A survey of possible household participation patterns in solid waste source separation in Gaborone

Abstract

Public support for source separation schemes in developing countries is still subject to continuing debate and limited work has been directed at understanding its manifestations. The purpose of this survey was to assess existing and potential levels of household participation in waste source separation as well as establishing the role they could play in future source separation schemes in Gaborone. Questionnaire based surveys were used to elicity information from households about their awareness of recycling and recycling initiatives, attitudes and willingness to participate in source separation schemes. The survey involved 17 households who participated in a pilot source separation scheme and 284 households who did not. The results showed that the majority of households are aware of recycling and recycling initiatives, but this awareness does not necessarily translate into participation in recycling activities in the absence of incentives and visible systems. It was also found that the majority of households are willing to participate in future source separation schemes, however, such willingness was primarily limited to separating materials that at the time had known available markets and were easy to separate.