Solid Waste Management Practices and Sustainable Environmental Management: A Case of Lira City

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of effect of commercial waste management practices. Specifically, the study sought to: explore commercial solid waste management practices in Lira City, assess the level of environmental sustainability of Lira City and to examine the effect of commercial solid waste management practices on environmental sustainability of Lira City. The study employed cross sectional research design; employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches from sample size of 103 respondents that was drawn using Krejcie & Morgan (1970). The study used questionnaires and interview guide as research techniques to collect quantitative and qualitative data from primary and secondary sources. Quantitative data analysis was done using SPSS package version 23 while thematic and content analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data. The findings of the study revealed that waste compositing was the main way of managing solid waste by hotels and restaurants in Lira City. The study revealed that the level of environmental sustainability in Lira City was still below average as indicated by a Likert scale of 1-5 used by the researcher. Finally, the study indicated that the use of waste compositing and waste recycling to manage waste had a significant effect in Lira City. Based on the above findings, the study concluded that commercial solid waste in Lira City was being best managed by the use of compositing. The study therefore recommended that commercial waste management in Lira City should be managed at the local government, company, and community levels so that everybody can be in position to manage.