Community-led Waste to Wealth Activities through Buy-back Arangement for Income Generation and Climate Change Effect Mitigation at Kube Atenda, Ibadan, Nigeria

Due to the lack of community participation and involvement in waste management policies and practices, the inhabitants dispose of their wastes on illegal dumps, in open spaces, in water bodies or in storm drainage channels. Waste dumped into storm drainage channels or water bodies create serious environmental problems which always escalate into disastrous situations in Nigeria and beyond. As such, there is need to ensure a sound waste management system that will not only reduce emission of GHGs into the environment but convert the litters generated in the communities to cheap energy and useful materials while encouraging community participation in an integrated litter management system.<br />
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The main components of this waste management practice include: organizing the trainers trained during a previous CIRCLE project to train the entire community during; creation of a sorting centre/recycling kiosks for recyclable buy-back arrangement and entrepreneurship opportunities; developing market links for recyclables between the community and a resource recovery centre at Alesinloye market in Ibadan (private practitioner); developing effective communication among all the stakeholders and decision makers and, instituting monitoring and evaluation for progress control through involvement of Department of Community Development Inspectorate (CDI) at Ibadan Northeast LGA (local council). The practice generally meets the community people needs in the area of community development, clean environment, people’s capacity building in waste to wealth concept for wealth creation and poverty reduction, improved health and improved self-esteem. The sorted recyclables form the community serve as cheap and locally available raw materials for the resource recovery centre at Alesinloye for its smooth operation while the money being spent by the state government through its lowest tier (local council) will be reduce. In addition, the amount of waste sent to the landfill from the community has been sharply reduced. The following strategies/channels of communication are adopted: sensitization workshop, panel discussion, group meeting, radio talk; interpersonal communication (IPC) along with posters and leaflets. Poster and leaflet that display storage and segregation at source, actions that promote behavioural change of the community member towards effective litter management practices.<br />
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Generally, establishment of waste buy-back centre and the current practice of waste management in the community has led to green growth, clean environment, poverty reduction, improved health, self-esteem and active involvement and participation of the members in community development. The community has now become a role model in the country and the transformation would surely arouse the interest of policy makers across the world to think locally and act globally.