From dependency to Interdependencies: The emergence of a socially rooted but commercial waste sector in Kampala City, Uganda

Urban waste has traditionally remained for municipal councils to manage in several sub-Saharan cities such as Kampala. However, due to noticeable inefficiencies at municipal level, there is a manifest of low-income groups that take the initiative to extract and add value to materials from the waste stream, although higher-income groups are engaged in similar activities. This signifies the gradual shift from dependency on municipal councils to neighborhood interdependencies in the management of urban waste. To gain an in-depth understanding of this shift, we conducted purposive observations and twelve (12) focused-group interviews amongst selected respondents, in the neighborhood of Kasubi-Kawaala, Makerere II and Bwaise III parishes, located in the north western part of Kampala. The key finding was that waste-user roles, preferences, and the preceding generation and extraction processes are socially rooted in neighborhood cultural-orientations, and the underlying social mobility and commercial drivers. From the study, three (3) types of low-income commercial waste vendors were identified including, regular waste vendors, wholesale waste dealers, and home to home waste dealers. Unfortunately, these low-income waste vendors still have the least opportunity to negotiate with municipal authorities on scaling-up their commercial activities for a greater social impact.