1. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: CASE STUDY OF THE
LAGOS WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
(LAWMA)
BY
OYEWUNMI, AYODEJI JOHN
070802080
A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF
SCIENCE (M.Sc.) IN THE DEPARMENT OF CELL BIOLOGY
AND GENETICS, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS.
FEBRUARY, 2015

2. ii
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: CASE STUDY OF THE
LAGOS WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
(LAWMA)
BY
OYEWUNMI, AYODEJI JOHN
070802080
A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.Sc.) IN THE DEPARMENT
OF CELL BIOLOGY AND GENETICS, UNIVERSITY OF
LAGOS.
FEBRUARY, 2015
____________________________ ___________________________
DR A. L. OGUNYEBI PROF. M. O. AKINOLA
PROJECT SUPERVISOR HEAD OF DEPPARTMENT
_____________________________ ___________________________
DATE DATE

3. iii
CERTIFICATION
This Project has been read and approved to have met the requirement of the Department of Cell
Biology and Genetics of the University of Lagos, Nigeria, for the award of Masters of Science
(Hons.) degree in Cell Biology and Genetics.
____________________________ ___________________________
DR. A.L. OGUNYEBI DATE
(PROJECT SUPERVISOR)

4. iv
DEDICATION
This study is dedicated to GOD Almighty for his love, guidance and protection over me
throughout the period of my course of study at the University of Lagos.

5. v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my Supervisor Dr. A. L. Ogunyebi of the Department of Cell Biology and
Genetics, University of Lagos for providing literature, reviewing my work and giving me helpful
advice. Thank you for your positive attitude and for believing in me Sir with patience. You
always took the time to help and to check in on me, even though you were extremely busy. This
project would not have been made possible without you, thank you Sir.
I would like to thank my Post Graduate Coordinator Dr. K. Adekoya. Thank you for your
support, and for all your help and feedback. Special thanks to all my fellow students, colleagues
and friends at the Department of Cell biology and Genetics and the University at large.
I am also highly indebted to Mr. T. Lasisi from the department of Planning Research and
Statistics of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority for his support and prompt attention
when I was there for his assistance. To Mr. D. Olanipekun: Mrs. T. Oshonuga; Mr F. Ladipo, and
Miss D. Fatopa for their help during the distribution and collection of the questionnaires as well
as other secondary data. Mr. Tony Abah for helping with laborious hours with proof reading and
necessary corrections sincere thanks also go to Mr. D. Abimbola of the Department of
Mathematics who assisted with the analysis of this project.
I would like to thank my entire Oyewumi family for the unflinching care, the Olafimihan Family
for their support and patience, always supporting and encouraging me. I would also like to give a
special thank you to my fiancée, Jegede Adedolapo, for her unending push, love and support, my
friends, both near and far, your support and strength do not go unnoticed, and to every other
person who has made this project worthwhile in writing, I say, a very big thank you.

6. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section Content Page
Title page I
Certification Ii
Dedication Iii
Acknowledgements Iv
Table of contents V
List of tables Vii
List of figures Viii
List of plates X
Abstract Xi
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1
1.1 Introduction 4
1.1.2 Solid waste 4
1.1.2 Waste management 5
1.1.3 Urbanization and solid waste generation 7
1.1.4 Waste management in Lagos 5
1.1.5 Waste collection 9
1.1.6 Waste transportation 10
1.1.7 Waste disposal 13
1.2 Literature review 15

7. vii
Section Content Page
1.2.1 History of LAWMA 16
1.3 Statement of problem 17
1.4 Objectives of the study 18
1.5 Justification for the study 18
1.6 Scope of the study 19
CHAPTER 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS 20
2.1 Study area 20
2.2 Methodology 22
2.3 Method of data collection 23
2.4 Questionnaire distribution and collection 23
2.5 Method of data analysis 23
2.5.1 Determination of waste collection 24
2.5.2 Determination of waste transfer 24
2.5.3 Determination of waste disposal 25
CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS 26
CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION 33
REFRENCES 38

8. viii
APPENDIX I: Chi-square table 45
APPENDIX II: Questionnaire 46
APPENDIX III Table of results 49

9. ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Classification of waste 5
Table 1.2: Diseases associated with poor waste management 6
Table 1.3: Waste generation in some urban cities in Nigeria 8
Table 1.4: Waste collection 10
Table 1.5: Waste transfer 13
Table 1.6: Waste disposal 14
Table 2.1: Study Area 20
Table 3.1: Questionnaire distribution 26
Table 3.2: Method of collection 27
Table 3.3: Efficiency of LAWMA waste collection 28
Table 3.4: Chi-square table for waste collection 28
Table 3.5: Chi-square table of waste transfer 29
Table 3.7: Chi-square table for functional elements of waste management 32

10. x
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig 1.1: Loading sites for waste in Lagos 13
Fig 1.2: Amount of waste disposed at Oluoshun landfill site 15
Fig 3.1: Questionnaire distribution across the four zones 26
Fig 3.2: Method of collection 27
Fig 3.3: Chi-square at 5% significance for waste collection 29
Fig 3.4: Chi-square at 5% significance for waste transfer 30
Fig 3.5: Chi-square at 5% significance for waste disposal 31
Fig 3.6: Histogram of chi-square values 32

11. xi
LIST OF PLATES
Plate 1.1: House to House Collection at Mushin zone 11
Plate 1.2: LAWMA trucks 12
Plate 1.3: Map of study area 21

12. xii
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to investigate the level of waste management in Lagos state with
respect to preserving environmental quality by studying the activities of Lagos State Waste
Management Authority. Four of the most densely populated zones managed by LAWMA were
selected for the Study. These are; Northern Zone I – Ikeja and Ikorodu, Northern Zone II –
Mushin and Ejigbo, Northern Zone III – Igando and Idimu, Southern Zone VII – Ikoyi and
Lekki. Primary data were obtained through interviews and through 120 questionnaires and
secondary data were obtained from the Planning Research and Statistics Department of
LAWMA. The questionnaires contained structured questions targeted at providing information
under the three functional elements of effective waste management; i.e. waste collection, waste
transfer, and waste disposal. A goodness of fit test, a chi-square test was carried out on the
primary data at 5% level of significance, using a degree of freedom 2 (χ2
(0.05)2) to check if the
theoretical data obtained as secondary data was a good fit for the primary data obtained. The
critical value was agreed at 5.99147 with all three hypothesis tested under the above named
functional elements. The result of this study shows the ineffective waste transfer and waste
disposal in the waste management activities of LAWMA.