**3. Waste management strategies in municipal areas in the Niger Delta**

 Different cities in the Niger delta have their way of managing waste, but collectively the major management methods adopted in most areas is individual and group management. Individual residents manage their garbage and trash. Different occupants of a house work as a group to manage their waste system. For instance, they perform rotational sweeping, collection, dumping and burning of waste in open spaces designated for that purpose. People living in a given area contribute money, which they use to hire and pay agents or private refuse collectors. The waste are put in drums or bins and later disposed off by the paid agents, who comes weekly to collect and dump the waste in approved dump site. Local government manages waste in their various jurisdictions especially in their headquarters. The local government has the constitutional role of waste management, which is part of their social responsibility. Market operators and indigenous manufacturers also manage their own waste. The problem is that private individuals use open spaces such as mangrove forest or wilderness (**Figure 2a**–**c**) as sites to dispose off their waste. This is because they do not have waste collection and disposal system. They dump waste such as animal carcasses, metal scrap, vehicle junks, plastics, etc. Similarly, domestic, industrial and biomedical wastes are all dumped together at dump sites. Hazardous and radioactive wastes are often dumped together, which is dangerous to public health and safety. Domestic and industrial liquid wastes are indiscriminately discharged or find their way into streams and rivers, which serve as drinking water for a large section of the rural and urban inhabitants.
