Published Article

ABSTRACT

This study was to assess the waste management challenges in Nigeria and the mitigation strategies adopted. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The study was conducted in Nigeria. The population of the study comprised all the environmental scientists. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 300 environmental scientists, which constituted the sample size used for the study. The instrument, titled "Waste Management Challenges and the Mitigation Strategies Questionnaire (WMCMSQ)", was used for data collection. Face and content validation of the instrument was carried out by one expert in test and measurement from the University of Uyo and one environmental scientist from Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic to ensure that the instrument was appropriate for the study. The Cronbach Alpha technique was used to determine the level of reliability of the instrument. In this case, the reliability coefficient obtained was 0.77, and this was high enough to justify the use of the instrument. The researcher subjected the data generated for this study to appropriate statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics. The test for significance was done at a 0.05 alpha level. The study concluded that waste management is an important issue that needs governmental action quickly. The current waste management in Nigeria lacks a holistic approach covering the whole chain of product design, raw material extraction, production, consumption, recycling, and waste management. Current systems in Nigeria cannot cope with the volume of waste management generated by an increasing urban population, and this impacts on the environment and public health. The practices of generating waste are too dangerous not only for today, but also for future generations. One of the recommendations made was that the government should educate people and tell them to adopt practices for recycling, reusing, and reducing rather than generating waste in society.