SOUTH AFRICA MAINSTREAMING THE INFORMAL WASTE SECTOR TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN AFRICAN CITIES

This report by WWF South Africa examines the role of the informal waste sector in African cities, advocating for an "inclusive circular economy" that integrates reclaimers into formal waste management systems. It analyzes the operational status, socio-economic challenges, and policy landscapes of reclaimers in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda, arguing that their inclusion is essential for sustainable urban waste management and poverty alleviation.

• African cities face a critical waste crisis due to a linear "take-make-waste" economic model, with over 90% of the 180 million tonnes of municipal solid waste generated in Africa in 2017 being inadequately managed, resulting in uncontrolled landfills or environmental leakage.
• Informal reclaimers provide a vital but under-compensated service by diverting recyclable materials from waste streams into the recycling value chain, effectively subsidizing the financial and physical burdens of inefficient formal municipal waste systems.
• Reclaimers operate under hazardous conditions with high exposure to toxic substances and health risks. In Kenya and Nigeria, 78% of surveyed dump site reclaimers suffered from chronic health problems, including respiratory ailments and malaria.
• The income of reclaimers is highly volatile and subject to market fluctuations, such as oil prices affecting the value of recycled plastics. In South Africa, PET prices varied significantly by city, with Cape Town reclaimers receiving R2/kg and Johannesburg reclaimers receiving R6,50/kg in December 2021.
• The report identifies a significant lack of comprehensive data on the informal waste sector. Estimated numbers of reclaimers include over 90,000 in South Africa, 7,788 to 10,000 in Accra, and between 25,000 and 30,000 in Lagos.
• Organizing into networks, such as the African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO) and the South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA), allows reclaimers to advocate for recognition, bypass exploitative middlemen, and engage with formal stakeholders.
• South Africa is highlighted as a leader in policy frameworks for reclaimer integration, specifically through the 2020 Waste Picker Integration Guideline and EPR regulations that mandate collection service fee payments to registered reclaimers starting in November 2022.
• In other African nations, integration is less advanced: Ghana's informal sector is often viewed as a "nuisance," and Uganda lacks a formal policy framework to support reclaimer integration.
• A truly inclusive circular economy requires involving reclaimers in "upstream" activities, such as product design, because their on-the-ground experience reveals which materials are actually recyclable within local infrastructure.

APA

Pholoto, L., & Chitaka, T. (2022). SOUTH AFRICA MAINSTREAMING THE INFORMAL WASTE SECTOR TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN AFRICAN CITIES. WWF South Africa. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_mainstreaming_the_informal_waste_sector_2022.pdf

Chicago

Pholoto, Lethabo, and Takunda Chitaka. SOUTH AFRICA MAINSTREAMING THE INFORMAL WASTE SECTOR TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN AFRICAN CITIES. WWF South Africa, 2022. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_mainstreaming_the_informal_waste_sector_2022.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pholoto |first1=Lethabo |last2=Chitaka |first2=Takunda |title=SOUTH AFRICA MAINSTREAMING THE INFORMAL WASTE SECTOR TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN AFRICAN CITIES |publisher=WWF South Africa |date=2022 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_mainstreaming_the_informal_waste_sector_2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pholoto2022south, author = {Pholoto, Lethabo and Chitaka, Takunda}, title = {{SOUTH AFRICA MAINSTREAMING THE INFORMAL WASTE SECTOR TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN AFRICAN CITIES}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2022}, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_mainstreaming_the_informal_waste_sector_2022.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }