Waste Entrepreneurship in South Africa: A Review of the Existing Situation

Many developing communities need help with their waste management. Waste entrepreneurs are active in their communities and responsible for a clean environment; many were originally community-based youth groups with strong local presence and a sense of responsibility. Their activities involve waste picking of unsorted waste, craftsmen involved in waste sorting, and the collection of organic waste for composting. There is a need to look at waste entrepreneurship from an inclusive, multi-stakeholder and response to climate change point of view. This Chapter calls for waste entrepreneurs to explore job creation opportunities, monitor waste information, provide incentivised services, formalise the informal waste sector, and solve socio-environmental problems in developing communities. This research adopts a review to investigate the potential and determine the barriers constraining waste entrepreneurship in South Africa. The Chapter found that although waste entrepreneurship is valuable, they need help with poverty, the environment, and infrastructure.