While waste continues to present a major problem for Zimbabwe where waste management structures have collapsed, in some countries people scramble for all the little they can get. This is because in waste, they see a source of livelihood.
“In a good year we can earn about 50 000 yuan (US$7 861),” Gong Rongchuan (48), a waste collector in China told UK’s The Guardian. This is an amount many in Zimbabwe can only dream of, considering the high number of unemployed people in the country.
Zimbabwean local authorities, particularly Harare City Council, are on record saying the waste problem was now beyond their control, urging other players to come on board and assist. The challenge that councils face owe mostly to the increase in urban population and a general increase in people’s consumption levels that has resulted in more litter being generated, which they now find overwhelming.
In the meantime, the arguments over who is to blame for the litter and the resultant lacklustre state the country is in continue to be advanced.
The authorities blame it on a general loss of national pride in most Zimbabweans who continue to litter like it was going out of fashion.
The general public on the other hand have maintained that it is the authorities’ fault as they have failed to deliver a service (refuse collection) that should be their responsibility, considering that people pay refuse collection fees each month.
Unfortunately, the never ending tug of war over litter has done nothing much to make the situation any better as illegal dumping sites continue to sprout all over with unpleasant odours, a high concentration of flies, cockroaches and rodents being a common thing in most communities. This is why diseases such as dysentery, cholera and typhoid among others continue to be a serious threat in the country.
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However, while many continue to see waste as a nuisance and are at wits’ end as to how to deal with it, there are some who have opened their eyes to the opportunity the so-called problem presents. Considering the amount of waste in Zimbabwe, there is a big opportunity for the establishment of a thriving recycling industry.
