Waste Management & Research 2016, Vol. 34(12) 1217–1223 © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0734242X16666943 wmr.sagepub.com Background to the study Over the years, governments of several countries have experi- mented with different strategies that will enable them to tackle waste management issues in their domains, while tapping into the enormous potentials offered. The problem is, however, often compounded in informal settlements; this is often because of the informal status of such settlements. By their very nature, infor- mal settlements fall outside the regulatory control of government. As such, they are rarely served by government in the provision of basic infrastructure and services, even though these are services governments ought to provide for all their people. Reasons for such neglect are not farfetched. First, current data on informal settlements with which to plan for infrastructural services provi- sion are rarely available. Even where attempts are made to gener- ate data, they soon become obsolete and unrealistic owing to the rapidly evolving nature of such settlements and the slow bureau- cratic nature of government programmes. A second reason is the lack of resources and capacity to serve all groups by government. Informal settlements are usually accorded low priority because of their generally low status and lack of voice. In the face of compe- tition for resources therefore, they often lose out. Third, precari- ous location of these settlements at city periphery and hard-to-reach sites coupled with their haphazard evolutionary patterns make it difficult for them to be provided with relevant services like waste collection. A fourth reason is the perceived low value of waste generated from such settlements. In addition, as a result of the poor economic status of the resi- dents, it is believed that they are more frugal and prudent in man- aging their resources. They are thus expected to have done in-house sorting and conversion of use, thereby reducing the quantity and salvage value of waste they generate. Literature has also shown that the composition of wastes from such settlements tilt heavily towards food waste in content; albeit there is often need to dispose of an increasingly large quantity of wastes gener- ated in these settlement. The disposal of refuse from such areas has not been without its challenges. For instance, Herrle et al. (2005) identified the factors that have limited efficient waste management in informal settlements to include lack of recognition of these settlements by responsible public sector institutions; limited capacities of public waste man- agement services; limited willingness and capacity of residents to Private sector participation in domestic waste management in informal settlements in Lagos, Nigeria Akunnaya P Opoko and Adedapo A Oluwatayo Abstract Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, which is grappling with the challenges of poorly managed urbanisation. With an estimated population of about 17.5 million, solid waste management is one of the most pressing environmental challenges currently faced in the city. It is estimated that more than 9071847.4kg of urban waste is generated every day in the city. The city lacks the capacity to deal with such magnitude of waste. Consequently, the city has involved the private sector (private sector participation) in its waste management drive. This article examines the effectiveness of this public–private sector collaboration model in waste management in informal settlements in Lagos using empirical data. Major findings of the article include the irregularity of waste collection owing to a poor road network, an inadequate transport infrastructure and the desire to maximise profit, as well as poor waste handling and disposal methods by the private sector participation operators who are not chosen based on competence and capacity to perform. Another major finding is the lack of cooperation from residents evidenced in non-payment of bills and poor packaging of wastes, resulting in wastes being littered. The article concludes on the need to restructure the scheme through proper sensitisation of residents, selection of operators with demonstrable delivery capacity and provision of a well-maintained road network to facilitate access of operators to settlements. Keywords Waste management, informal settlements, private sector participation, operator, Nigeria Department of Architecture, Covenant University, Ogun State, Nigeria Corresponding author: Adedapo A Oluwatayo, Department of Architecture, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State 110001, Nigeria. Email: dapo.oluwatayo@covenantuniversity.edu.ng 666943WMR 0 0 10.1177/0734242X16666943Waste Management & ResearchOpoko and Oluwatayo research-article 2016 Original Article brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Covenant University Repository