Waste management authorities have adopted different strategies at different times in managing waste in Nigeria. In spite of the various efforts put in place, municipal solid waste remains one of the most conspicuous and repugnant environmental problems that threaten the Nigerian city. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in residential solid waste management in Ibadan, Nigeria. Data for the study were obtained from the Oyo State Solid Waste Management Authority (OYOWMA). Findings revealed that the commonly-generated wastes were organic wastes and there existed a mismatch between waste generation and collection. Between 2012 and 2015, city waste managers collected and transported 2,411,145.78 metric tonnes of waste to the four dumpsites in Ibadan. The dumpsites’ locations were sub-optimal, surrounded by sprawling neighbourhoods due to inadequacy in urban planning and enforcement of development control. This has adverse effects on the well-being of residents. Municipal solid waste management is capital-intensive and the decline in budgetary allocations to waste management necessitated the PPP user-charges arrangement. This intervention notwithstanding, indiscriminate dumping of wastes continued to be cheap means of disposing of solid wastes, with implications for drainage system and flooding. Waste sorting, recycling and conversion should be given adequate consideration and the informal waste managers should be mainstreamed into the urban waste management architecture. 

 

Key words: Private waste contractors, Oyo State Solid Waste Management Authority, residential solid waste, informal waste collectors, dumpsite, Ibadan.