Residents’ Perceptions of Household Waste Management and the Challenges of Manual Handling and Prospects for Automation in Bukavu City

Residents’ Perceptions of Household Waste Management and the Challenges of Manual Handling and Prospects for Automation in Bukavu City | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Residents’ Perceptions of Household Waste Management and the Challenges of Manual Handling and Prospects for Automation in Bukavu City Olivier MUGISHO MUGARUKA, Jules Raymond Kala, Jérémie Ndikumagenge, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9171883/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Waste management in developing countries faces several challenges, including optimizing basic services and integrating sustainable innovations. However, local empirical studies that could guide this transition are often lacking. This study analyses residents' perceptions of household waste management in the city of Bukavu, comparing traditional methods and automated systems. A probabilistic survey of 442 households across the city was conducted using mobile data collection (KoboCollect). Data were analyzed quantitatively using the Python programming language in the Google Colab environment. While a structured municipal service exists (used by 82.8% of households), satisfaction is only relative (57.2%). Critical health concerns are odors (86.9%) and disease proliferation (84.8%). Residents prioritize increasing collection frequency (78.5%) and providing public bins (76%). Although 53.6% believe their neighborhood is ready for automation, major concerns regarding job losses (66.1%) and cost (59%) persist. The study provides a three-level empirical roadmap: it diagnoses the need to optimize an existing service, delivers a citizen-centered action plan for immediate improvements, and defines the social and informational prerequisites for a sustainable automation transition. Success requires improving basic services while managing the perceived socioeconomic risks of innovation. waste management automation perceptions manual handling sustainability developing countries Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 15 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 15 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 15 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 11 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 11 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9171883","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":624365631,"identity":"ac46761e-840d-4334-8dff-bc2aaa221eb3","order_by":0,"name":"Olivier MUGISHO MUGARUKA","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Bukavu","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Olivier","middleName":"MUGISHO","lastName":"MUGARUKA","suffix":""},{"id":624365632,"identity":"4e821a9a-834f-461c-86fe-d9b877b0a748","order_by":1,"name":"Jules Raymond Kala","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Bukavu","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jules","middleName":"Raymond","lastName":"Kala","suffix":""},{"id":624365633,"identity":"5d6fb237-534f-4faf-8339-d3e09c901219","order_by":2,"name":"Jérémie Ndikumagenge","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Burundi","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jérémie","middleName":"","lastName":"Ndikumagenge","suffix":""},{"id":624365634,"identity":"7fc1ccc9-c7dc-4a20-bb83-3874a724ce2b","order_by":3,"name":"Daniel Muhindo Iragi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Bukavu","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Daniel","middleName":"Muhindo","lastName":"Iragi","suffix":""},{"id":624365635,"identity":"1d0ee349-84d9-4323-8955-e2467aa3fcf5","order_by":4,"name":"Elie Zihindula Mushengezi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Catholic University of Bukavu","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elie","middleName":"Zihindula","lastName":"Mushengezi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-19 17:08:30","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9171883/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9171883/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107705293,"identity":"797d7e62-00c4-4e9e-ab37-f2f9758a0af1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 09:11:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":992561,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ResidentsPerceptions.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9171883/v1_covered_72a9daa0-933d-404a-a5b1-6fa267bd9736.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Residents’ Perceptions of Household Waste Management and the Challenges of Manual Handling and Prospects for Automation in Bukavu City","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-sustainability","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"disu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Sustainability](https://www.springer.com/43621)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Sustainability","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"waste management, automation, perceptions, manual handling, sustainability, developing countries","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9171883/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9171883/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWaste management in developing countries faces several challenges, including optimizing basic services and integrating sustainable innovations. 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