Study title

This data set aims to assess how far informal collectors facilitate waste separation and recycling in Greater Accra, how waste value varies along waste collection chains, and the challenges facing plastic and general waste collectors. It comprises the results of a questionnaire survey with 182 general waste collectors, plastic waste main collectors, and plastic waste sub-collectors in Greater Accra, Ghana. The waste collector questionnaire survey data set is part of a convergent parallel mixed methods study of plastic and general waste collectors and sub-collectors within Greater Accra, Ghana. In a separate qualitative component, focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with these groups, with a questionnaire survey of waste collectors and sub-collectors administered almost simultaneously. This data set was therefore generated by the cross-sectional questionnaire survey, which covers respondent demographics, business histories, volume and types of waste collected, waste processing, onward fate of waste collected, business finances and challenges faced.According to WHO/UNICEF, whilst 91.8% of urban households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had access to piped or protected groundwater sources in 2015, only 46.2% had safely managed water available when needed. Vendors provide a key role in supplying urban off-grid populations, with consumption of bottled or bagged water (sachets, water sold in 500ml plastic bags) growing in SSA. Whilst several studies show bottles and bags are usually free from faecal contamination, given that many off-grid urban populations lack solid waste disposal services, when people drink such water, there can be problems disposing of the plastic bags and bottles afterwards. This project aims to deliver evidence on the different ways that people sell water to off-grid populations and what this means for plastic waste management. We plan to do this in Ghana, where most urban household now drink bagged water, and by way of contrast, Kenya, where...