Household Waste Management Practices in a Selected Community under Makhado Municipality, Vhembe District of Limpopo Province

Abstract

Poor household waste management has major health and environmental consequences in everyday life, which affects human welfare in both direct and indirect ways. The aim of this study was to investigate the waste management practices of households in a selected community of Mpheni under Makhado Municipality. This study followed a quantitative approach and adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. The total sample was 174 male and female. The researcher ensured reliability by using a stability test-retest. For the purpose of this research, the following ethical considerations were considered: Informed consent, confidentiality, avoidance of harm, maintaining human dignity, and voluntary participation for validity, the researcher used a literature review of related studies to ensure that the questionnaire covered all essential aspects of household waste management. Data was collected using a closed-ended questionnaire. The results from the questionnaires show that there were many respondents aged 41 to 63 years. The data indicates a near-equal distribution of genders, with Females (53%) slightly outnumbering males (47%). The majority (98%) of respondents live in households with sizes ranging from 1 to 10 individuals. The study revealed that the most produced wastes were plastics (90%) and bottles (85%). In conclusion, rural areas continue to face challenges in waste management. There is still a need to strengthen this area, especially in rural areas. Education is needed to enhance the knowledge of good waste management practices. The researcher recommends that the community should strengthen the promotion of the reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste methods in order to reduce the number of wastes within households.