Socio-economic factors affecting household solid waste generation in selected wards in Ife central Local Government area, Nigeria

Solid waste is generated by man through domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural activities. With the increase in technology, industrial activities and population, solid waste generation has consequently been increasing over the years. In this paper, the socio-economic factors that affect household solid waste generation in some selected wards in Ife Central Local Government Area were presented. The quantities of household solid waste generation were monitored continuously (weekly) for two months. The solid wastes collected were weighed using a weighing scale. A total of one hundred and fifty four (154) questionnaires were administered to selected households to elicit information on the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents. The data collected were analyzed statistically. The study revealed that gender, educational background and family size are important socio-economic factors affecting household solid waste generation. The highest overall mean weight of solid waste generated by households was 5.5kg (1-10kg) per week. Educational background (X2 =9.950, p ? 0.05) and family size (X2 = 20.539, p ? 0.05) were found to significantly affect household solid waste generation.  The study concluded that there are variations in the level of household solid waste generation across different socio-economic status.

Keywords: household, socio-economic factors, seasonal variations, solid waste generation