Environmental Impacts of Roadside Disposal of Municipal Solid Wastes in Karu, Nassarawa State, Nigeria (Published)
The paper looked at municipal solid waste generation, disposal and the consequent environmental impacts Primary data was generated by carrying out oral interviews and field observations for holistic and in–depth assessment of the environment and the secondary data was obtained from desk review method, information on effects of municipal solid wastes on environment were obtained from relevant literatures. The interviews were semi-structured and a purposive sampling method was adopted and analyzed descriptively. The results of the findings showed that population growth and unplanned urban expansion has exceeded the expected limit in recent time with resultant ugly system of solid wastes disposal. Municipal solid wastes which contain both biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes are disposed at the shoulders of major highways in temporary dumpsites and are later evacuated by a waste management agency on a weekly basis. There is no organized house to house or street to street collection of the solid wastes. The study revealed that roadside disposal of municipal solid wastes has serious impacts on the environment. Some of these impacts include physical nuisance of the solid wastes to the environment, the solid waste dumps also serve as hideouts for rodents and snakes which are dangerous. The solid wastes are blown around by wind making the environment filthy, most of the wastes are also been washed by overland flow during heavy downpour to block drainage channels and subsequently lead to flooding of the environment. Most of the non- biodegradable solid wastes contain toxic chemicals which have serious implications on the environmental sustainability and human health. The paper therefore recommends that Government should come up with proper orientation and environmental laws should be put in place for the general public and also to provide necessary facilities and arrange for better methods of collection of solid wastes.
Keywords: Biodegradable, Chemicals elements, Disposal, Environment, Impacts, Non–biodegradable, Toxic, Waste.