The study was about the effectiveness of Municipal Solid Waste Management Practices (MSWMP) in urban settings in Uganda specifically in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District, and it was aimed at examining the current solid waste management practices, assessing the effectiveness of solid waste management practices and evaluating the main challenges of the municipal solid waste management system in the Entebbe Municipality. The research was based on a cross-sectional research design setup to capture the opinions of the respondents. The study had a 95.2% response rate. A structured questionnaire, interview guide, and documentary reviews were used to collect data, and SPSS version 20 was used for the analysis of the data. The results indicated that on Waste Management practices, the study revealed that the following practices were applied: incineration (M=2.18), Composting (M=3.36), Landfill(M=4.58), open dumping (M=4.20), recycling (M=4.50), Open burning (M=4.13), private collection (M= 3.70), Sorting & shredding (M= 3.25) and salvaging (M= 3.30); On the effectiveness of SWM, the following measures were being taken; strict adherence to waste pick-up schedule (M=1.88); continuous training of staff on solid waste collection (M=2.83), putting in place enough number of collection points close to all beneficiaries (M=1.50), solid waste collector’s cleaning waste spillover to the ground at collection points (M=2.01), solid waste collectors having sufficient manpower and vehicles to transport solid waste in EMC (M=2.03), EMC having designated accessible landfill site for waste disposal (M=4.33) and availability of adequate policies, laws that promote effective SWM (M=4.11). On the challenges of solid waste management, it was established that there was inadequate maintenance of skips and designated dumping sites (M = 4.13), fees charged for garbage disposal by EMC limited volume of garbage collection (M = 3.65), lack of enforcement of bylaws on SWM (M = 3.55), inadequate service area coverage (M = 3.80), operational inefficiency of services (M = 3.75), limited utilization of recycling activities (M = 3.91), and inadequate management of non-industrial hazardous solid waste (M = 3.51). Based on the above findings, it is recommended that EMC designs and implements awareness programmes on waste dangers and consequences, particularly illegal open dumping, and emphasizing waste management through reduction, reuse, and recycling. EMC institutional and human capacity should be strengthened. Full cost recovery for waste services, such as the pay-as you-throw (PAYT) mechanism, waste minimization, and stricter law enforcement should be applied in order to divert more waste from disposal streams.

A Dissertation Submitted to the School of Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of a Master of Science Degree in Environment Health of Nkumba University