ACCRA2008 - 7th AARSE CONFERENCE: “Application of Earth Observation and Geo-information for Governance in Africa” 27-30 Oct. 2008.Centre for Remote Sensing & Geographic Information Services (CERSGIS), University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. 1 USE OF GEO-SPATIAL DATA FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTE IN BUKURU, JOS PLATEAU, NIGERIA. MUSA, N. Z. (MRS), International Space University (ISU), Strasbourg, France. zahrah.musa@masters.isunet.edu. EGUAROJE, O.E., National Centre for Remote Sensing, Jos, Nigeria. Eguaroje14@yahoo.com. OLORUNFEMI, J.F., University of Illorin, Nigeria. funfofem@yahoo.com . “KEYWORDS”: Remote Sensing, GIS, Waste management, Dump sites, Biodegradable, Non-biodegradable “ABSTRACT”: Most urban and semi urban centre’s in Nigeria battle with waste management systems that evolve after the towns are already built up and drainage patterns distorted. Related literature on the issue of solid waste management was reviewed for the purpose of the study, as well as theories that were pertinent and applicable. Data were collected for analysis by means of field measurements, interviews, observations, and informal discussion as well as from different documents. Government policy on solid waste and its implementation is considered and the problem of non availability of designated dumping sites or community waste bins is established and acknowledged as one reason for indiscriminate dumping of waste. The study makes use of geo- spatial techniques to study the present conditions and propose suitable bin sites for waste disposal in Bukuru within the constraints of an already built up area. 1. INTRODUCTION Nigeria, like many other developing countries suffers from lack of adequate and efficient waste management. In time past the amount of waste generated by humans was manageable and biodegradable but with the industrial revolution, this situation changed. Population growth and rural- urban drift increases the volume of waste generated in urban centres and brings about sprouting of slums with waste dumped along the road side and any vacant space. The collection and disposal of waste are major public health issues because they are factors that affect the quality of the environment. Consequently ‘the objective of any waste management is to collect, transport, treat and finally dispose the waste in a hygienically and aesthetically acceptable manner at the lowest possible cost’ ( Ikhouria and Ikhouria, 2002). As a policy, dump sites have been created at the out skirts of most urban centers and in Jos – Bukuru metropolis mining voids are used for refuse disposal. The volume of solid waste in Nigerian cities had risen from 2.5 million metric tonnes in 1982 to about 4.5 million metric tonnes in 2000 (Omuta, 1999). The share magnitude of this waste in itself is an environmental health problem that will task the professional skills of health officers and the team of waste management personnel in Nigeria. The most conspicuous of these is solid waste, because it can be seen