Abstract:
Solid waste, which is a consequence of day-to-day activity of human kind, needs to be
managed properly. The improper management of the MSW is a major cause for water, air
and soil pollution. Municipal solid wastes (MSW) generations and characterization of its
composition is essential for proper management of municipal solid waste in the study area.
This study aims to determine generation rate and physico-chemical characterization of
Municipal Solid Waste in Fonko Town. In present study, a cross sectional descriptive study
design was used. The data for the study was collected through filed measurement, direct
observation and by preparing questionnaires and through discussion together with the focus
group. Daily MSW was separated in to its components and weight of each component was
recorded. This has been conducted for 7 consecutive days to have better average per day
MSW generation rate. The physicochemical properties of the wastes were analyzed based on
the standard method. Survey was held through a randomly selected 133 households. The
rates of daily waste generation of municipal solid waste were 0.197 kg/capita/day. The study
revealed that by weight, the food wastes constituted the largest proportion of municipal solid
waste (43.07%) followed by ash (16.9%), paper (15.5%), yard (10.23%), plastic (7.33%),
glass (2.77%), metal (2.23%) and other (1.97%) wastes respectively. The physicochemical
characterization of municipal solid wastes indicated that bulk density, moisture content, pH
value, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and
C:N of municipal waste sample were 369kg/m3
, 49.44%, 6.23, 1.58ds/m, 38.2%, 1.29%,
0.56%, 0.71% and 30:1% respectively. From the result of this study it can be concluded that,
biodegradable (organic) solid waste constituted a lion share of the solid wastes generated in
the town. Thus, the municipality can recover this waste by introducing an integrated urban
agriculture that might convert this waste to organic fertilizer through composting for
reducing solid waste disposal problems
