Do socioeconomic factors influence households’ solid waste disposal systems? Evidence from Ghana

Solid waste management remains a major challenge in Ghana, especially in the peri-urban and urban areas. The implications from this bottleneck are widely acknowledged. Nonetheless, fundamental issues such as the factors that drive households into the adoption of a particular solid waste disposal system have not been explored. This study applied a multinomial logit approach using 16,767 households in the Ghana Living Standard Survey round six data to examine whether or not socioeconomic factors influence households’ decision to adopt a particular solid waste disposal system. The results established that a number of the hypothesised socioeconomic factors drive households into the use of a particular solid waste disposal system. For instance, education of households on solid waste management is important to increase households’ decision into collecting wastes other than open dumping or burning. The characteristics of houses and the location of households also influence waste disposal systems in Ghana. We conclude that solid waste disposal at unapproved places was largely influenced by socioeconomic characteristics other than income or welfare of households. We recommend continuous advocacy programmes on improved solid waste management systems, led by the various decentralised governance structures such as the District Assemblies, to curb the menace.