Waste Management Crisis in Dar es Salaam: Informal collectors fill broken collection system gaps

However, a report titled Improved Waste Management for Strengthening Dar es Salaam’s Resilience and Adaptive Capacity to Climate Shocks, cited in the Dar es Salaam Urban Resilience Programme (DURP), states that only about 1,500 tonnes of waste are disposed of daily.

This leaves approximately 3,800 tons, or 72 percent of the total waste generated, uncollected.

“This uncollected waste includes quantities separated, recycled, and reused by the informal sector, which accounts for around 15 percent of the total waste. This leaves 57 percent of waste unaccounted for,” according to the DURP report.

An investigation by The Citizen reveals that many urban areas in Dar es Salaam—especially densely populated neighborhoods with inadequate road infrastructure—face significant waste collection challenges.

Vingunguti, Manzese, and Msasani are among the most affected areas.

“Garbage trucks don’t reach our area. Even when they do, they only stop by the roadside a few times a week. We produce food waste daily, and it can’t wait for a weekly collection,” says a resident of Vingunguti, Ms Mariam Kasim.

In these areas, waste collection is often handled by informal waste collectors.

Plastic waste pickers, who also operate in other areas, are seen collecting both organic and plastic waste, including food waste from households, restaurants, and food markets.

“We reach areas where garbage trucks do not,” says the 23-member waste pickers group, Pendezesha Vingunguti Chairman, Mr Manyango Msula.

This group collects over one tonne of organic and non-organic waste daily from more than 100 households, food stalls, and vendors.

They sell plastic waste, while organic waste is processed into animal feed, with a small portion used to produce fertiliser.

However, waste separation remains a significant challenge. “People don’t separate waste at the source. They mix it, and sorting it later becomes a tedious task,” explains Mr Msula.

The waste pickers also face technical and operational challenges. “We lack sufficient equipment for producing the larvae used as animal feed. The larvae don’t reproduce during hot weather as they do in cooler conditions,” adds Mr Msula.

The Jitegemee Maarifa Group based in Chanika Chairperson, Ms Bandita Ambrose, reports that their group collects waste from individuals and food vendors.

“We process the waste into larvae (animal feed) and fertiliser. The larvae start emerging within 14 days,” she says.

Tufashanwe Group leader, Ms Tabu Ally, says they collect waste from market stalls, food vendors, and some households.

“We collect over one tonne of waste daily and process it into animal feed and fertiliser for sale,” says Ms Ally, whose group consists entirely of women and is located in Majohe, Ilala District.

Challenges

Ms Ally highlights the poor road infrastructure as a major challenge: “We use a battery-powered tricycle (tuk-tuk) to transport the waste, but it gets damaged on sandy roads. It’s even worse when it rains.”

Mr Msula adds that their group includes individuals from diverse backgrounds, including former drug addicts who are still struggling to reintegrate into society.

“Some are not yet fit enough, so we must support each other in the waste collection,” he explains.

Other challenges include a lack of public awareness and limited capital for investment in better waste management practices.

“I once had a client who wanted to buy one tonne of larvae per day, but we can only produce less than five kilograms. If we had more space, we could do so much more,” says Ms Ambrose.

Challenges and opportunities

The Human Dignity and Environment Foundation (HUDEFO) director, Sarah Pima, says informal waste pickers face financial, technological, and technical limitations.

“They lack funding, proper equipment, and recognition by key institutions, yet they contribute significantly to waste management,” she explains.

Ms Pima advocates for the formal recognition of these groups, highlighting their essential role in environmental cleanliness and the waste management value chain.

“Without them, even large recyclers wouldn’t function as they rely on materials collected by informal workers,” she adds.

She also recommends that informal waste collectors be considered for municipal loans and provided with essential resources like machinery and electricity.

“For instance, composting facilities should have heating systems to accelerate decomposition. Grinding machines would also speed up processes like cutting decomposed banana stems,” Pima explains.

A partner at Full Cycle Resource Consulting and a textile waste and recycling consultant with the UNCTAD SMEP Program, Ms Jennifer Wang, highlights the lack of formal recognition of informal waste collectors in national systems and policies.

“This exclusion affects them greatly. They need access to raw materials, government support, education, funding, and better infrastructure,” she says.

Ilala Municipal Council Waste Management and Sanitation Principal Environmental Health Officer, Mr Geophrey Zenda, concurs that infrastructure and resources are major challenges.

He adds that public awareness is also critical: “Recycling must be economically viable. If people separate their waste at the source, it becomes easier to create valuable products like fertiliser and animal feed,” he explains.

Mr Zenda also notes that many still view waste collection as a job for the desperate, despite its potential to employ many.

“The biggest challenge is people’s perception of the work,” he concludes.