Abstract
The rising prevalence of the failure of fast-growing cities’ waste authorities to account for solid waste service function and provide effective solid waste systems poses serious environmental hazards and health risks. Household solid waste mismanagement in Mthatha, a fast-growing city in South Africa with a rapid population increase, is emerging as a major environmental hazard. An effective solid waste audit system could reduce the extent of this problem. This study aimed at categorising and quantifying household solid waste generation and determining the drivers of waste generation and mismanagement that have the potential to increase risk and/or vulnerability to household solid waste-related environmental hazards. Stratified random sampling was used to select 248 sample households and to categorise them according to upgraded high-density informal residential settlements (64), high-density formal residential settlements (62), middle-density residential settlements (61) and low-density residential settlements (61). The results revealed that the waste generation rate increased one moves from informal settlements (1.84 bags of waste per household per week) to low-density, low socio-economic statuses (2.26 bags), middle-density settlements (2.39 bags) and low-density residential settlements (2.84 bags). Food waste was the most commonly generated type of waste for more than 50% of the respondents. Approximately 89% of the most common types of waste reported across all settlements had the potential to be recycled, reused or composted. Only four factors emerged as significant determinants (p < 0.05) of the volume of solid waste generated per household per week: household socio-economic status, household size, knowledge of waste management and household participation in waste separation. Results on drivers of household solid waste generation and variations across residential settlements could be utilised when designing growing cities’ waste management plans, with the objective of reducing the volume of solid waste sent to landfill sites, illegal dumping and open burning of waste, thus reducing the associated negative impacts that mismanaged waste poses to the environment. Enforcing waste separation at the household level could promote reuse and recycling, which in turn would reduce waste volumes.Keywordshousehold waste generation; socio-economic drivers; residential density; refuse removal; waste types.
Highlights
Solid waste mismanagement is a growing environmental hazard affecting fast-growing cities from both developing and developed countries (Gutberlet 2018)
High-density residential settlements were categorised into upgraded informal settlements and formal settlements; this was deemed necessary because these two types of settlements resemble different development processes, which has a strong bearing on municipal delivery of waste management services, infrastructure development and level of organisation
Female-headed households are dominant across most communities in South Africa
Summary
Solid waste mismanagement is a growing environmental hazard affecting fast-growing cities from both developing and developed countries (Gutberlet 2018). Hoornweg, Bhada-Tata and Kennedy (2013) indicate that globally, the waste generation rate has risen tenfold since the last century and is likely to double by 2025. The amount of urban waste produced globally is growing faster than the rate of urbanisation (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata 2012). Kawai and Tasaki (2016) noted that municipal solid waste generation per capita ranged from 0.09 kg per day to 5.50 kg per capita per day and the median was 0.94 kg per day. There is a general consensus in the literature that household solid waste generation is directly linked to an area’s socio-economic indicators. Growing cities and cities enjoying positive socio-economic indicators should pay attention to household solid waste generation and management as a way of reducing waste-related http://www.jamba.org.za
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