
resulting from industrial, commercial and and culture of people living or doing business in the
agriculture operations and from community activities or area. High-income areas usually produce more
waste that are normally solid and that are discarded as inorganic materials such as plastics and paper, while
useless or unwanted (Tchobangolus, 1983). The solid low-income areas produce relatively more of organic
content is technically known as refuse while the liquid waste. Uncontrolled or improperly sited open solid
substances are called effluent (Ahmed, 2002). waste dumpsites constitute health hazards and damage
According to Environmental Protection Department Air the aesthetic beauty of many cities in Nigeria (Napoleon
Management Group, EPDA (2001), waste involves et al 2011). Characterization of municipal solid wastes is
categories of household, municipal, commercial and simply a descriptive means of identifying the various
industrial wastes, some hazardous and toxic. constituent of the waste stream in times of quantity and
Municipal solid waste includes wastes quality generation taking into account location as well as
generated from residential, commercial, industrial, seasons in which these wastes are generated. It is a
institutional, construction, demolition, process, and means of finding out how much paper, glass, food
waste, etc. is discarded in the municipal waste stream.
According to Gawaikar (2004), characterization
of municipal solid waste helps in determining the
Author α: Mechanical/Production Engineering Programme, School of
Engineering and Engineering Technology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa quantity of waste generated in a particular location at a
University, P.M.B 0248 Bauchi-Nigeria. particular time of the year. This help in identifying the
e-mail: engrbenjaminabur@gmail.com trend of generation as well as the influencing factors. It
Author σ: Alifig International Limited Abuja.
makes proper planning of solid waste management,
Author ρ: Mechanical Engineering Department, Federal Polytechnic
Mubi, Adamawa-Nigeria. determining the size and number of functional units and
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equipments required for managing the waste, the manually and randomly collected, identified, sorted out,
needed resources for the protection of environment and characterized and weighed.
public health. Characterization is also important to For the classification of waste, seven waste
determine its possible environmental impacts on nature components were considered. These were food, paper,
as well as on society (Alamgir et al, 2005). iron, glass, rubber, plastic and others. Others in this
Treatment methods differ in dealing with category represent solid waste that are not identifiable
different waste streams (Jarusombat, 2002). Options or do not fall into the first six categories. Sorting and
include recycling, land filling, biological treatment (i.e weighing of collected waste were done at the dump site.
composting and gasification), and thermal treatment The materials and resources used at the dumpsite for
such as mass burn incineration (with or without energy data generation were sorting platform, an electronic
recovery) and fuel burning (Refuse Derived Fuels-RDF) scale for weighing the waste, bins for all the sorting
(Babcock and Wilcox, 2003, Yongziang et al.2003, categories, gloves, a calculator and trained assistants.
Glusszynski 1995, Harvey 1987). The study also involved the use of
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) data are questionnaires for the public as well as for the relevant
sometimes measured both in volume (m3/capita/day) government agency saddled with the responsibility (The
and in weight (kg/capita/day). Abuja environmental and protection board, AEPB). The
questionnaire was designed and structured such as to
2
II. Materials and Methods
allow the respondents to freely express their feelings as
expressed or stated by variables and were administered
For the purpose of this study the the Gosa
to the general public in the study area in the months of
dumpsite located in the Federal Capital Territory was
March and August, 2010.
used for the waste collection and characterisation. Gosa
Descriptive statistics was used in obtaining
dumpsite was chosen as it serves as the current solid
frequency, counts and expressing such in percentages.
waste management dumpsite in Abuja and also due to
its problems, size, and challenges. The site has an
III. Estimation of Municipal Solid
approximate 90 hectare (222acres). The study was
Waste Generated in the Federal
undertaken in the wet and dry seasons of 2010 and
carried out in three steps. Capital, Abuja
Step 1: Documents, records and academic
A total of 727 trips was estimated to be made
literature relating to municipal solid waste management.
weekly by the privately owned waste trucks evacuating
Step 2: The Abuja environmental and protection waste from different locations in the Federal Capital to
board (AEPB) the environmental agency workers, private Gosa dump site. Each waste truck is estimated to have
contractors, residents and scavengers involved in a carriage capacity between 8 – 10 tonnes.
municipal solid waste management were interviewed to In view of the above, the total estimate of tonnes
update information in the document and records of solid waste evacuated for year 2010 in the Federal
collected. capital, Abuja lie between 302,372 to 378,040 tonnes
(302472000kg to 378090000kg) and the average solid
Step 3: Gosa dumpsite was visited for the
collection, sampling, separation and characterization. waste generation rate is also estimated to lie between
Samples of freshly disposed municipal solid 0.59 – 0.74 kg/person/day.
wastes from the waste stream at Gosa dumpsite were
Table 1:Annual Estimation of Municipal Solid Waste in the Federal Capital, Abuja for Year 2010.
Name of District Waste per Annum (kg) Percentage (%)
Phase I (Abuja Districts) 144,040,000 38.10
Phase II & III 76,440,000 20.22
Satellite Towns/Suburban Districts 157,560,000 41.68
Total 378,040,000 100%
Table 2 :Breakdown of Municipal Solid Waste Generation Rate in Abuja District Year 2010.
Name of District Mass (Kg) Percentage (%)
Asokoro 14, 560, 000 10.11
Central Area 8, 320, 000 5.78
Garki 50, 960, 000 35.38
Maitama 19, 240, 000 13.36
Wuse 50, 960, 000 35.38
Total 144, 040, 000 Total=100
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Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the Federal Capital Abuja, Nigeria

Table 3 : Physical Characterisation Household Wastes
at Gosa Dumpsite During the Wet Season of 2010.
Wastes type Mass (kg) Percentage (%)
Fabrics - -
Food/petruscible 19.1 56.2
Glass/ceramics 2.6 7.6
Metals 0.9 2.6
Paper 3.4 10.0
Plastics 2.5 7.4
Rubber 3.6 10.2
Others 1.9 5.6
Total 34.0 100.0
Fig. 1: Percentage of the Physical Characterisation of
Household Wastes at Gosa Dumpsite during the Wet
Season of 2010.
Table 4 : Physical Characterisation of Household Wastes at Gosa Dumpsite during the Dry Season of 2010.
3
Wastes type Mass (kg) Percentage (%)
Fabrics 0.4 1.42
Food/Petruscible 14.6 52.00
Glass/ceramics 0.4 1.42
Metals 0.2 0.71
Papers 3.5 12.46
Plastics 0.8 2.85
Rubber 1.0 3.56
Others 7.2 25.62
Total 28.1 100.0
higher efficiencies than the government agency but
better still are not properly monitored or regulated by the
government agency including dishonesty on the part of
some of the contractors and late payment of contractors
by the government worsen the situation. Stationary
containers system is adopted for waste collection; the
waste containers remain at the points of waste
generation and collected few days for disposal by the
Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB and the
private contractors designated to specific locations. The
residents of are requires to deliver the waste to the
storage container which are generally kept at open
spaces along street ends or junctions. The positioning
of fixed containers were mostly in the suburban unlike in
Fig. 2 : Percentage of the Physical Characterisation of
the major town movable bins mostly of plastic nature
Samples of Household Wastes at Gosa Dumpsite
were place house-to-house for the collection of the
during the Wet Season of 2010. waste. This method of waste collection is less
IV. Discussion of Results
convenient for the sanitation staffs. Some of the
containers are movable while some are fixed on the
a) Waste Collection and its Transportation in Abuja ground.
It is both the function of the state and local Some of the available vehicles used for the solid
government environmental protection agencies to waste collection and disposal were the compactor
collect and properly dispose municipal solid waste. Due trucks, side loaders, rear loaders, mini trucks, tippers,
to the increasing rate of waste generation, private skip trucks and open back trucks are the commonly
contractors are also involved in the waste collectionfor a used collection trucks and were in-short supply and
fee. Hence, private solid waste collection operators exist mostly out of service due to frequent breakdown as a
in parallel with the official agency charge with the result of overuse.
collection of waste just like in other cities in Nigeria. The Research finding revealed challenges faced by
private contractors are designated to specific areas of the agency saddled with the responsibility of waste
the town. These private companies were found to have management in Abuja, which include inadequate
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Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste in the Federal Capital Abuja, Nigeria
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budgetary provision, poor trained staff, lack of Presently at the Gosa dumpsite, there are no
institutional framework, insufficient information on the formal recycling and composting. Scave ngers were in
quantity and composition of the solid waste and their number scavenging useful materials for recycling to
inadequate bylaws and regulations. earn a living. These scavengers were mostly young men
who drop out of school due to one reason or the other
b) Waste Generation, Characterisation and Recycling
whereas in some few cases are men who earn their
The result in table 3 reveals that population
living through it. The work is hazardous to their health as
density influences greatly on waste generation rate as
they operate without protective wares. Recycling which
this is seen by the estimated fractions of household
is a solid waste management technique is more
waste evacuated from the Satellite towns/Suburban
desirable and environmental friendly. The practice of
districts as most workers in the territory resides in the
recycling and composting would save cost in waste
satellite towns hence the major reason for such volume
management (Agunwamba, 1998).
of waste generated. The closeness of industrial area to
the dumpsite could also attribute to it. Phase I is home V. Conclusi on
exclusively to the elite society and it is next to the
Satellite towns in percentage of tonnes of municipal The first s tep in waste manag ement is to gain
solid waste generated annually. Phase II and Phase III an understanding of the waste types being generated in
4 are estimated to have the lowest annual percentage of order to design appropriate collection and disposal
tonnes of waste generation. Table 5 puts Garki and strategies and this can be achieve through
Wuse as the highest generators of municipal solid waste characterisation of waste. The largest proportion of
ahead of Maitama followed by Asokoro and lastly waste in Abuja metropolis can be composted rather
Central Area under Phase I (Abuja District). This trend is than disposed of. The solid waste being generated is
undoubtedly influenced by income and the socio- made of seven major components (fabrics,
economic activity and population density. food/petruscible, glass/ceramics, metals, paper,
The analysis of solid waste composition in the plastics, rubber and others). The study shown that
study for both wet and dry seasons shown in tables 3 56.2% and 52.0% of the total solid waste generated in
and 4 indicates that 56.2% and 52.0% of the solid waste the FCT was made of biodegradable matter. The per
is made up of food/petruscible materials for the wet and capita waste generated in the FCT lie between 0.59 –
dry seasons respectively. The other composition are; 0.74 kg/capita/day. The result clearly suggest the need
plastics (7.4% and 2.85%; glass/ceramics (7.6% and to establish a formal composting (for 56.2% and 52.0%
1.42%); metals (2.6% and 0.71%); paper (10.0% and of the waste) and recyclingfacilities ( for 37.8% and 21%
12.46%) and rubber (10.2% and 3.56%). of the waste) within the FCT using the result of this
This indicates that composting/biodegradation characterisation study as a guide.
can be used for the disposal of this 56.2% and 52.0% of Efforts should be made by stakeholders to
the waste and the fertiliser can be derived as the end- evolve policies for disposal, w aste reduction and
product. This is in-line with previous research work by recycling project. There is need for adequate budgetary
Hoornweg et al, (1999) where they found out that waste provision for Abuja Environmental Protection Board,
stream are over 50% organic materials in developing AEPB for proper training and replacement of the existing
countries. In separate works in Bandung and Indonsia vehicles with modern equipment to reduce operating
have shown that residential waste composed of 78% costs. The agency should also encourage community
and 81% composable materials (Cointreau, 1982). High- participation and involvement in waste management.
income earners consume more of packaged products Also formal composting and recycling facilities should
that give rise to a higher percentage of non- be setup at Gosa dumpsite.
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