Waste Management Services Utilization among Households in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

Solid waste production from excessive consumption remains one of the most pressing global environmental challenges currently. Particularly for burgeoning cities of developing countries, rapid population growth tend to exacerbate the problem, with profound public health and environmental consequences. In Ghana, over 4.5 million tons of municipal solid waste is produced annually. Public waste management services are barely able to keep pace with the rate of solid waste production. Recently, private waste-management services have emerged as one possible solution, therefore opening a set of research questions among which being what factors influence households to utilize such services. Through a multi-stage random sample of 660 households, we explored household utilization of private solid-waste management services, specifically focusing on what socio-behavioural factors may help explain levels utilization. Descriptive statistics show that 68% of the respondents did not utilize private waste management services. Logistic regression analyses revealed gender (OR = 0.116, p = 0.003), perception of waste as a problem (OR= 0.234, p = 0.027), awareness of existing waste management options (OR = 5.561, p = 0.008), knowledge about waste management service providers (OR = 0.013, p = 0.001) and cost of waste management services (OR = 0.839, p < 0.001) as significant predictors of household waste management services utilization. We conclude with a discussion of the broader policy implications of our results in the context of addressing the growing menace of excessive solid waste production in the global south.