Implications of Spatial Distribution of Solid Waste Disposal Sites on Effective Solid Waste Management in Chuka Municipality, Tharaka Nithi County-Kenya

Mutegi, Kinyua Alex, Wambugu, Kairu Stephen, Muthike, Muriithi Joseph

Abstract: Technological advancements continue to make representation of the world?s phenomena easy and a reality today especially by depicting patterns and distributions in a given area. Location of waste bins is a determinant to effective solid waste management in urban areas due to its influence on waste disposal and collection frequencies. In Chuka municipality, uneven geographical coverage of waste collection services through designation of formal disposal sites by the County solid waste management service has resulted into proliferation of informal disposal sites in unserved and unmapped areas. The objective of this study was to establish the spatial distribution of formal and informal solid waste disposal sites in Chuka Municipality. A field survey was conducted and the spatial data was acquired using a handheld GPS device inform of coordinates (latitude and longitude) for each solid waste disposal site in the study area. Neighbor Analysis in Arc GIS 9.3 (version) was used to analyze the data. The analysis revealed spatial clustering of both formal and informal disposal sites in the study area for areas covered and not covered by the county solid waste management service respectively. Relative Nearest Neighbor Analysis indicated a higher concentration of informal disposal sites than the formal disposal sites implying that the uncollected waste stream load will keep on increasing as the number of informal disposal sites increase within the CBD, Ndagani, Kibumbu and the suburbs of Rukindu, Kathituni, Mucwa and Kirege. Therefore, the study recommends more evenly distributed formal disposal sites in the medium population density areas with application of GIS tools in designating them for effective waste management.

Keywords: Disposal sites, Spatial distribution, Nearest Neighbor Analysis, solid waste

How to Cite?: Mutegi, Kinyua Alex, Wambugu, Kairu Stephen, Muthike, Muriithi Joseph, "Implications of Spatial Distribution of Solid Waste Disposal Sites on Effective Solid Waste Management in Chuka Municipality, Tharaka Nithi County-Kenya", Volume 14 Issue 10, October 2025, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 1449-1457, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR251013192104, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR251013192104