Sustainable waste management through reverse logistics: A case of selected municipalities in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of reverse logistics activities on sustainable solid waste management in selected municipalities in Zimbabwe. Developing countries globally face the challenge of municipal solid waste management and Zimbabwe is among these countries. Five objectives were pursued which were; to establish the perceptions of households/residents on municipal authorities’ practices on municipal solid waste management, to determine the practices of households/residents in municipal solid waste management, to examine how residents perception of municipalities towards municipal solid waste management influences the way in which residents manage their municipal solid waste, to ascertain the current state of sustainability and to determine the relationship between reverse logistics of municipal solid waste and sustainability in selected municipalities in Zimbabwe. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used in the study. These techniques utilised a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to solicit information from 450 households and 7 management workers. To reduce chances of documents getting lost, questionnaires were distributed and collected within a two-week period. SPSS was used to analyse the quantitative data collected from the respondents. Study findings revealed a significant level of disagreement among residents in non-performing areas regarding the quality of services provided in solid waste management. Positive agreement was observed in performing areas regarding the services delivered by municipalities for municipal waste management. The study recommends educating residents about acceptable practices of the management of municipal solid waste. Stakeholders should actively support reverse logistics activities related to municipal solid waste. Furthermore, residents should be encouraged to change their behaviour towards municipal solid waste management by adopting correct solid waste disposal practices, such as separation of different types of municipal solid waste. Lastly, corporate firms should act sustainably by managing end-of-life products through the implementation of reverse logistics practices. Implementing these recommendations can contribute to improving solid waste management practices, enhancing sustainability, and addressing the challenges faced by local government municipalities in Zimbabwe. The study contributes to four SDGs (3,6,11 and 12) by identifying households’ perceptions and practices on municipal solid waste management.