Assessment of Contributions of Informal Small Businesses to Environmental Pollution in the Rand-West City Local Municipality, South Africa

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Even though certain significant players in the economy's informal sector operate in an environmentally polluting manner, the informal sector plays a critical role in reducing poverty and creating jobs. Large companies' waste production and its impact on the environment have been the subject of much empirical study from both developed and developing nations. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of empirical data regarding South Africa's informal small businesses' waste output and environmental effects. The main objective of this study was to assess how the informal small enterprises in the Rand-West City Local Municipality of South Africa contributed to environmental degradation. A qualitative research methodology was applied, in which case semi-structured interviews were conducted with informal business owners while observation schedules were used to record evidence from the physical environment. A purposive sampling strategy was used to select 25 informal business owners whose businesses operated in the Rand-West City Municipality in South Africa. A thematic analysis was used to analyse empirical data collected through interviews and observation schedules. The findings of the study reveal that informal small businesses within the above-mentioned local municipality contributed to environmental contamination through the burning of waste or indirectly through littered plastics and boxes thrown away by customers. Another way through which some informal small businesses contribute to environmental contamination is through oil spillages during vehicle service and maintenance in open public spaces. The article concludes that to guarantee that the environmental design is conducive to reducing contamination or pollution, informal small businesses should be given suitable spaces for the purpose of diverse business operations. Apart from the support for informal businesses, the findings of this study imply that the Rand-West City Local Municipality will need to draft comprehensive policies and by-laws to regulate the activities of informal businesses in an attempt to minimise environmental degradation that may result from waste contamination.