Power in waste: Conflicting agendas in planning for integrated solid waste management in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The article analyses whether conditions are in place for an improved solid waste management system and for partnerships between the informal recycling sector and the city administration in Addis Ababa. The analysis is based on two cases: a planned integrated solid waste management system and the renewal of an informal waste market known as the Männ alleh/allesh tära. The author considers the agendas and strategies of both the city administration and the informal recycling sector, and how they are negotiated in the local context. She concludes that the city administration is interested in shaping a modern city with a high-tech solid waste system even though it will ignore informal actors. Although the informal actors have been willing to enter into a relationship with the city administration, they have only been given empty promises of support in pre-election times. Despite the political context in Addis Ababa having been advantageous for the city administration in terms of securing its interests, both upward accountability and the political culture formed the main obstacle in its efforts to achieve its objectives and goals of implementing a modern and improved solid waste system.