Waste Management Systems and Cost Control of Manufacturing Firms in Rivers State, Nigeria

The study assessed the link between waste management systems (dimensioned by recycling facilities, waste collection management and public awareness programme) and cost control of manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. The Theory of Constraints provided foundation for the study, while the cross-sectional survey research design was adopted, with a positivist philosophical paradigm. A structured questionnaire based on a Likert's five-point scale was utilised and the target population was40 manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria, which are registered with the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, Rivers State Chapter. The elements of the accessible population were restricted to 210 management staff of the manufacturing firms and the Krejcie and Morgan’s table was utilized to determine a sample size of 136 respondents, and the snowball sampling was adopted. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was deployed to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significance level. The study found that while recycling facilities does not correlates with and cost control, both waste collection management and public awareness programs showed significant positive relationships with cost control, underscoring the importance of effective waste management systems in enhancing operational efficiency and financial performance. Therefore, it was recommended that Management of manufacturing firms should further develop and implement structured waste collection management systems that ensure timely and efficient collection of industrial waste, in order to achieve cost control, by investing in technology to optimize collection routes and improve sorting processes to minimize environmental impacts. Furthermore, Managers of manufacturing firms should prioritize the development of robust public awareness programs focused on waste management practices, as a means of achieving cost control.  This can be achieved by educating employees and the surrounding community about the importance of waste reduction, recycling, and sustainable practices, ultimately leading to better cost control.