Levels of performance by publicly and privately owned agencies in handling domestic solid wastes: acase Study of Tanga City –Tanzania

The main objective of this study was to assess the levels of performance of publicly and privately owned agencies in domestic solid waste management in Tanga city. A total sample of 147 people were interviewed, 97 from households and 50 from the publicly and privately owned agents workers. Questionnaires were administered to respondents and data were collected and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).There were four main research questions focusing on: the types of generated solid wastes in the study area, the quantities of generated solid wastes in the study area, the techniques used by agents in handling domestic solid wastes in the study area and the effectiveness of publicly and privately owned agencies in delivering environmental sanitation in the study area.The study findings revealed that, plastic bags and food wastes were the main types of domestic solid wastes which were generated in the study area. The average generated rate of domestic solid wastes was 1.25 kilograms per day per household. The leading category was those who generated between 1-4 kg per day. Buckets and plastic bags were the most popular receptacles for storage of domestic solid wastes. Trucks and Wheel Loaders were the major means used in transportation of domestic solid waste in the study area. The common constraints facing agents were: lack of technical resources, inadequate financial resources, low community involvement, low or no motivation, ineffective by-laws and standard, inflexible working schedules and insufficient information on wastes management.The levels of delivering environmental sanitation by the agents were low. The overall collected wastes by agents were 43.0% while uncollected wastes were 57.0% of the total generated wastes. Privately owned agents performed poorly compared to the publicly owned agents in delivering environmental sanitation in the study area.