Household Waste Disposal Under Structural and Behavioral Constraints: A Multivariate Analysis from Vhembe District, South Africa

Aifani Confidence Tahulela (), Shervin Hashemi and Melanie Elizabeth Lourens
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Aifani Confidence Tahulela: Department of Public Management, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4000, South Africa
Shervin Hashemi: Institute for Environmental Research, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea
Melanie Elizabeth Lourens: Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4000, South Africa

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-25

Abstract: Both behavioral intentions and structural constraints shape household waste disposal in low-resource settings. This study integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with Environmental Justice (EJ) to examine informal waste disposal in Vhembe District, South Africa, a region marked by infrastructural deficits and uneven municipal services. A cross-sectional survey of 399 households across four municipalities assessed five disposal behaviors, including river dumping and domestic burial. Only 8% of households used formal bins, while over 50% engaged in open or roadside dumping. Although education and income were inversely associated with harmful practices, inadequate service access was the most significant constraint on formal disposal. Logistic regression revealed that rural residents and households in underserved municipalities were significantly more likely to engage in hazardous methods, regardless of socioeconomic status. These findings extend TPB by showing that perceived behavioral control reflects not only psychological agency but also material and institutional limitations. By reframing informal disposal as a structurally conditioned response rather than a behavioral deficit, the study advances EJ theory and provides a transferable TPB–EJ framework for decentralized, justice-oriented waste governance. The results underscore the need for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-aligned interventions that integrate equitable infrastructure with context-sensitive behavioral strategies.

Keywords: environmental justice; household waste disposal; rural South Africa; sustainable development goals; theory of planned behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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