An Assessment of the Variability of Household Income on Volume of Waste Materials Generated in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Income variability plays a determinant factor in the volume of waste materials generated. The research examined the variability of household income on the volume of waste materials generated by residents in Benin City. The objective of the study was to examine the variabilities of household income on the volume of solid waste generated in the study area. Primary data were obtained from 25 selected communities which comprise 110 settlements from the 3 Local Government areas that constitute Benin City. A total of 1,781 copies of questionnaires were administered in the 768 pollen unit stations and 192,250 numbers of registered voters were used for this study. Systematic sampling techniques from the selected streets and houses were used for the study. In each of the selected streets 2nd, middle and 2nd to the last households were administered questionnaires. Secondary data were sourced from published and documentary materials. The 2-way ANOVA statistical techniques were used for the study. On examinations, the results revealed that income variabilities, number of persons per household and economic determinants have positive impacts on the volumes of waste materials generated. High-income earners consumed more packaged products and by implication generate a huge volume of waste items and vice versa. The correlation analysis between monthly income and waste materials generation revealed that a 99% level of significance and relationship exists between monthly income and waste materials generation (r = 0.82). The Sum of Squares and Mean squares between Groups and Within Groups were 3.606 and 1.802 for the former and 3237.861 and 1.994 for the latter respectively. Furthermore, since the P-values are less than 0.5 level of significance, there was no significant variation (0.000) in the variability in household income and volume of waste materials generated among residents of the study area.