3.1 Health impacts
The response rate was 98.8% during the data collection process of health and environmental impact assessment of solid waste management problems in Asella town. Among the respondents, 281 (67.2%) were female, and the rest 137 (32.8%) were male interviewers have participated in the study sites.
396(94.7% )of respondents answered that poor solid waste management system causes health problems while the rest 22(5.3%) did not cause any health problems in Asella town. This finding obtained that the majority of the interviewers had well known about the risks of health problems due to the mismanagement of solid wastes. The research findings in other areas supported this result with improper handling and disposal of solid wastes causing health effects and environmental pollution (Vaibhav, Gaurav et al. 2020, Akmal and Jamil 2021). A similar study done in Mumbai town was found that 81% of respondents well known about the effects of improper solid waste handling practices contributing to health problems (Devdatta, Rustam et al. 2020). The variation might be because health information provided by the health professionals in Asella town brings a behavioral change in the solid waste management systems.
Table 1
Assessment of the educational status of respondents on health and environmental impacts of solid waste management problems in Asella town in February 2022.
Education | Gender |
| Female | Male | Total |
Can't read & write | 42.0 | 13.0 | 55.0 |
| 10.0 | 3.1 | 13.2 |
Others | 20.0 | 14.0 | 34.0 |
| 4.8 | 3.3 | 8.1 |
Primary cycle | 58.0 | 34.0 | 92.0 |
| 13.9 | 8.1 | 22.0 |
Secondary cycle | 87.0 | 35.0 | 122.0 |
| 20.8 | 8.4 | 29.2 |
Tertiary cycle | 74.0 | 41.0 | 115.0 |
| 17.7 | 9.8 | 27.5 |
All | 281.0 | 137.0 | 418.0 |
Total | 67.2 | 32.8 | 100.0 |
The result of an educational assessment had shown that 20.8% of female and 8.4% of male in the second cycle while 17.7% of female and 9.8% of male in the tertiary cycle was knowledgeable about the health and environmental effects of solid waste management in Asella town Table 1
Research findings showed that people with a higher level of education status had better knowledge than lower groups about solid waste management systems (Zoroufchi, Safaiyan et al. 2018). Therefore the results of this study could also strengthen stated evidence because higher educational classes were better educational status than lower class educational groups in Asella town Table 1.
The survey result obtained 58.9% of respondents could perform sorting of solid wastes but the rest 41.1% didn't perform it while storing in their household dust bins. This unsorted solid waste was critical because it might be disposed of as mixed or commingled waste to the environment so that it can develop risks to public health and environmental problems. Then it created breeding environments for disease carrier vectors of insects and rodents Table 3.
The survey result found that 42.6% of houseflies, 18.4% of rodents & 14.6% of cockroaches get suitable breeding environments due to unhygienic solid waste management systems. These arthropods and rodents were known as medically important for the transmission of different communicable diseases.
Table 2
-analysis of solid waste sorting process relating to gender in Asella town, June 2022.
Sorting solid waste | Gender |
| Female | Male | Total |
No | 119.0 | 53.0 | 172.0 |
| 28.5 | 12.7 | 41.1 |
Yes | 162.0 | 84.0 | 246.0 |
| 38.8 | 20.1 | 58.9 |
Total | 281.0 | 137.0 | 418.0 |
| 67.2 | 32.8 | 100.0 |
Females were better solid waste sorters than males in Asella solid waste management systems, Table 2.
The result health impact determination question response were 207(49.5%) respiratory diseases, 76(18.2%) asthmatic diseases, 66(15.8%) diarrheal diseases, 62(14 .8%) parasitic diseases and 7(1.7%) develop cancer cases. A similar study in Malaysia found that 75% of respiratory problems had occurred due to the effects of poor solid waste management practices(Norsa’adah, Salinah et al. 2020). The respiratory case finding result in Asella was low might be because of the difference in time variation and geographical location. A similar study in the Yeka sub-city of Addis Ababa and Ginchi town in other parts of Ethiopia also obtained the occurrence of health problems like cholera, cough, diarrhea, and nose and eye irritations due to unsafe management of urban solid wastes (Mulumebet 2018, Etea, Girma et al. 2021).
The evidence was documented on supporting effects due to improper solid waste management systems including environmental pollution and health risks like diarrhea, pneumonia, typhoid fever, cough, and malaria in Chiro town's solid waste management system (Hussein, Shimelis et al. 2020, Shi, Li et al. 2020, Vinti, Bauza et al. 2021).
The result analysis had shown that 9.6% was grouped inorganic waste and 32.2% organic waste. Organic solid wastes were described by the characteristics of time variation decomposability, i.e., degraded by microorganisms, especially bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa. This decomposition process causes further microbial contamination situations resulting in the communicability of diseases through contaminated food, water, and soil by a mechanism of fico-aural disease transmission channels. The decomposition of organic waste also created a bad smell that can aggravate respiratory problems for people who live nearby accommodated solid waste. In a similar study done in Chiro town 90.4% (Hussein, Shimelis et al. 2020) & in Hawassa city, 60% of solid waste generated was composed of organic solid wastes (Akalewold 2020). The current result was lower than Chiro and Hawassa town. This difference might be probably geographical variation and economical deference among different towns in Ethiopia.
From the community survey results, 41.8% of respondents answered about the solid waste management stems of the household while the rest 58.2% did not want to respond to it. So they stored and disposed of comingled solid waste together with other different types of solid wastes present within their household Fig. 2.
The community survey results of solid waste characterization were 81.8% trash followed by 70.8% food waste and the least composition 9.1% metal wastes Fig. 2.
A similar study done in Ghana obtained 62.1% food waste, 9.8% plastics, and 9.6% paper (Gu, Jiang et al. 2017). Even though there was a variation in the characterization process it was important for setting appropriate intervention management systems for solid wastes for reducing health and environmental impacts.
The solid waste collected from each residential household in Asella town was finally transported to open field disposal sites. Even though 93.1% of the respondents well knew about the adverse effects of open-field solid waste disposal and the remaining 6.9% did not know its negative impact, still, open field disposal was the main strategy for the final disposal strategy of solid wastes.
The termination cycle of solid waste collection frequency by the municipality office was 154 (36.8%) maximum per month while the least per week was 33 (7.9%). The long time accumulated solid waste contributed to critical sanitation problems i.e. offensive smell due to the low chance of getting rid of the generating solid waste within a short period of elimination trips.
3.2 Environmental pollution
The survey results on the determination of environmental pollution were 143 (34.2%) water pollution, 132 (31.6%) air pollution, 56 (13.4%) soil pollution, and 20% global environmental problems (climate change, global warming, and vector breeding sites) Fig. 3. The literature supports that improper solid waste handling system cause water pollution, soil pollution, and air pollution. The impact of poor solid waste management systems causes environmental pollution that leads to chemical and microbial transmission through contaminated water, soil, and air pathogens (Norsa’adah, Salinah et al. 2020, Akmal and Jamil 2021, Gohain and Bordoloi 2021).
Open-field solid waste disposal practice creates fire accidents and other physical hazards in addition to environmental pollution and health impacts. 235 (56.2%) respondents composted solid wastes in their compound while the remaining 183 (43.8%) didn't practice it. During the decomposition process of organic solid wastes for the preparation of compost using both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and algae have to be controlled to stop disease transmission cycles. The other area findings suggested that microorganisms found in polluted soil, air, surface, and groundwater were due to the consequence of environmental pollution & affect public health (Yash, Pankaj et al. 2019).
The statistical analysis test of the ANOVA model was selected to analyze the relation of socio-demographic variables and health effects by considering all means had equal distributions among study parameters. The planned cut-off point for the statistical comparison of the outcome variable was a P-value < 0.05. Nine socio-demographic variables were computed by using the ANOVA model of Tukey's statistical analysis with the consideration of 95% confidence intervals. 52.6% of the observations lie in the computation process. Then it was a good model selection for representative sample analysis. Finally as indicated on the mean interval plot graph age, cost, and education had a significant association with the health effect of different means observations. This confirms that all means were not equal in contribution to health effects Fig. 4.
The chi-square statistical tests had been done with a P-value < 0.05 of goodness fit models. The observed frequency of both male 84 and female 162 sorters of solid wastes was lower than their respected expected values. But the observed and expected frequency of males was lower than females. Thus this evidence supports that solid waste sorting was preferably handled by females than male partners Table 3.
Table 3
Chi-square test analysis of solid waste sorting process categorized by gender group in Asella, Arsi, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia, 2022.
Gender | Sorting solid waste |
No | Yes | All |
Female | 119.0 | 162.0 | 281 |
| 115.6 | 165.4 | |
Male | 53.0 | 84.0 | 137 |
| 56.4 | 80.6 | |
All | 172.0 | 246.0 | 418 |
The solid waste sorting process was covered by 162(38.8%) females and 84(20.1% ) males in their households. A similar study in Iran found that 50% of females participated in the sorting of solid wastes than 37.6% of males(Zoroufchi, Safaiyan et al. 2018). Overall in both study sites, males' participation in sorting solid wastes was lower than females. The comparison of both female & male participation in the sorting of solid wastes was lower in Asella town than in Iran. This might be due to the difference in the knowledge status of respondents in Asella and Iran including sample size differences. Overall, both findings had obtained that females were a better target than males for sorting solid wastes, Table 2.