An evaluation of the waste management cycle utilised by fresh produce market informal traders in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Informal markets are located at various Central Business Districts (CBD) within the eThekwini Municipality with hundreds of individuals visiting these markets due to the fresh produce and low prices that are available at these markets. There are no storage facilities that are provided to the traders for extended life span of their fresh produce hence there are large quantities of food waste or organic waste which is disposed of on a daily basis. These wastes are collected by Durban Solid Waste (DSW) regularly and are disposed of at one of the three active landfill sites within the municipality. Proper waste management of these wastes are imperative as the impacts of negative waste management has dire consequences to health, and the environment and can take up a large proportion of the municipal budget to correct those situations. Solid waste emanating from informal markets are the second highest municipal solid wastes after residential wastes that are landfilled. These wastes contain a high fraction of waste for which diversion alternatives exists however, these practices have not been implemented. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the waste management cycle utilized by fresh produce market informal traders in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. METHOD: A descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted using questionnaires that were administered to the participants. The questionnaires were the main research tool utilized for the study. The study was conducted at two markets within the Durban Municipality. These were the Early Morning Market and the Verulam Market of a total of seventeen markets within the municipality. Simple random samplings were used in order to achieve a degree of accuracy and representativeness. To achieve a 95% confidence level, participants were invited to respond to the study having signed the informed consent form. Descriptive statistics were presented in the form of graphs, cross tabulations and other figures for the quantitative data that was collected. The Pearson’s Chi-squared test was used where applicable for bivariate associations between categorical variables. Confidence intervals of 95% were calculated and p<0.005 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 197 of informal traders within the two markets responded to the questionnaire. The results indicated that 89.2% (n=173) were females while 10.8% (n=21) were males. The data revealed that 41.6% (n=82) of the informal traders did not have a formal education while 33.0% (n=65) had partial secondary education with 39.9% (n=77) being within this sector for between six to seven years. Only 0.5% (n=1) of the respondents indicated that they had additional occupations. Respondents sought information relating to their business and waste management mainly via the radio (n = 166, 84.3%) and word of mouth (n = 148, 75.1%). A portion of 39.6% (n=78) indicated that they received information via city brochures and pamphlets. Food waste was found to be the most prevalent waste stream that was generated by the informal traders as was reported by 99.5% (n=196) of the informal traders that responded. This was followed by the waste streams of paper (n=180, 91.4%), cardboard (n=176, 91.4%) and plastic packaging (n=171, 86.8%). Disposing of their waste at the storage facility that was provided by the market management was the most prevalent disposal method that was identified by the respondents (n=195, 99.0%) while 2.5% (n=5) identified that their wastes were landfilled while 4.1% (n=8) stated that they disposed of their waste via open dumping. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that the most prevalent waste streams that are generated by the fresh produce market informal traders do have alternative disposal methods instead of landfilling. The informal traders indicated that they would be willing to participate in recycling and composting programmes which must be implemented by the market management in conjunction with the local authorities. The study further indicated that the practices of waste management undertaken by the informal traders are influenced by the facilities that are provided by the municipality (p<0.005).