Conceptualising Reuse in African Households

Perspectives from Chembe, Malawi

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15110600
AutoresMarc Kalina (0000-0002-6335-3845, ETH Zurich, autor correspondente), Mvuselelo Ngcoya (0000-0002-7601-7488, University of KwaZulu-Natal), Bembeyere Nkhoma (University of Malawi), Elizabeth Tilley (0000-0002-2095-9724, University of Malawi)
Ano2022
Volume24
Fascículo10
Páginas12404-12426
Data de publicação2022-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEnvironment Development and Sustainability (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1387-585X • E-ISSN: 1573-2975
EditoraSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10668-021-01955-3
OpenAlexW3212123786
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas27

African households are often models of sustainability, practicing daily behaviours, which, if even not directly associated by the individual with Western conceptualisations of ‘recycling’ or ‘reuse’, have dramatically positive impacts on the amounts of household waste generated. However, rarely has the African household been given the same consideration, and there is a poor understanding within the discipline how poor individuals, and Africans in particular, understand and conceptualise ‘waste’ as both a problem and a resource. Drawing on Kennedy and Appadurai’s theoretical perspectives, the purpose of this article is to critically examine and contextualise household solid waste reuse practices in Chembe, Malawi, a rapidly densifying village and a constituent part of one of the nation’s premier resort destinations. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork with residents and stakeholders, findings suggest that, within Chembe, reuse practices, and the motivations that drive them, are both widespread and diverse, with a multitude of ‘waste’ items living multiple ‘lives’ before being ultimately discarded as ‘trash’. These behaviours are facilitated by the fact that many desirable waste items are widely available locally within Chembe, and although some of these reuse practices may be widespread within Malawi, others have been uniquely fostered by Chembe’s position as an affluent tourism destination with abundant and easily accessible waste streams. This investigation is particularly important within the context of rural Africa, and the Global South more broadly. Moreover, it should critically inform circular economy, zero waste, and broader waste management studies discourse, where African households have been habitually treated as problems needing solutions, rather than potential sources of innovation and learning

Business · Destinations · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental planning · Ethnography · Geography · Multitude · Political science · Reuse · Sociology · Sustainability · Tourism · Waste management · Engineering · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development · Municipal Solid Waste Management · Ecology