Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41792551›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science and pollution research international2026

Mapping and quantifying the spatial and temporal composition of waste piles in informal settlements of urban Malawi.

Taonga Mwapasa, Tony Robertson, Dyson Kazembe, Andrew Mnkhwamba, Patrick Ken Kalonde, Nicholas Feasey, Richard S Quilliam, Tracy Morse, Kondwani Chidziwisano

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science and pollution research international, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Taonga MwapasaCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Blantyre, Malawi.
Tony RobertsonBiological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
Dyson KazembeCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Blantyre, Malawi.
Andrew MnkhwambaCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Blantyre, Malawi.
Patrick Ken KalondeMalawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Nicholas FeaseyMalawi Liverpool Wellcome Programme, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Richard S QuilliamBiological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
Tracy MorseDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. tracy.thomson@strath.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4185-9471
Kondwani ChidziwisanoCentre for Water, Sanitation, Health, and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS), Blantyre, Malawi.

Funding

Natural Environment Research Council NE/V005847/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Solid waste pollution is a multifaceted global challenge affecting the environment, economy, and human health, yet our understanding of environmental solid waste dynamics, such as waste type, weight(W), and volume(V), which inform waste management initiatives and policy frameworks remains limited in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this longitudinal study, we mapped informal waste disposal sites using transect-walks and drones in urban Malawi. Monthly characterisation of selected individual waste piles was undertaken for 12 months. Sampling (200L/waste pile) included both surface and compacted sections. (60 cm depth), which were characterised by weight(kg/m

Indexed as

Refuse DisposalSolid WasteCitiesEnvironmental MonitoringLongitudinal StudiesMalawiPlasticsWaste ManagementPlasticsSolid WasteEnvironmental pollutionInformal settlementsPlastic pollutionSingle-use plasticSolid wasteUrban waste pilesWaste composition

Identifiers

PMID41792551
PMCPMC13053368

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.