Attitudes and Practice of Solid Waste Management among Residents of Federal Capital Territory Municipal Council, Nigeria

Background: Attitude is a major determinant of health behaviour. Proper management of solid waste at the household level can only be achieved by identifying the attitude of residents towards household solid waste management practices. Solid wastes (SW) are materials created from human activities that are no longer useful. They are disposable solid materials and might be hazardous to human well-being, e.g. plastics, wood, food, textiles, metals, glass, leather, sanitary waste, septic tank waste, etc. Aim: This study assessed the attitude of Abuja residents towards solid waste management practices in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Municipal Council. Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used for the study. The respondents for the study were adults from randomly selected households in the AMAC and Bwari suburbs of Abuja FCT. Data was collected from 197 respondents using a self-structured questionnaire (α=0.78). Data was analysed using SPSS version 25.0 Findings: The study showed that the residents of the FCT municipal agreed that organic and plastic materials are the most solid waste materials produced. There was a positive attitude towards waste collection through waste bins (mean value: 2.79, SD: 1.214) but a very poor attitude towards separation of solid wastes before final disposal (mean value: 1.45, SD: 0.939). Conclusion: Despite having a favourable attitude towards collecting their solid wastes in waste baskets (bins) and plastic bags and temporary storage of their solid waste before disposal, 47.2% of FCT residents still dump refuse along the roadside and have a very poor attitude towards separating solid wastes before final disposal. Keywords: Solid waste, Management practices, FCT Municipal council, Solid Waste Management