Waste Management Activities


Introduction  | Activities  |  Legislation  | Licensing  | Plans & Types of Waste  | General  | Hazardous Waste & PLASTICS incl Roadmap to 2025  | Recycling  |                                                 Food Waste & Composting | Training & Carbon footprint  | Research & Statistics

Waste Management Activities


Waste management activities include:

  • The importation and exportation of waste
  • The generation of waste, including the undertaking of any activity or process that is likely to result in the generation of waste
  • The accumulation and storage of waste
  • The collection and handling of waste
  • The reduction, re-use, recycling and recovery of waste
  • The trading in waste
  • The transportation of waste
  • The transfer of waste
  • The treatment of waste
  • The disposal of waste

Waste Management Hierarchy

The Waste Act promotes the internationally recognised waste management hierarchy which states waste should first be avoided; where it cannot be avoided it should be reduced, reused, recycled or recovered and only disposed of if there is nothing else that could be done with it.

Steps involved in the waste hierarchy

Hierarchy step

Description

AVOID AND REDUCE

Design principles that incorporate the re-use of goods or their dismantling into components for re-use. Reduction of quantity and toxicity of waste generated during the production process

RE-USE

Diversion from the waste stream for use in a similar or different purpose without changing its form or properties

RECYCLE

Separation of items in the the waste stream and processing them as products or raw materials.

RECOVER

Reclaiming of particular components or materials, or using the waste as a fuel.

TREAT

Treatment in preparation for disposal

DISPOSE

Final disposal in the safest manner possible

 [Source: National Waste Management Strategy]

The Waste Act aims to encourage the movement of waste to other waste management options as shown in the figure below.

Waste Management Hierarchy

Source: Waste Act Made Easy - a user-friendly guide

Waste Management Services - Municipal

In terms of the Constitution, municipalities are responsible for providing waste management services in terms of national and provincial regulations and standards.

Municipalities provide the following services that form part of the waste value chain, from initial cleaning and collection through to final disposal.

  • Cleansing - city or town cleansing which includes street sweeping, litter picking, lane flushing, animal carcases, clearing of illegal dumping sites;
  • Collection and transport - municipal waste collection and transportation services;
  • Storage and transfer - the accumulation of waste in a manner that does not constitute treatment or disposal of that waste;
  • Sorting and separation of recyclables – the separation of waste from a waste stream in order to reclaim it for further use;
  • Reprocessing and recovery of recyclables - the controlled extraction of a material or the retrieval of energy from waste to produce a product;
  • Treatment - any method, technique or process designed to
  • change the physical, biological or chemical character or composition of a waste; or
  • remove, separate, concentrate or recover a hazardous or toxic component of a waste; or
  • destroy or reduce the toxicity of a waste, in order to minimise the impact of the waste on the environment prior to further use or disposal;
  • Disposal: the burial, deposit, discharge, abandoning, dumping, placing or release of any waste into, or onto, any land.

[Source: National Environmental Management: Waste Act 2008 (59 of 2008)]

Municipalities may

  • Perform the services themselves
  • Outsource some of the services to private companies on a contractual basis depending on skills and resource capacity
  • Enable Sorting, separation, reprocessing and recycling activities to be carried out by private companies.
  • Create entities responsible for waste management operations. e.g. Pikitup in Johannesburg Metro.

The Municipal Waste Sector Plan, published in 2011, sets out government’s strategy to effectively address the backlogs in terms of municipal solid waste service delivery and infrastructure related to waste management once implemented.

Model By-Law on Waste Management provides a template the development of municipal waste management by-law.

The Municipal Solid Waste Tariff Strategy provides a framework and guidance for municipalities in setting solid waste tariffs that align with the intentions of the National Waste Management Strategy. The strategy document is supported by

Collection

As part of the waste management services provided by municipalities domestic waste collection services are to be provided to all households within the jurisdiction of the municipality. The National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (No. 59 of 2008) National Domestic Waste Collection Standards provides standards, general requirements and guidelines for the following:

  • Types/levels of collection services (including collection of recyclable waste)
  • Receptacles
  • Bulk containers
  • Communal collection points
  • Frequency of collection
  • Drop-off centres for recyclables
  • Collection vehicles
  • Health and safety issues
  • Communication, awareness and complaints

Refer to Guideline for waste collection in high density and unserviced areas

Download the guideline Waste Management Licenses for information on Waste Management Licenses, Authorisations, Registrations, Accreditations and Permits related to the collection of waste.

Collection - Indigent Households

Some households cannot afford the cost of waste services, including refuse removal, due to their poor economic situation. The Constitution places the responsibility on government to ensure that every person has access to basic services. In order to make sure that poor people or households are not discriminated against due to their economic status, the 2001 Free Basic Services Policy provides for a basket of free basic services, including solid waste, water, sanitation and electricity. The National Policy for the provision of basic refuse removal services to indigent households sets out

  • Range of services provided

  • Recipient qualification criteria

  • Financial implications and financing mechanisms

  • Implementation strategies

  • Roles and responsibilities of three levels of government

Storage

Storage refers to the accumulation of waste that does not involve treatment or disposal of that waste.

The National Environment Management: Waste Act (59/2008): National norms and standards for the storage of waste provides the requirements for waste storage facilities for the following:

  • Registration

  • Location, design and construction

  • Waste storage containers

  • Management and operation

  • Minimum requirements for above-ground and underground storage facilities

  • Training for employees

  • Emergency preparedness

  • Monitoring, inspections, auditing and reporting

  • Recordkeeping

  • De-commissioning

Registration requirements within 90 days of commencement of facility construction:

  • The operator of a general waste storage facility with the capacity to store in excess of 100m3 continuously is required to register with the relevant provincial department. (Refer to Provincial Departments Responsible for Environmental Affairs: contact details).

  • The operator of a hazardous waste storage facility with the capacity to store in excess of 80m3 continuously is required to register with:

Department of Environmental Affairs

Mr Lucas Mahlangu

Tel: 012 399 9791 Email: lmahlangu@environment.gov.za

Refer to Licensing section and download the guideline Waste Management Licenses for information on Waste Management Licenses, Authorisations, Registrations, Accreditations and Permits related to the storage of waste.

Transportation

Please note that Waste transporters activities are currently not regulated in terms of the National Waste Information Regulations of 2012 or section 25 of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008. Registration of these activities on South African Waste Information System (SAWIS) is currently voluntary until the Regulations are amended or Minister issues a Notice in the government gazette in terms of section 25 of the Waste Act. Any waste transporters located in Gauteng and Western Cape must consult with the respective provincial offices as the two provinces have established provincial waste information systems in terms of section 62 of the Waste Act.

As part of the waste management services provided by municipalities domestic waste is collected and transported to a transfer point or to a landfill site for final disposal.

The National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (No. 59 of 2008) National Domestic Waste Collection Standards provides standards, general requirements and guidelines for collection vehicles.

Waste Transporters are required to comply with the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008) Waste Classification and Management Regulations

Refer to Licensing section and download the guideline Waste Management Licenses for information on Waste Management Licenses, Authorisations, Registrations, Accreditations and Permits related to the transportation of general waste and hazardous waste (including health care risk waste).

For details on waste management officers in specific municipalities, contact Mr Malcolm Mogotsi of the department of environmental affairs: 012 339 9805 email mmogotsi@environment.gov.za (information correct as at 8 October 2019)

Treatment

Treatment refers to any method, technique or process that is designed to:

  • change the physical, biological or chemical character or composition of a waste

  • remove, separate, concentrate or recover a hazardous or toxic component of a waste

  • destroy or reduce the toxicity of a waste

in order to minimise the impact of the waste on the environment prior to further use or disposal.

Anyone involved in the operation of a hazardous waste facility and the treatment of hazardous waste is required to:

  • Apply for a waste management licence from the Department of Environmental

Affairs – Lucas Mahlangu Tel: 012 399 9791

Email: lmahlangu@environment.gov.za

For details on waste management officers in specific municipalities, contact Mr Malcolm Mogotsi of the department of environmental affairs: 012 339 9805 email mmogotsi@environment.gov.za 

For examples of hazardous waste (including health care risk waste) refer to:

Refer to Licensing section and download the guideline Waste Management Licenses for information on Waste Management Licenses, Authorisations, Registrations, Accreditations and Permits related to the treatment of general and hazardous waste (including health care risk waste).

In terms of the Air Quality Act, the National List of Activities & Associated Minimum Emission Standards 2013 and the Amendments to National List of Activities and Associated Minimum Emission Standards 2015 provide a list of activities which result in atmospheric emissions which have or may have a significant detrimental effect on the environment, including health, social conditions, economic conditions, ecological conditions or cultural heritage. The activities include waste co-feeding combustion installations and the thermal treatment of general and hazardous waste. Refer to Air Quality section.

National Policy in Thermal Treatment of General and Hazardous Waste presents government’s position on thermal waste treatment as an acceptable waste treatment option and provides the framework for the implementation of:

  • The incineration of general and hazardous waste in dedicated incinerators or other high temperature thermal treatment technologies, including but not limited to pyrolysis and gasification, and

  • Co-processing of selected general and hazardous waste as alternative fuels and/or raw materials in cement production

The Draft National Standards for the Validation of the Treatment Efficacy and Operation of a Non-Combustion Technology for the Treatment of Health Care Risk Waste prescribes the minimum requirements for the efficacy testing and operation of a non-combustion treatment technology treating health care risk waste and does not apply to facilities utilising chemicals for the treatment of health care risk waste.

Waste-to-energy

The Waste Management Flagship Programme is one of the near-term priority programmes of the Department of Environmental Affairs

National Climate Change Response White Paper

This programme will establish the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of the waste management sector and will include, but not be limited to, investigating waste-to-energy opportunities available within the solid-, semi-solid- and liquid-waste management sectors, especially the generation, capture, conversion and/or use of methane emissions.

For further information on the Waste Management Flagship Programme refer to:

  • – a presentation at the Waste Khoro October 2013.
  •  - a presentation at the Waste Summit March 2015

Air Quality

The National Environmental Management Air Quality Act (39 of 2004) as amended by the National Environmental Management Air Quality Amendment Act (19 of 2014)  provides for the regulation of air quality in order to protect the environment while promoting justifiable economic and social development.

The National List of Activities & Associated Minimum Emission Standards 2013 and the Amendments to National List of Activities and Associated Minimum Emission Standards 2015 provide a list of activities which result in atmospheric emissions which have or may have a significant detrimental effect on the environment, including health, social conditions, economic conditions, ecological conditions or cultural heritage. The activities include waste co-feeding combustion installations and the thermal treatment of general and hazardous waste.

The National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 (Act No. 39 of 2004) National Atmospheric Emission Reporting Regulations regulates the reporting of data and information from identified sources of atmospheric emissions to an internet based National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory System in order to compile emissions inventories.

The South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS), provides a common platform for managing air quality information in South Africa. It makes data available to stakeholders including the public and provides a mechanism to ensure uniformity in the way air quality data is managed i.e. captured, stored, validated, analysed and reported on in South Africa. Visit SAAQIS Documents for Download for relevant legislation

Disposal

Landfill Sites

Disposal refers to the burial, deposit, discharge, abandoning, dumping or release of any waste on land to landfill sites. The Waste Act promotes the internationally recognised waste management hierarchy which states that waste should first be avoided; where it cannot be avoided it should be reduced, reused, recycled or recovered and only disposed of if there is nothing else that could be done with it. Refer to Waste Hierarchy section)

Landfills are classified in terms of type of waste involved (general or hazardous), size of waste stream and potential for significant leachate generation, and are developed by:

  • Municipalities (mainly general waste sites)
  • Private companies for gain (mainly hazardous waste sites, but also some general sites).

License requirements:

  • The operator of a GLB+, GLB-, GMB+ or GMB- landfill site, as per the Minimum Requirements for Disposal by Landfill is required to apply to the relevant provincial environmental affairs department for a waste management license. (Refer to Provincial Departments Responsible for Environmental Affairs: contact details)
  • The operator of a H:H or H:h landfill site, as per the Minimum Requirements for Disposal by Landfilll is required to apply for a waste management license to:

Department of Environmental Affairs

Mr Bonginkosi Dlamini

Tel: 012 399 9778 Email: brdlamini@environment.gov.za

Operators of landfill sites are required to comply with:

Operators of landfill sites are also required to:

Refer to Licensing section and download the guideline Licensing of Waste Management Activities for information on Waste Management Licenses, Authorisations, Registrations, Accreditations and Permits related to landfill operation.


Contact us

Sanki Tshabangu: info@iwmsa.co.za
Nicolle de Bruyn: iwmsa@iwmsa.co.za
Ann Oosthuizen: ann@iwmsa.co.za

Tel: 011 675 3462

Postal Address: PO Box 31061 |Totiusdal | 0134