Social and environmental injustices in solid waste management in sub-Saharan Africa: a study of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

This paper investigates social and environmental injustices in solid waste management in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The urban poor in most parts of Kinshasa bear a huge encumbrance of the solid waste burden and face multiple challenges associated with poor management of solid waste. This situation has resulted in poor and unhealthy living conditions for the majority of the urban residents. The problem of solid waste management in Kinshasa has further been compounded by rapid urbanisation which has occurred in the face of poor urban governance, civil conflict and weak institutional set-up. The combination of these challenges has resulted in increased overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, lack of water and an unprecedented accumulation of solid waste which have triggered a myriad of urban problems. The worst affected are the poor urban who reside in locations that receive little or no socio-economic services from the Kinshasa Municipal authority. Using secondary data collected through a desk study, this paper argues that the poor solid waste situation in Kinshasa is not only a health risk, but also presents issues of both social and environmental injustices. These issues are analysed within the context of evolving arguments that focus on the need to develop a pro-poor approach in solid waste management that may present an opportunity for achieving both social and environmental justice for the urban poor in Kinshasa.

Keywords:

• urban environmental problems
• social justice
• environmental justice
• solid waste management

Acknowledgements

Without the research grant mentioned in the funding section, this research would not have been possible. The authors thank this.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are deeply indebted to the NRF for a KIC research grant of ZAR 19,000 awarded to Dr Danny Simatele on 20 March 2014 to support the conference and research activities of Mr. Serge Kubanza, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, at the University of the Witwatersrand.