Determinants of Effective Household Solid Waste Management Practice: The Case in Dire Dawa City Administration, Ethiopia

Huge generation of domestic solid waste coupled with ineffective waste management service is the major challenge facing Dire dawa city Administration. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze the factors that determine effective household solid waste management practices in Dire Dawa city Administration. A cross-sectional data collected from a total of 200 sample households from three ‘kebelles’ of the Administration. The data collected were analyzed using a number of descriptive and econometric tools. The descriptive findings show that plastic, chat grebe and grasses, and leaves constitute the major waste bulk generated by the households. Though the majority of households have temporary storage in their home, they did not store wastes separately based on its nature. The findings of the study also revealed that absence of functional communal waste storage materials, shortage of solid waste transportation vehicles, widespread practice of unauthorized dumping and burning, restriction of the door-to-door waste collection service mainly at the center of the town and the areas near to the main roads. The econometric analyses, using the logistic regression model, shows that, household head sex, household head educational level, household’s location (distance of residents from the main road or center), household’s willingness to pay, and household’s access to the private waste collectors’ service are the major determinants of effective household solid waste management in the study area. Moreover, institutional factors such manpower, budget, and facilities such as container, adequate vehicles, waste gown, and gloves are the other concerned factors of effective solid waste management at household level in Dire Dawa city. Generally, household solid waste management of the town is poor and then timely measures must be taken.