URBAN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: PERSPECTIVE FROM DILLA TOWN, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

This article aims to examine solid waste management practices in Dilla town, Southern Ethiopia. The empirical data is gathered through repeated fieldwork carried out in 2017 with 120 households in Dilla town. Observation, questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to obtain the primary data. This study has also benefited from various secondary sources. As the study shows, in Dilla, there is a paucity of basic infrastructure to collect and safely dispose solid wastes. As a result, scenes of scattered wastes, the heap of wastes, and overflowing containers are common in the town. These problems are linked to lack of containers, improper use of transfer stations, limited municipal waste collection service, apathy towards environmental sanitation, a gap in law enforcement, low municipal budgets for the sector, and lack of strategic planning. Thus, the existing rules and regulations of solid waste management have to be strengthened and enforced. There have to be mechanisms by which the government and private sectors work together to ensure sustainable solid waste management. Keywords: Dilla, Environmental education, Solid waste, Solid waste management, Solid waste sorting