Abstract:
In Ethiopia, the increase of solid waste generation is resulted from rapid urbanization
and population booming. The amount of solid waste in the country has been increasing
overtime, largely attributable to rapid population growth rate. Like any other developing
countries, Ethiopia has a range of solid waste management problems, including
inadequate waste collection, transportation systems and inadequate waste handling and
improper final disposal. The purpose of the study was to assess practice and challenges
of solid waste management in Burayu town administration. Beside this, the study have
specific objectives such as assess the current solid waste management practices in
Burayu town; identify the major challenges of solid waste management in Burayu town
and investigate the generation rate of households’ solid waste in the town with
comparing income level. In order to accomplish these objectives, both primary and
secondary sources were used. Sampling methods such as stratified sampling, systematic
random sampling and purposive sampling were employed in this study. A total of 173
respondents were selected and participated in the study. The finding of the study reveal
that solid waste management in Burayu town was very poor and inadequate, Lack of
appropriate awareness for local communities on solid waste management practices,
weak accountability, very poor coordination, and weak enforcement of legislations. The
household solid waste generation rate study indicated that the waste generation rate of
Burayu town is 0.299 kilo gram per capital per day. Hence, the daily, weekly, monthly
and annual generation amount is 112,229.22 kilo gram, 1,183,278.56 kilo gram,
3,366,878.1 kilo gram and 40,402,537.2 kilo gram respectively. The result showed that
solid wastes generation rate varies significantly with socio-economic condition,
particularly economic status of the households.
From the study results, it can be concluded the solid waste management system of the city
is very weak and lack organization in solid waste management chain. In light of the
ineffectiveness of the system, the study recommended there is a need of waste
management system and adoption of an integrated solid waste management option in the
tow
