Municipal solid waste management at the University of Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic: A justice and sustainability perspective

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a marked increase in the rate of municipal solid waste generation was observed at the Nsukka campus of the University of Nigeria, leaving the campus an eyesore. Garbage glut was largely consigned to the realms of public health and environmental emergencies during the pandemic. While previous studies in Nigeria have focused on technical, social and cultural aspects of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM), very little research exists on the management of MSW in a university campus during a pandemic from the viewpoint of justice and sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate MSWM in the University of Nigeria during the COVID-19 period and the university’s waste-to-energy project with a view to unravelling their implications for justice and sustainability. The study elicited its data from a survey of the MSWM system of the campus, interviews with key informants, field observations and review of literature. Findings indicated a significant increase in the rate of waste generation on the campus from the first wave to the fourth wave of the pandemic. The study recommends that the generation of energy from waste would be a veritable approach to tackling the MSWM challenges and justice issues in the University of Nigeria.