This study was carried out based on consistent observations on the activities of scavengers of scrap metal in Obio/Akpor local government Rivers State. The study was carried out to ascertain the profitability of scrap metal scavenging and how scrap metal waste can generate wealth to the public and the government. The study made use of primary and secondary data with the former being the main focus. The data were analyzed using the simple percentage, while the hypothesis was tested by means of the chi-square. The study findings revealed that there was a relationship between waste and wealth in relation to scrap metal scavenging. The researches therefore make the following recommendations; that scavengers should form co-operatives so that they can pull their efforts and resources together and bargain collectively. Government and nongovernmental organization should enlighten them through seminars, workshops, etc., on how to carry out their activities in an environmentally safe manner. The state government should encourage scavenging by enacting a law to back the profession and make it attractive for the teaming youths to venture into.
Wastes are things we consider as unfit, unwanted and discarded due to economic reasons or ignorance of alternative technologies to re-use them [
According to [
The management of solid wastes has become one of the greatest challenges facing State, local governments and environmental protection agencies in Nigeria. The volume of solid wastes generated continues to increase at a faster rate than the ability of the agencies in Nigeria to surmount. The lack of ability of the agencies to improve on the financial and technical resources needed to parallel the rate of generation is an issue. The deterioration of the urban environment in terms of irresponsibly dumped and accumulated solid wastes is most apparent in our urban lives and has caused a blighted environment [
In Obio/Akpor local government, waste has become problematic because of its visibility at major roads in the local government and the degradation of the environment. In most areas in the local government, it is common site to find heaps of waste in many places, besides those wastes that are scattered in gutters, street corners and road sides.
In some cities in Nigeria including Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor local government, the volume of solid waste generated has over whelmed the urban administrator’s capacity to plan for their collection and disposal. These wastes as earlier stated ranges from food materials, sachet water bags, plastic bottles, metals of all categories, demolitions, debris from trees etc. This paper focuses on the activities of scavenger of scrap metals which constitute huge quantity of the volume of waste generated in the local government and how it could be converted to wealth for their livelihood.
In Nigeria, the issue of metal scraps has become a serious business since the demand for it has increased especially for the purposes of recycling and for use in building construction. The business of sale of scrape metals has become a huge source of income for scavengers due to its increasing demand by metal recycling companies. Furthermore, scrap metal waste collection centers are springing up in the local government as well as most cities in Nigeria. Their main purpose is to segregate those materials i.e. (Metals) which could be assembled for recycling which in turn generates huge income to them after sale. It is in the light of the foregoing that this research wishes to investigate the activities of scavengers of scrap metal waste in Obio Akpor local government Rivers State.
Recycling is a process to change waste materials into new products to prevent making useless of potentially useful materials. Recycling has been a common practice since human history, with recorded advocates as far back as Plato in 400BC. During periods when resources were scarce, archaeological students of ancient times were interested in such waste such as, broken tools and pottery, implying that waste was being recycled in the absence of new materials [
In pre-industrial times, there was evidence of scrap bronze and other metals being collected from Europe and melted down for perpetual reuse [
In 1813, Benjamin law developed the process of turning rags into “shoddy” and “mango” wool in Bartley Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. This material combined recycled fibers with virgin wool. The West Yorkshire shoddy industry in towns such as Batley and Dewsbury lasted from the early 19th century to at least 1924. Industrialization spurred demand for affordable materials, aside from rags, ferrous scrap metals were converted as they were cheaper to acquire than was virgin ore. Rail road’s both purchased and sold scrap metal in the 19th century and the growing steel and auto mobile industries purchased scrap in the early 20th century. Many secondary goods were collected, processed, and sold by peddlers who combed dumps, city streets and went door to door looking for discarded machinery, pots, pans and other sources of metal.
By World War 1, thousands of such peddlers roamed the streets of American cities, taking advantage of market forces to recycle post consumer materials back to industrial production [
Typically scrap ferrous metal are generated at house hold, auto mechanic workshops and other commercial ventures. Below is a simple diagram to illustrate how scrap iron is generated in the local government.
Diagram showing Scrap iron generation in Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers State, Nigeria, adapted from [
The sampling technique adopted in the study is the simple random sampling technique. It was applied on the population of the study area as given by [
where n = sample size;
N = total population;
1 = constant;
e = level of significance (0.005)2.
S/N | Location of collection centers | Number of scrap center sampled | Number of questionnaire administered |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Choba | 3 | 36 |
2 | Rumuokoro | 3 | 36 |
3 | Rumuodumaya | 3 | 36 |
4 | Eliozu | 3 | 36 |
5 | Rumuolumeni | 3 | 36 |
Total | 15 | 180 |
Field Research 2014.
The data used for this research includes the primary and secondary data. The primary data was obtained using various techniques such as questionnaire administration, field survey and oral interviews. The secondary sources were obtained from the library, available literatures, which includes review of previous work done on the area etc. According to [
The analytical technique used in the analysis of data for this research is the Chi Square other descriptive statistics used includes tables, frequencies, and charts respectively.
In this case the Chi Square formula is given by equation
where
Various characteristics of scavengers were included in the questionnaire and analyzed. These characteristics were age, sex, educational status, number of years in the business, place of origin, estimated income generated by scavengers etc.
In
In terms of educational status of scavengers, it can be shown in
Sex | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
Male | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 180 | 100 |
Female | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||||||
Column Total | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 180 | 100 |
Age | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
20 - 30 Years | 20 | 11.1 | 20 | 11.1 | 25 | 13.8 | 10 | 5.5 | 20 | 11.1 | 95 | 52.6 |
31 - 40 Years | 10 | 5.5 | 10 | 5.5 | 11 | 6.1 | 20 | 11.1 | 16 | 8.8 | 67 | 37 |
41 - 50 Years | 6 | 3.3 | 6 | 3.3 | - | - | 6 | 3.3 | - | - | 18 | 9.9 |
51 - 60 Years | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
60 Above | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
Column Total | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 180 | 99.5 |
In
The response on the place of origin of scavengers shows that 97.6% are from other States, while 2.2% are from the State (
Hypothesis: Relationship between volume of scrap metal waste and the amount of money realizable.
Ho: There is no significant relationship between volume of scrap metal generated and the amount of money realizable.
Educational Level | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
No formal Education | 20 | 11.1 | 25 | 13.8 | 15 | 8.3 | 20 | 11.1 | 28 | 15.5 | 108 | 59.8 |
Primary Education | 6 | 3.3 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 8.3 | 12 | 6.6 | 8 | 4.4 | 50 | 27.6 |
Secondary Education | 10 | 5.5 | 2 | 1.1 | 6 | 3.3 | 4 | 2.2 | - | - | 22 | 12.1 |
Tertiary | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Column Total | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 180 | 99.5 |
Numbers of Years in the Business | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
1 - 5 Years | 20 | 11.1 | 26 | 14.4 | 28 | 16.6 | 30 | 16.6 | 20 | 11.1 | 124 | 68.7 |
6 - 10 Years | 16 | 8.8 | 8 | 54.4 | 8 | 4.4 | 6 | 3.3 | 16 | 8.8 | 54 | 29.7 |
11 - 15 Years | - | - | 2 | 1.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1.1 |
Column Total | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.9 | 180 | 99.5 |
Place of Origin | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
Within Port Harcourt | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
From Rivers State | - | - | - | - | 2 | 1.1 | - | - | 2 | 1.1 | 4 | 2.2 |
Outside Rivers State | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 34 | 18.8 | 36 | 20 | 34 | 18.8 | 176 | 97.6 |
Non-Nigerian | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Column Total | 36 | 20 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 20 | 36 | 19.9 | 180 | 99.8 |
of 9.49, we therefore reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis, which says that the amount of money realizable from scrap metal is dependent on the volume generated of scrap gathered.
The hypothesis tested in the research has highlighted some major findings that the activities of scavengers creates employment and also assist in the cleanliness of the environment. Furthermore, from
Estimated Income | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
N50,000 | 10 | 5.5 | 5 | 2.7 | 10 | 5.5 | 6 | 3.3 | 20 | 11.1 | 51 | 28.1 |
N100,000 | 25 | 13.8 | 25 | 13.8 | 20 | 11.1 | 30 | 16.6 | 10 | 5.5 | 110 | 60.8 |
N150,000 | 1 | 0.5 | 6 | 3.3 | 3 | 1.6 | - | - | 6 | 3.3 | 16 | 8.7 |
N200,000 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 1.6 | - | - | - | - | 3 | 1.6 |
N250,000 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Column Total | 36 | 19.8 | 36 | 19.8 | 36 | 19.8 | 36 | 19.9 | 36 | 19.8 | 180 | 99.2 |
ternal revenue to local government, the state and the federal government. The hypothesis test proved that there exist a relationship between the volume of scrap metal waste recycled and the amount of money that can be realized.
Categories of Sampled Areas | Choba | Eliozu | Rumuokoro | Rumuodumaya | Rumuolumeni | Row Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
1 | 10 | (10.2) | 25 | (22) | 1 | (3.2) | - | - | - | - | 36 | |
2 | 5 | (10.2) | 25 | (22) | 6 | (3.2) | - | - | - | - | 36 | |
3 | 10 | (10.2) | 20 | (22) | 3 | (3.2) | 3 | - | - | - | 36 | |
4 | 6 | (10.2) | 30 | (22) | 0 | (3.2) | - | - | - | - | 36 | |
5 | 20 | (10.2) | 10 | (22) | 6 | (3.2) | - | - | - | - | 36 | |
Column Total | 51 | 110 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 180 |
Measures to achieve effective activities of scavengers in scrap metal recycling in the local government and state some recommendations are suggested:
・ There should be promulgated a law by the government to encourage scavenging, protection and remuneration so as to make it attractive to the youths.
・ That since scavenging provides and benefits our society; it should be supported and not persecuted. The scavengers should be formally recruited by the government to carry out the segregation of solid waste which will reduce the amount of waste that needs to be collected for disposal.
・ For those who make their livelihood from collecting, sorting, or otherwise handling waste, measures should be adopted to provide them with the requisite safety.
Protective wears to improve their work environment.