Household Solid Waste Management Practices and Challenges in a Rural Nigerian Community: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Idumuje-Unor, Delta State

Abstract

Improper solid waste management poses significant environmental and public health challenges in rural communities across developing countries, yet research attention in Nigeria has concentrated on urban centres, leaving rural communities poorly characterised. This study assessed household solid waste management practices in Idumuje-Unor, a rural community in Aniocha North Local Government Area, Delta State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted using structured questionnaires administered to 65 randomly selected households, supplemented by field observation and key-informant interviews. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The mean household size was 4.23 persons (SD = 2.13), and the predominant occupation was trading (36.92%). Solid waste constituted 70.77% of waste generated, with food and agricultural waste (46.15%) the largest component, followed by plastics (30.77%) and paper (23.08%). Although 66.15% of respondents reported owning refuse bins, field observation revealed widespread indiscriminate disposal, with waste discarded into gutters (30.77%), bushes (23.08%), and a stream (3.08%); no formal collection service operated in the community. Waste sorting (38.46%) and recycling (12.31%) were uncommon, and the major perceived problems were odour (38.46%), flooding (33.85%), and mosquito breeding (18.46%). Despite weak minimisation behaviour, 73.85% of respondents preferred recycling and reuse to direct disposal, and 80.00% endorsed the need for awareness programmes. The study concludes that Idumuje-Unor lacks an effective solid waste management system and that the rural problem is a service vacuum distinct from the underperforming agencies of Nigerian cities. Recommendations include community-based composting, formalisation of existing informal recycling, enforcement of sanitation laws, and sustained public education to convert the community's evident readiness for change into practice.