Economic opportunities and challenges in solid waste recovery and recycling practices in border municipalities :

Abstract

Solid waste recovery and recycling practices have a lot of economic opportunities which includes income and savings that have been discovered in the study. Solid waste recovery has a lot of benefits not only economic but environmental and health benefits. However, there are: a number of challenges that affect these practices in most municipalities of which includes poor solid waste storage and disposal practices of solid waste among others. The study was conducted in Busia municipal council located at the border between Uganda and Kenya. The aim of the study was to obtain information on ways of establishing and integrating cost effective practices of managing solid waste in the cross-border town of Busia into the community. Self-administered questionnaires and focused group discussions were used to obtain information on the existing solid waste challenges that could. be hindering solid waste recovery and recycling in Busia municipality. The obtained information was coded in SPSS and analyzed using pie charts and bar graph. The findings indicate that most people store wastes in, sacks. They also dispose of waste in the open space, there is no daily collection of solid waste by municipal council. The prices charged on recycled products were too high. For these; Absence of reliable storage containers could continue limiting the residents of Busia municipality from effective solid waste storage. Lack of daily collection of solid waste by the municipal council could course herm to the health of the residents due to too much flies that occupy the uncollected heaps of decomposing organic solid waste, majority of the residents cannot afford to buy the recycled products, and the high prices could reduce on the market Size for the recycled products.