Characterization of seasonally generated municipal solid wastes in Nnewi metropolis, Anambra State, Nigeria

The key challenge confronting urban cities in most developing economies is municipal solid waste (MSW) management. To abate this, waste separation is critical to a successful waste management. Reliable data on waste generation, composition and characterization that apprise effective planning on waste management in Nnewi is absent. In order for this community to formulate an integrated solid waste management program, accurate and reliable data on waste composition and quantities that will encourage well-organized and smoothly functioning recycling programs and keep the overall waste management costs low are essential. In this study, the composition and characterization of waste from Nnewi Municipal town waste was estimated by segregating it into different components, to obtain this data, selected households in the four quarters of the town were engaged to obtain data on physical composition, sorting and separation of waste.  These waste components were categorized into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste (plastics, glass and combustibles). It was observed that the waste contains around 48.18% biodegradable waste, and the remaining is non-biodegradable waste. The biodegradable content of MSW is a good source of compost for agriculture purpose whereas non-biodegradable content can be recycled for reuse.