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Problems of Solid Waste Management in Developing Urban Cities: A Case Study of Freetown, Sierra Leone

Received: 25 August 2013    Accepted:     Published: 10 September 2013
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Abstract

This study was designed to determine the existing problems of solid waste management in Freetown. The problems that were assessed were the factors impeding the effectiveness and efficient solid waste management and the wrong attitudes and perceptions of the people about sanitation issues which have contributed to solid waste management problems in Freetown. Structured questionnaires were administered with respect to socioeconomic and solid waste management data. Interviews and personal observations were also used to collect some of the data. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The results show that majority of the households did not educate their members on the need to clean their surroundings. Virtually, all the people depend on the Freetown Waste Management Company’s facilities for the disposal of their household refuse. The study concludes that solid waste management problems are partly the result of Freetown Waste Management Company’s inability to cope with the situation because of lack of equipment, personnel, and inadequate funding. Therefore, the study recommends that the waste management authority’s effort in the area of education should be intensified in order to sensitize the people on the need to keep the surroundings clean. The participation of the private sector, government, NGOs’ and the international community in offering adaptable solutions towards improving solid waste management situation in Freetown is also needed.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11
Page(s) 113-120
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Solid Waste Management, Problems, Freetown, Household

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Foday Pinka Sankoh, Xiangbin Yan. (2013). Problems of Solid Waste Management in Developing Urban Cities: A Case Study of Freetown, Sierra Leone. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 2(5), 113-120. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11

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    ACS Style

    Foday Pinka Sankoh; Xiangbin Yan. Problems of Solid Waste Management in Developing Urban Cities: A Case Study of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2013, 2(5), 113-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11

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    AMA Style

    Foday Pinka Sankoh, Xiangbin Yan. Problems of Solid Waste Management in Developing Urban Cities: A Case Study of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Am J Environ Prot. 2013;2(5):113-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11,
      author = {Foday Pinka Sankoh and Xiangbin Yan},
      title = {Problems of Solid Waste Management in Developing Urban Cities: A Case Study of Freetown, Sierra Leone},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {113-120},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20130205.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20130205.11},
      abstract = {This study was designed to determine the existing problems of solid waste management in Freetown. The problems that were assessed were the factors impeding the effectiveness and efficient solid waste management and the wrong attitudes and perceptions of the people about sanitation issues which have contributed to solid waste management problems in Freetown. Structured questionnaires were administered with respect to socioeconomic and solid waste management data. Interviews and personal observations were also used to collect some of the data. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The results show that majority of the households did not educate their members on the need to clean their surroundings. Virtually, all the people depend on the Freetown Waste Management Company’s facilities for the disposal of their household refuse. The study concludes that solid waste management problems are partly the result of Freetown Waste Management Company’s inability to cope with the situation because of lack of equipment, personnel, and inadequate funding. Therefore, the study recommends that the waste management authority’s effort in the area of education should be intensified in order to sensitize the people on the need to keep the surroundings clean. The participation of the private sector, government, NGOs’ and the international community in offering adaptable solutions towards improving solid waste management situation in Freetown is also needed.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    AU  - Xiangbin Yan
    Y1  - 2013/09/10
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    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
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    AB  - This study was designed to determine the existing problems of solid waste management in Freetown. The problems that were assessed were the factors impeding the effectiveness and efficient solid waste management and the wrong attitudes and perceptions of the people about sanitation issues which have contributed to solid waste management problems in Freetown. Structured questionnaires were administered with respect to socioeconomic and solid waste management data. Interviews and personal observations were also used to collect some of the data. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The results show that majority of the households did not educate their members on the need to clean their surroundings. Virtually, all the people depend on the Freetown Waste Management Company’s facilities for the disposal of their household refuse. The study concludes that solid waste management problems are partly the result of Freetown Waste Management Company’s inability to cope with the situation because of lack of equipment, personnel, and inadequate funding. Therefore, the study recommends that the waste management authority’s effort in the area of education should be intensified in order to sensitize the people on the need to keep the surroundings clean. The participation of the private sector, government, NGOs’ and the international community in offering adaptable solutions towards improving solid waste management situation in Freetown is also needed.
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Author Information
  • School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

  • Department of Integrated Sciences, Portloko Teachers College, Portloko, Sierra Leone

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