Waste Management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing Harare, the capital city of
Zimbabwe. The volume of waste being generated continues to increase at a faster rate than the ability of the city
authorities to improve on the financial and technical resources needed to parallel this growth. Although waste
removal is one of the most pressing problems in Harare, it is not a new problem. It was established that the seeds of
the apparent chaos in the governance of waste in Harare were laid during the colonial period. Despite many
ordinances the colonialists put in place to strengthen urban administration, they regarded native suburbs as areas for
a cheap and easily controlled labour force, and therefore, made no serious efforts to resolve the emerging problems,
particularly those of waste management. The current authority is struggling to manage the waste under tight budgets;
highly inadequate and malfunctioning equipment; inefficient collection practices with variable levels of service,
poor and unhygienic operating practices; including no environmental control systems; open burning of garbage;
indiscriminate illegal dumping and littering; and a public with seemingly little sensitivity to the garbage around
them or any awareness of what represents responsible waste management. Harare’s waste management system needs
serious rehabilitation, first on an emergency basis, followed by development and implementation of long-term
sustainable measures.