Characteristics of Waste Pickers in Nakuru and Thika Municipal Dumpsites in Kenya

Dumpsite waste picking is prevalent in many developing countries of which Kenya is one. Waste pickers play an important role in waste recycling by recovering and providing materials to the waste recycling industry.

Aim: The purpose of the study was to characterise the demographic and socio-economic factors of waste pickers in Nakuru and Thika municipal dumpsites.

Study Design: The research design was a cross-sectional social survey and the sample size was 167.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the largest dumpsite in Nakuru and Thika towns found in Nakuru and Kiambu counties respectively.

Methodology: The data was collected by use of structured questionnaire. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Analysis was by frequency tables, χ2 test and t-test at 95% level of confidence.

Results: The results show that there was parity by gender in Nakuru but in Thika the proportion of females was much higher than that of males. There was significant association between age and site of operation with waste pickers in Thika being on average younger than in Nakuru (χ = 12.605, d.f. = 3, p = 0.006). Waste pickers in Thika had on average attained a higher level of education than in Nakuru (χ2 = 12.352, d.f. = 3, p = 0.006). Most of the waste pickers (96%) only picked from exclusively from the dumpsite. Waste pickers in Thika spent an average of 10.26±0.23 hours daily in waste picking which was significantly higher (t=-3.709, n=160, p<.001) than at Nakuru (8.97±0.27 hours). The mean number of years of waste picking in Thika was significantly less than in Nakuru (t=4.627, d.f.=158, p<.001).

Conclusion: In conclusion, waste pickers play an important role in waste recycling, with waste picking supporting hundreds of waste pickers in the study area, who are important in integrated waste management and need to be understood, appreciated and supported.