The Role of Youths in Promoting Sustainable Waste Management Practices in Bujumbura, Burundi

The inefficiency of waste management services in Bujumbura persists despite the efforts of the Burundian government through the National Sanitation Plan. This can be attributed to various factors such as the city's rapid population increase, unchecked urbanization, economic activity, and insufficient environmental governance and technical capacities. With an emphasis on the role of youth, this study examines the prospects and problems in Bujumbura, Burundi's solid waste management industry. To create an inventory of the challenges brought on by the city's distribution of municipal solid trash, we conducted an on-site visit between March and June of 2024 where we interacted with waste managers and observed the management of solid waste across the three municipalities that make up Bujumbura (Ntahangwa, Mukaza, and Muha). We also used the survey method, whereby 80 questionnaires were given to 80 randomly selected city residents who had stayed there for at least one year. The survey findings were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively in graphical form. We then used SPSS 22 to handle the descriptive and analytical statistics of this study. Key findings point to a reasonable acknowledgement of youth's critical role in waste management. Still, they also draw attention to important obstacles such as a lack of funding, a lack of government backing, and the limited success of educational initiatives. The research highlights the necessity of improving educational programs, allocating more resources, fortifying regulations, providing thorough training, and fostering better stakeholder participation. Adopting an integrated strategy that acknowledges and incorporates unofficial garbage collectors, encouraging community involvement, and making investments in contemporary infrastructure are among the recommendations. To increase youth involvement and raise the general effectiveness of Bujumbura's waste management procedures, our study calls for focused interventions and policies.