Plastic waste management practices in the rural areas of Eswatini
Sizwe M. Nxumalo, Sizwe D. Mabaso, Sipho Felix Mamba, Saico Sibusiso Singwane
Abstract
The study investigated plastic waste management practices in the rural households of the Kingdom of Eswatini using Zikhotheni and Zombodze Emuva communities as case study sites. The aim of the study was to investigate plastic waste management practices employed by rural households through the identification of the types of plastic waste generated, estimation of the average daily amount of generated plastics and establishing their management practices. A total of 109 households (54 in Zikhotheni and 55 in Zombodze Emuva) were selected using simple random sampling. A questionnaire (supplemented with an observation matrix) was used to collect data from the sampled population. Classification of the types of plastic generated and measurements of the amount of plastic waste produced per household were performed for two consecutive months (December 2018 and January 2019). The results revealed that the types of plastic waste generated by these two communities included: Polyethylene Terephathalate (PET), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Poly propylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and other plastic materials layered from other types. On average, it was found that a rural household generates about 15.9 g of plastic waste per day. Common waste management practices found included open burning, burying, reusing, disposing of plastics in backyard pit, indiscriminate disposal in the backyard, selling and recycling. The study concluded that most of the rural households are still using traditional methods of managing plastic waste, even though recommended plastic waste management practices such as reusing and recycling were found amongst some households in Zombodze Emuva.