Assessment of Municipal Waste Management in Gombe Metropolis for Sustainable Environment and Community Health

The management of municipal solid waste is one of the major environmental problems that big cities throughout the world face. Poor municipal waste management causes environmental degradation, which has an adverse effect on public health. In order to determine the types of waste products released into the environment in Gombe metropolis, survey of INEX final dumpsites as well as intermediate dumpsites from households and governmental institutions was conducted. The waste was classified in accordance with standard practices for classifying waste at landfills. Using Cronbach's Alpha, with a reliability co-efficient index of 0.72, closed-ended questionnaires were administered to gather primary data from 250 respondents. The quantity of indiscriminately dumped plastic waste was estimated using a sachet water production questionnaire. Due to their value as recyclable commodities, aluminum and other metal wastes are generally sorted most effectively in the city of Gombe. The majority of the waste collected in INEX dumpsites was inert waste (36.2 %), while water factories in Gombe Metropolis produced a total of 46,034 kg of plastic per day, which was likely discarded into the environment by water users daily. The results further reveal that health facilities were better than other public institutions in terms of waste sorting and disposal. Results from the three communities surveyed (urban, semiurban, and urban-rural) showed that the metropolitan areas with adequate infrastructure—roads, well-designed houses, and wealthy residents—were more responsible in waste management. The three communities also showed a considerable variation in awareness and environmental consciousness. Poverty, ignorance/conservatism, and lack of essential social amenities are all directly connected with the three communities in Gombe metropolis's level of environmental awareness and waste management practices. We recommend appropriate education initiatives to guide the citizens on proper rubbish disposal. Government should also strengthen public-private partnerships in waste management and enact relevant legislation to empower enforcement officers.