Indiscriminatory Waste Disposal and Health Hazards in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State: Causes and Effects

The study generally investigated indiscriminatory waste disposal and health hazards in Ado-Ekiti, State. 

Specifically, the research work assessed the challenges of waste management, the causes and effects of indiscriminatory waste disposal, practices related to indiscriminatory waste disposal and the relationship between indiscriminatory waste disposal and health hazards.

The research adopted a descriptive and exploratory-cross-sectional-non-experimental survey design. Data collection was triangulated (combination of quantitative and qualitative methods). A total of 130 questionnaires was administered and complemented with 3 In-depth interview and a camera. The study employed purposive sampling technique to choose respondents in the study area. The quantitative data were analysed through SPSS (Version 20), at univariate levels (charts and graphs) and bivariate levels (Pearson Chi-square and Pearson Product Monument Correlation (PPMC). The qualitative data were analysed using content analysis.

The findings revealed that despite knowledge of the effects of indiscriminatory waste disposal on health, majority of the households still engage in dumping and burning of wastes. Also, the study reported that the major causes of indiscriminatory waste disposal are the poor attitude of the people towards waste management and ineffective environmental laws. Finally, indiscriminatory waste disposal is statistically related to the frequency of the occurrence of diseases.

The study recommends that the government enact environmental laws and establish sanitation corps to enforce them. Also, the public should correct their poor attitude towards waste management.