The plastic waste and its management in Tanzania:

Abstract

This research work investigates the plastic waste and its management in Arusha municipality. The study is intended to achieve three specific objectives (a) to assess the kind of waste management systems used in Arusha municipality; (b) to determine the level of awareness on sustainable plastic waste management; (c) to analyse the value of plastic waste management in Arusha municipality. Primary data for the research was acquired through questionnaires and interviews where as secondary data was gathered from books, journals, research papers and past dissertations. Environmental Responsible Behaviour Theory and Waste Management Theory guided this study. A population of 130 respondents obtained by purposive and random sampling was used and the study was conducted in Arusha municipality. The study used quantitative and qualitative research approaches in data collection and they were analysed by the use of descriptive and thematic analysis methods respectively. The research findings indicated that the plastic waste systems put in place such as waste collection stations, use of refuse trucks and the need for more skilled labour need to be reviewed and better structured and implementation of policies where as, educating the society is also key to better understanding of impacts of plastic waste management. Some respondents acknowledged value in plastic waste management this being due to access of knowledge and information gained through different sources such as television programs and the Internet. The major recommendations of the study include policymaking on how plastic waste is to be managed from households to municipal level and implementation, provision of education on waste management to the community in order to create awareness and adherence to policies and setting of waste collection systems that would encourage proper disposal methods.