Sustainable waste management system for market waste in less economically developed cities

: barriers and opportunities

Abstract

The improper disposal of solid waste has become a significant concern, particularly in developing countries with poor waste management practices, where indiscriminate disposal on land, in the aquatic environment, and poorly designed and maintained landfill sites are now widely acknowledged as contributing to Climate Change and leading to poor health of those living within these areas. In addition to odour nuisance and air pollution, the uncontrolled emission of methane gas into the atmosphere is also a by-product of the decomposition of biodegradable components, which are significant in food and beverage processing waste. Methane gas is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. Unlike domestic sources, urban markets provide less heterogeneity in this waste. The literature abounds with domestic waste management studies in developing and developed countries. However, very little has been reported on market waste management in developing countries, despite the abundance of open markets in these countries. Open food markets are the heartbeat of communities in developing countries, especially in tropical regions. The significant waste components generated in urban markets are biodegradable organic components. Hence, there is a need to assess the potential avenues and possibilities for sustainable solid waste management of these wastes to prevent environmental pollution, mitigate public health deterioration, and promote waste recycling. Transferring an established system from one region to another will be ineffective. Therefore, a sustainable market waste management system depends on identifying influencing factors. Based on this, this study used open markets in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, as a case study. A mixed-methods analysis was adopted to develop methodologies and strategies for sustainable market waste management systems in less economically developed cities (LEDCs).

The findings revealed that over 60% of waste from urban markets is biodegradable organic waste, comprising rotten foodstuffs, vegetables, fruits, meat bones and fish parts, and domestic waste from leftover food from restaurants in the markets. These are amenable to biological treatment through anaerobic digestion and can potentially recover valuable economic resources, such as bioenergy and biofertilizers. Additionally, some highlighted opportunities include waste prevention and minimisation through proper separation of food waste at the source to avoid cross-contamination, thereby facilitating the safe human and animal consumption of unsold food and agricultural products. Thus, source separation, in addition to encouraging the effectiveness and economic viability of bioenergy and biofertilizer production from food waste, results in reversing the status of certain constituents from waste to non-waste items suitable for human and animal consumption. Furthermore, it was found that the organic fraction can be easily separated at the source without incurring additional costs. The market traders were found to require less persuasion to adopt best practices for waste collection and separation after understanding the link between appropriate waste management and public health, as well as the potential for resource recovery. The findings thus identified the need to educate individuals through sensitisation and awareness programmes as vital to effective market waste management in LEDCs. The findings also identified administrative and operational challenges, including poor waste handling and disposal, inadequate waste collection services, inadequate waste storage facilities, and a lack of collective action and activities, highlighting government inefficiencies in urban market waste management. Additionally, the findings noted the significant use of informal workers as a substitute for waste services in urban markets.

Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) was adopted as the conceptual model for the study, which investigated solid waste management behaviours by utilising the model’s threat and coping appraisals. It was found that while individuals recognise the health risks of improper waste disposal, their actions reflect low self-efficacy and response efficacy, emphasising the need for targeted environmental knowledge and awareness initiatives.

Based on these findings, this thesis has developed a framework for a sustainable waste management system for market waste in LEDCs, building on the existing waste management system in urban markets. Relevant stakeholders are assigned roles to operationalise the framework. Additionally, potential risks were evaluated and mitigating strategies were established.

Date of Award	3 Nov 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Abertay University
Sponsors	Petroleum Technology Development Fund
Supervisor	Joseph Akunna (Supervisor) & Alex Law (Supervisor)