Classification of solid waste generation areas in the greater accra region using machine learning algorithms

Solid waste management has become a challenge for developing countries mainly because of surging economic activities, rapid urbanisation and rise in community living standards. Many researchers have identified its related problems and have recommended solutions while others have established models to forecast the amount of solid waste generated over a period. However, an efficient and effective management of solid waste requires adequate categorisation of solid waste generation areas to aid in the provision of area-specific or targeted solutions for each categorised area. In this study, we used primary data on some important socio-demographic variables (household size, house type, predominant religion of household, age and educational level of household head, residency type household waste disposal method, frequency of waste collection etc) and the amount of solid waste generated from 2102 households in Greater Accra Region, Ghana. We assessed the classification performances of a traditional statistical classifiers and some selected machine learning algorithms in classifying the surveyed areas in Greater Accra into low, medium, and high solid waste generation areas. The Support Vector Machine with the Cubic Kernel was found to be the best performing classifier with a Specificity of 86%, Sensitivity, Precision and Accuracy of 73% and Area under the curve (AUC) of 0.90. The Support Vector Machine with the Cubic Kernel is therefore recommended as a suitable algorithm for the categorisation of solid waste generation areas. Stakeholders responsible for solid waste management could leverage on the evidence from this study to categorise their waste generation areas and to proffer targeted community-based interventions.