AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/AJWEP025090061
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Post-war solid waste management in Adigrat, Ethiopia

Fikre Belay Tekulu1* Zubairul Islam2
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1 Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Adigrat University, Adigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia
2 Department of Management, Business and Economics, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
Received: 28 February 2025 | Revised: 31 May 2025 | Accepted: 9 June 2025 | Published online: 30 June 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Waste is a general term used to describe materials or products considered largely worthless. This study assesses the current post-war state of solid waste management in the city of Adigrat, Ethiopia. It aims to evaluate household waste generation patterns, disposal practices, and community perceptions toward municipal waste services, identifying gaps and proposing strategies for sustainable recovery. A total of 165 households were chosen randomly from the target demographic using a mixed-method research strategy that combined quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews for comprehensive insight. The study found that the average solid waste generation rate among the 165 randomly selected households was 1.087 kg/household/day. Most respondents (81.8%) disposed of their waste in open areas or drainage systems, and 51.2% expressed dissatisfaction with municipal solid waste collection. These practices have significant implications for public health, urban hygiene, and environmental sustainability. To rebuild the system, governments, non-governmental organizations, and concerned citizens should cooperate through coordinated planning and resource mobilization.

Keywords
Solid waste
Post-war
Households
Adigrat
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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