Solid Waste Management Practice and Challenges in Gashua, Yobe State, Nigeria
This paper presents an overview of the current solid waste management practices in Gashua town and provides a brief discussion on future challenges. Gashua town the headquarters of Bade Local Government Area since 1949. Since then the population has mainly due to the influx of people and its strategic location along the axial route to significant towns in the state. Wastes are generated mainly from residential, commercial and institutional land uses. Waste collection sites are strategically situated as identified by the agency and designated as high waste generating points, metal waste bins and constructed waste bunkers. The contents of these bins are finally disposed of at a location 6kilometres away from the generating points. Spatial data on waste distribution was collected using a global positioning system (GPS). The data was manipulated and processed using a Geographic information system (GIS) to produce the waste distribution map. Findings revealed that the existing solid waste management system is inefficient as the present practice relies on monthly collection and disposal of waste using an open dumpsite.