The informal retailers totaled 118 respondents for the study. As seen in Table 1, this study group consists of 77 males (65.3%) and 41 females (34.7%). The highest age group was between 18 and 29 at 20.3%, while the lowest was between 70 and 89, with only 1 participant (0.8%). The highest educational level for most Respondents was primary (39.5%), and the fewest had a tertiary education (3.4%).

This subsection explored the awareness of the informal retailers using a series of questions, as seen in Table 2.

The respondents were asked if they knew what fruit and vegetable waste was. The vast majority (78.8%) agreed, while the rest strongly agreed (20.3%). 0.9% of respondents selected ‘neutral’, and no respondents selected ‘disagree’ or ‘strongly disagree’, indicating that nearly all respondents had a basic awareness of what constitutes fruit and vegetable waste. The respondents’ awareness of the impact of poor fruit and vegetable waste management was assessed. Most (39.8%) agreed, followed by those who disagreed (33.1%). The least strongly agreed (1.7%) that they were aware of the impact of poor fruit and vegetable waste management. Although most respondents agreed, this was also closely followed by those who disagreed, indicating significant gaps in awareness of the impacts of poor management of FVWs.

The respondents were asked if fruit and vegetable waste is a global concern. The majority disagreed with the statement (31.4%), followed by those who agreed (28.8%). 22% of the respondents who strongly disagree also contributed to the 31.4% majority who disagree, while none of the respondents strongly agreed (0%). This indicates limited awareness of the global scale of FVWs issues among respondents. When asked if minimizing FVWs is a good practice. The majority (79.7%) agreed, followed by those who were neutral (17.8%). An insignificant portion of the respondents (0.8%) disagreed, while none strongly disagreed (0%). This indicates that most respondents recognize waste minimization as a good practice.

The respondents were asked if disposing of fruit and vegetable waste in a proper manner is a good practice. An overwhelming majority (89.8%) agreed, while none selected ‘strongly disagree’ (0%). This indicates a strong positive attitude among respondents toward responsible waste disposal practices. However, when asked whether they are aware of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality’s waste management by-laws. Most (54.2%) disagreed, followed by 33.1% who were neutral, and a minority who agreed. This suggests a very notable gap in awareness of the COJMM waste management bylaws.

Respondents were asked whether disposing of fruit and vegetable waste is the only effective waste management method. The majority (83.9%) agreed, with 11% being neutral, and none of the respondents strongly disagreed (0%). This indicates a significant gap in awareness of FVWs’ valorization methods instead of disposal, which is the least friendly method considering the negative impacts FVWs have on the environment, economy, and public health.

Although the sample size was initially 42, there was an additional formal retailer who was interested in participating in the study. Table 5 shows the socio-demographic characteristics of formal retailers who participated in the study. This included 25 females (58.1%) and 18 male respondents (41.9%). The age group between 18 and 29 years was the largest, consisting of 60.5% while the lowest was 50–65, which had only 1 participant (2.3%). The most common highest educational level for the respondents was secondary at 60.5% (26 retailers), while the were no respondents who “never went to school” or ended at the primary level. 39.5% (17 respondents) ended at the tertiary level.

This subsection explored the awareness of formal retailers using a series of questions, as seen in Table 6.

Most formal retailers indicated that they know what fruit and vegetable waste is, with a very high percentage (90.70%) selecting “strongly agree”, followed by those who selected “agree” (9.3%). This indicates a sound awareness of FVWs among formal retailers. The majority strongly agreed (46.5%) or agreed (37.2%) that they were aware of the impact of poor fruit and vegetable waste management. This suggests that most formal retailers are aware of the consequences of improper waste practices. Respondents were asked if they perceived fruit and vegetable waste as a global issue. Interestingly, there was a display of mixed responses, with the highest responses being those that disagreed (25.6%), followed by those that agreed (23.3%). This might suggest that there is a gap in contextual awareness of recognizing FVWs as a global issue, as the overall perception of FVWs as a global issue was generally a disagreement (20.9% also strongly disagreed).

Most respondents agreed (55.8%), followed by those who strongly agreed (39.5%), with no one disagreeing or strongly disagreeing (0%) that minimizing fruit and vegetable waste is a good practice. This shows that respondents have a strong alignment with good waste reduction values, indicating positive attitudes. Respondents were neutral (54%) and unsure whether they were familiar with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (COJMM) by-laws. This is followed by those who agreed at 27.9% and those who disagreed (11.6%). This reflects mixed awareness of the bylaws, which demonstrates concern, as it is a compliance requirement in formal businesses.

The respondents either agreed (58.1%) or strongly agreed (41.9%) that disposing of fruit and vegetable waste in a proper manner is good practice. This indicates a strong positive attitude among respondents toward responsible waste disposal practices. However, when asked if disposal of fruit and vegetable waste is the only effective waste management method, most respondents agreed (65.1%), and there is another chunk of respondents who strongly agreed (32.6%). This indicates a significant gap in awareness of FVWs’ valorization methods rather than disposal, which is the least friendly method considering the negative impacts FVWs have on the environment, economy, and public health.

The researchers found that informal retailers demonstrated strong basic awareness, with almost all respondents reporting that they knew what FVWs are. This awareness display of what constitutes FVWs shows a practical, experience-based understanding caused by daily interaction with such produce. This aligns with the findings from Mwalia (2025), which indicated that informal retailers in Kenya are aware of waste due to their day-to-day handling of perishable stock.

However, the demonstrated awareness does not translate into a deeper comprehension of the FVWs issue. The researchers made a critical finding that a significant portion of informal retailers lack awareness regarding the COJMM’s waste management by-laws. This represents an extreme policy-informality disconnect. The findings align with the work of Ndaba and Reddy (2024), who argue that with respect to the awareness and understanding of regulations concerning informal trading, informal retailers are fully aware and comprehend that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa grants them the right to trade in South Africa; however, they do have an understanding of the restrictions in place. These findings also corroborate what Kalitanyi (2021) argued, that retailers who deal with selling fruits and vegetables in Johannesburg possessed lower awareness levels concerning green practices and regulations that govern their businesses.

Ndaba and Reddy further elaborated that informal retailers are also not aware that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa grants municipalities the power to regulate street trading and do not understand the bylaws. Informal retailers often operate without adequate municipal engagement. This leaves them unaware of regulations and bylaws that bind them. The lack of engagement creates a reality where informal retailers, irrespective of their significant numbers, operate outside the reach of formal waste governance, leading to non-compliant practices (Kala and Bolia, 2024).

Furthermore, informal retailers displayed a perception that FVWs are a non-global concern. This perception can be attributed to the crucial immediacy of socioeconomic survival. For an informal trader operating on a daily survival routine, global environmental discussions are usually distant concepts because their daily focus is on surviving, managing costs, and avoiding spoilage. This supports the conclusions of Salleh (2020), who argues that food waste is often perceived as a problem of affluence, rather than poverty, leading to a lack of identification of FVWs as a global issue.

The researchers also made a critical finding that there is an overwhelming belief that disposal is the only effective waste management method. This reveals a critical gap in awareness and knowledge of the waste hierarchy, indicating an absolute lack of awareness of preventative measures or valorization options like composting, animal feed, or anaerobic digestion. This finding aligns with Godfrey and Oelofse (2017), who observed that South Africa’s waste management system remains primarily linear, with limited infrastructure and education programs promoting circular economy principles, mostly among informal retailers.

Formal retailers demonstrated higher levels of awareness, which can be attributed to systemic and procedural awareness. The concerted understanding of FVWs and the relatively high awareness of the impacts of poor FVWs management is evidence of the waste management integration into standard operational protocols at formal retail levels. This can be due to their structured environment, where head office policies dictate store-level practices.

However, awareness was found to be incomplete. More than half were neutral about COJMM waste management by-laws. This indicates that formal retail awareness is framed more by corporate policies than municipal regulations. This represents concern because compliance with bylaws and regulations should be viewed as a critical aspect, especially in a formal business sector. The researchers admits that their lack of awareness of these bylaws does not translate into their compliance; however, it must be noted that it is almost impossible to assume that there can be compliance with the bylaws that they are not aware of.

The lack of awareness of alternative methods suggests inadequate integration of Food Waste Hierarchy principles, which advocate for prevention, redistribution, and valorization before disposal (Winkler et al., 2023). The formal retailers believe that disposal is the ultimate solution to waste management. This highlights a significant finding in awareness and creates a gap. This formal retail belief reflects the findings on informal retailers, who also agreed that disposal is the primary solution. COJMM formal retailer mirror patterns noted in the United States, where retailers acknowledge waste but default to disposal (Ceryes et al., 2021).

This provides an indication that waste is handled as an output rather than redefining it as a resource input. This also suggests that corporate awareness has not yet evolved into fully implementing circular economy models. A study conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa by Debrah et al. (2022) attributes this to a combination of factors, which include the perceived high cost of alternative technologies, insufficient commitment by the decision makers, and the consistent low cost of landfill disposal in many municipalities, which disincentivizes investment in innovation.

The low levels of formal education directly correlate with the significant gaps in awareness, particularly regarding COJMM waste management by-laws and the inconsideration of FVWs as a global concern. As established in the inferential analysis (Table 4), educational level had a statistically significant effect on awareness for most retailers (rejecting H01c). This finding aligns with the global literature, which suggests that lower educational attainment can be a barrier to understanding complex environmental policies, environmental concern, environmentally responsible behavior, and circular economy concepts (Alam and Zakaria, 2021). Without accessible, targeted interventional education that accounts for varying literacy levels, this awareness gap will persist.

The inferential analysis for formal retailers (Table 7) showed that demographic factors (age, gender, and education) had no statistically significant impact on the level of awareness. This crucial finding suggests that corporate training protocols and standard operating procedures are effective in creating a homogenized level of awareness across all employees, regardless of their individual backgrounds.

Implementation of targeted awareness programs, addressing FVWs, highlighting the magnitude of poor impacts that can be brought if they are not effectively managed. The training provided should be practical and accommodating to varying literacy levels. Training should be mobile and on-site because. Informal retailers cannot be away from their selling stations for prolonged periods. Their awareness is shaped by daily experience, not formal training.

This implementation challenges the belief of informal retailers that disposal is the only effective waste management option. They need to see and try alternatives. Shared composting stations could be set up at or near vending sites, along with small, dedicated bins for organic waste for informal retailers. This will also improve waste segregation practices, making waste valorization measures easier to implement.

This recommendation addresses the policy-informality disconnect that was observed among informal retailers. Environmental Health Practitioners could ensure consistent relationships with informal retailers and dissemination of COJMM waste management bylaws frequently to ensure that informal retailers keep themselves abreast with such bylaws.

This addresses the 97.7% of formal retailers who perceive disposal as the only solution to waste management, indicating a gap in advanced waste management knowledge. There should be an introduction of corporate training modules that address the Food Waste Hierarchy and different waste valorization methods.

Environmental Health Practitioners can ensure clear communication of COJMM waste management by-laws to ensure corporate policy and local regulation alignment.

Store top management can introduce tracking systems and set targets for FVWs reduction, separation volumes, and diversion from landfill for each store. Implementation of employee incentive programs to reward effectively managed waste per store.

Formal retailers should partner with commercial composting facilities or biogas plants to ensure that their separated waste is effectively managed. Partnerships can also exist between food banks and charities for the collection of edible but unsellable produce.

Regarding informal retailers, the amount of time they spend on selling and marketing their products determines the amount of capital they can raise. Most informal retailers did not have time to answer the questionnaire. Although the researchers filled out the questionnaire for them while asking questions, most indicated they would rather focus their attention on attracting customers who keep passing their stalls.

Some formal retailers indicated that they would rather spend their time doing the work for which they are hired, which can include attending to customer complaints and managing the daily workflow. Although the researchers emphasized the importance of their involvement in the research, some formal retailers chose not to participate.

Most informal retailers who did not participate highlighted that they were not comfortable participating in the research, as it might put them at risk of legal trouble and lead to the closure of their businesses. The researchers highlighted how the research does not even include their personal details, and therefore, the information collected cannot be used against them; they still chose not to participate.

The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) registers informal retailers in the city; hence, the researchers had to obtain permission from them as well. Once JPC permits you, they allocate an escort to accompany the researchers when collecting data from informal retailers. However, escorts are not always available, which impacted the study because when approached alone, informal retailers become hesitant to answer questions.

The promise of incentives would have made retailers more eager to take the time to answer the questionnaires, as they would have gained something tangible immediately after participating in the study, and would not feel that they had wasted their time.