A research report presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science at the
University of the Witwatersrand. Johannesburg, August 2017. / In Johannesburg, as in many cities of developing countries, municipal solid waste
management poses a key challenge to local city governments. The amount of municipal solid
waste generated has been noted to be growing in tandem with increasing city populations.
This Masters Research Report focuses on the factors shaping participation in the separation at
source (S@S) programme run by Johannesburg’s Pikitup waste management utility, with a
particular focus on the role of residents’ conceptualization of waste. The research employed a
qualitative comparative case study of two suburbs that were part of Pikitup’ first pilot S@S
programme, which was conducted by the Waterval depot: the low income area of Newlands,
and the high income area of Franklin Roosevelt Park. Twenty semi-structured interviews and
one focus group interview were conducted in each of the suburbs, as well as three semistructured
interviews with key informants. Findings were analyzed using thematic content
analysis. The results indicate several differences between the two suburbs – including
participation rates, conceptualization of waste and other factors shaping wasting practices.
The research showed that conceptualization of waste is an important factor, but not the only
one and affirmed other studies showing the importance of time, convenience and positive
attitude towards recycling. The research found that in addition to their conceptualization of
waste, the ways in which residents conceptualized recyclables affected their participation
rates, and that their separation practices were aligned to their conceptualizations. In
addition, the research found that residents’ conceptualization of recyclables and the recycling
system played an important role in their decision to participate in Pikitup’ S@S programme.
In Newlands, whilst some separated but due to their low incomes they sold it for themselves
versus giving it to Pikitup, and others would not separate as they felt Pikitup should pay them
or it was time consuming for them. In both suburbs those that understood the role of waste
pickers chose to separate their waste for the waste pickers versus Pikitup. In conclusion,
when we understand that residents participating in separating materials for different
pathways, and waste pickers play an important role in separating at source when residents fail
to do so then a better understanding of how much waste is being separated and diverted from
landfills is obtained in addition to what motivates participation in separation.
Keywords: municipal solid waste (MSW), resident households,
conceptualization of waste, separation at source, wasting practices, waste
picker / LG2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24987 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Kadyamadare, Grace Alice Rudo |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (ix, 99 leaves), application/pdf |
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