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1. Introduction
Waste generation is associated with our day-to-day activities and its disposal, a common practice found ubiquitously around human settlement. Management of these generated wastes is a main problem for the concerned authorities all over the world. Rapid population growth, increasing urbanization, fast development of infrastructure, changing lifestyle and economic conditions increased the waste generation rate and composition. Along with these conditions, rising costs and increasing public awareness exerts more pressure on the limited resources of the municipalities for waste management ([15] Mensah, 2006). Municipal solid waste (MSW) also known as urban solid waste or garbage or trash includes discarded material like paper, plastic, cans, glass, metal, dirt, ash, dead animals, etc., and usually collected by local government authorities. Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) involves activities associated of six basic principles of waste generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and disposal ([24] Robinson, 1986). However, in most cities, the MSWM system comprises only four activities, i.e. waste generation, collection, transportation and disposal ([26] Sharholy et al. , 2007). Improper MSWM directly affects all components of environmental and human health ([15] Mensah, 2006; [22] Ray et al. , 2005). Environmental damage not only results from the amount of waste generated but also from the way the wastes are disposed ([7] Choe and Fraser, 1999). Uncollected wastes in the streets causes bad smell, drain blockage, invites scavengers, general public nuisance and become good breeding site for insects. The problem of MSWM is more in many underdeveloped African countries due to lack of awareness, education, resources, technology and finance which resulted into open dumping, low collection and uncontrolled incineration of wastes. In Ethiopia, municipality of respective cities and towns are responsible for MSW but inadequate management resulted in dumping, scattering and accumulation of wastes across the roadsides, market places, river/stream banks, empty plots ([17] Mulu and Legesse, 2005; [27] Sharma et al. , 2011). This study was designed to test whether the MSWM system of the Dessie city was according to the recommended practices or not. In addition, the study was designed to check how people collect the wastes and disposed them inappropriately and whether the waste generation rate was unacceptably high or not in the city? No study has been conducted so far in...