Households waste management practices and associated factors in Tain District, Ghana.

Objective: Rapid population growth has increased tons of waste generated daily in the various
Ghanaian districts. A total of 9,331kg of household waste is generated daily in the Tain District, but
managing it becomes a challenge. The aim of the study was to investigate households’ waste
management practice in the Tain District of Ghana.
Method: A concurrent mixed method design was used to select four major communities in the Tain
District for the study. A sampled of 1,037 female household heads were selected by convenient
sampling for the qualitative and quantitative data collection. A questionnaire, participant and
community observation were used to collect the data. Frequencies, percentages, logistic regression and
observational interpretations were applied in analysing the data.
Results: Many gutters at homes were clogged, bushy environment and littering of home, and that,
there were limited waste bins and containers available, and waste dumpsites were near community
gathering places. Furthermore, the main household generated wastes included food scraps (41%), but
majority of the participants use public dumpsite (76.37%) for waste disposal. Meanwhile, 825(8%) of
the households have high level of knowledge on the health effects of indiscriminate waste disposal.
Conclusions: It is necessary to demarcate dumpsites away from community gathering places. The
crude dumping places cannot contain the increase in waste production, which results in indiscriminate
dumping of waste. Proper measures including regulations and standards are expected to be
implemented for a more effective and efficient integrated waste management system in the district.