From Biodegradable Living to Plastic Urbanism: Historical Roots of Recycling Behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa

Recycling policy in Sub-Saharan Africa is commonly framed as a problem of infrastructure deficiency, weak governance, and limited financing (World Bank, 2018; UN-Habitat, 2010). While these factors are important, they do not sufficiently explain persistent low participation in formal waste separation and recycling systems, even where such systems are introduced. This paper proposes a behavioural-historical explanation for this gap. It argues that pre-urban African societies developed waste practices that were ecologically compatible with material environments composed almost entirely of biodegradable substances. In these settings, discarded organic matter such as food remnants, ash, and natural fibres typically reintegrated into local nutrient cycles without creating the persistent accumulation associated with modern synthetic materials. Over time, such ecological experiences shaped practical understandings of how waste behaved in the environment. Scholars such as Douglas (1966) and Richards (1985) support the broader proposition that cultural notions of waste are influenced by long-standing ecological conditions and indigenous environmental knowledge. These perspectives help explain how historical interactions with biodegradable material environments may have contributed to enduring assumptions about the natural reintegration of discarded matter. With rapid urbanisation and the introduction of non-biodegradable materials such as plastics, synthetics, metals, and electronic waste, historically adaptive disposal practices have become environmentally maladaptive (UNEP, 2018). However, cultural attitudes toward waste disposal have not evolved at the same pace as material conditions. Behavioural research shows that routine actions are often guided by habitual cognition and reinforced social norms, making such practices resistant to change (Kahneman, 2011; Schultz, 2014). This helps explain the persistence of mixed dumping, informal burning, and limited participation in waste segregation and formal recycling systems. The paper develops a conceptual framework linking historical ecology, cultural memory, urban material transitions, and contemporary recycling behaviour. Drawing on circular economy scholarship that recognises behavioural and systemic barriers to adoption (Kirchherr et al., 2017; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015), it further explains why Western recycling models, which assume an existing cultural belief in waste containment and separation, often underperform when transferred into many African urban contexts. The study concludes with policy implications for culturally informed recycling education and system design. This framework provides a theoretical foundation for future empirical research into behavioural circular economy transitions in Africa.