Solid Waste Generation Rate and Management Practices in the Case of Chiro Town, West Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia

The current rapid increase in population together with expansion of the town is producing large volumes of wastes, which demand greater infrastructure, institutional setup and community participation for its management. However, most of solid wastes that generated are remaining uncollected and simply dumped at open space. This study focused on identifying the types of solid wastes, waste generation rates, management practices and municipal solid waste management service of Chiro town. The results were based on the data collected from sample respondents that drawn from three kebeles of the town, proportional to total households through simple random sampling techniques. The result revealed that the types of wastes produced by sample respondents were organic matter, plastic, paper and clipboard, metal and others wastes (ash, leather and e-waste). The average solid waste generation rate of the town is 0.304 kg/capita/day. In the town there is no recognized prepared place either for the waste collection or for final disposal. The common disposal places used by the community were ditch (44.95%), local field (20.7%), road side (24.2%), farm land (3.5%) and burning-burying (4.5%). Yet around 2% of the respondents do not know where the wastes come out of their home finally disposed to as they deliver it by informal waste pickers. Therefore, its top priority to prepare the dumping sites and establish institutional setup for proper handling of the waste in the town.