Plastic Waste Management Factors in the DRC

The results of this study extended those of existing research into the factors behind the non-performance of plastic waste recycling. Based on the hypotheses posed in the introductory section, the present study has shown that the vertical value chain of plastic waste recycling in Kinshasa reveals an incompatibility of functions assumed by a single individual. Moreover, quality control only takes place at the production (processing) level. As for the horizontal value chain, this does not yet seem to exist in Kinshasa. Apart from households and certain NGOs working in the city’s sanitation sector, who collect waste for sale to recycling centers, the other operations are carried out by the recycling centers themselves, which also contributes to increasing production costs. Thus, the SWOT analysis of the waste recycling sector carried out in this work has enabled us to understand the environment (internal and external) in which these companies operate.