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IWM projects key to solving SA’s waste crisis
from IMIESA August 2021
by 3S Media
Accelerating the implementation of integrated waste management (IWM) projects requires a major mindset shift, plus closer public and private sector collaboration. A key consideration is the role these projects play in diverting organic waste from landfill, thereby reducing the release of methane into the environment, says Richard Emery of JG Afrika.
98 MILLION TONNES
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2.5 KG OF WASTE PER DAY
The amount of waste that finds its way on to landfill sites – only 10% of all waste in South Africa is recycled
If we are to meet our commitments as a South African signatory of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels, we should be prioritising the reduction of organic waste that undergoes a degradation process on our landfill sites.
Methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential about 85 times higher than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period,” Emery, executive associate and
IWM specialist, explains.
Emery has participated in and led many flagship IWM projects on behalf of JG
Afrika, a leading firm of engineers and environmental scientists. Many of these
IWM projects have harnessed all of JG
Afrika’s competencies. They include civil and structural engineering and design, as well as transport and traffic expertise.
This is in addition to geotechnical and wastewater engineering and geohydrology. Emery is now participating in a Development Bank of Southern Africa, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) programme, with support from the Green Climate Fund. It is working to find quicker and greater funding mechanisms for waste diversion projects in South Africa by viewing waste as a resource.
Beyond helping to reduce emissions, the recycling and reuse of waste streams would potentially support the development of new industries and jobs (and greeneconomy jobs), as well as ensure the more efficient use of natural resources. This forms part of the circular economy, which is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources.
Limited municipal funds and the prioritisation of solid waste diversion projects remain the largest constraints in the way of the efficient implementation of landfill diversion projects. Available resources are also being rerouted to what are considered more pressing priorities at present. This is despite the severe waste crisis currently facing the country.
Low waste recycling uptake
According to Statistics South Africa, only 10% of all waste in South Africa is recycled, with the estimated remaining 98 million tonnes finding its way on to landfill sites. Individuals in South Africa generate up to 2.5 kg of waste per day, on
average (depending on income level). With a population of 57 million, this equates to more than 125 million tonnes of hazardous and general waste that is generated every year, of which most of that ends up on municipal landfill sites that are quickly being depleted.
Investing in a new approach to the ‘throw-away’ society
“South Africa is fast running out of landfill space. Landfills have become mountains of waste, serving as a visual reminder of a throw-away society where we bury waste material while all we are doing is deferring the problem to others for later years. We cannot continue in this manner and will need to find and implement solutions sooner rather than later,” Emery says.
With available resources to finance a large portion of the make-up of IWM projects, he says that the private sector is ready to invest. It also has the technical skills and knowledge to successfully deliver and operate these projects. This is evidenced by the way in which many industries have successfully managed hazardous and specialist waste over the years. These processes all rely heavily upon specialised technical skills.
In a collaborative environment, the different skills and operational styles of the private sector will augment those of the public sector, which are mainly geared towards delivering services to citizens. In an ideal environment, there will also be close collaboration between different industries, as well as the various levels of government, to help find diversion homes for output products. Cases in point are those products from wastewater treatment works and power stations.
Enticing the private sector will require projects with suitable and clear time frames. At present, many of these projects
Specialist Waste Management Consultants
• Waste Collection Optimisation • Waste Transfer Station design • General Waste Landfill design • Hazardous Waste Landfill design • Landfill Rehabilitation • Landfill Auditing and Monitoring • Landfill Closure • Leachate Treatment • Regional Waste Studies • PPP Involvement in Waste Management • Alternative Technologies for Waste Reduction • Integrated Waste Management Plans
Contact Numbers
Telephone:+27 (0)21 982 6570 Fax:+27 (0)21 981 0868
Physical Address
60 Bracken Street, Protea Heights South Africa, 7560
Postal Address
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have been beset by delays and uncertain implementable time frames, mainly due to an inability to finance them or present clear risk sharing.
The scale of projects is also another important consideration. Projects with a value of at least R500 million will be able to attract private investors. However, Emery stresses the need for uniquely South African projects that also help to address the country’s unique socioeconomic challenges – among them being high levels of unemployment.
“We need appropriate and sustainable solutions that are applicable to their environments and surrounding communities. This means that no two projects will be alike, although they may sometimes serve as a basis for the design of solutions. While we may want to tick as many of the appropriate boxes, we also need to be willing to make decisions and move forward without delaying projects,” Emery says.
Meanwhile, South Africa already has an ideal regulatory environment, as well as the political will and intent to engineer innovative solutions to help solve its waste crisis. This is evidenced by the National Waste Management Strategy. It aims to address many of the challenges that the county faces in terms of waste management. Among its goals are: promoting waste minimisation, reuse, recycling, and the recovery of waste; growing the contribution of the waste sector to the green economy; and achieving integrated waste management planning.
IWMPs that build municipal capacity
Notably, among its goals is ensuring sound budgeting and financial management for waste services by municipalities. Emery welcomes the role national government is playing in facilitating and collaborating in the implementation of Integrated Waste Management Plans (IWMPs). These detail how municipalities intend on preventing, recycling and managing solid waste in ways that most effectively protect human health and the environment.
JG Afrika has helped some of the country’s municipalities to formulate and incorporate strategies into their IWMPs to mitigate the release of greenhouse gases. At least one has already taken a solid step forward in terms of implementing some of the projects the firm helped it to develop to divert solid waste from its landfill sites.
These plans were undertaken as part of a project JA Afrika managed on behalf of the DFFE. Driven by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and implemented by the GIZ, the project is part of the department’s Waste Flagship programme and aligned with its waste management near-term priority Climate Change Flagship Programme. The nearterm priority programme identifies areas for strategic intervention that advance the objectives of the National Climate Change Response Policy and the National Waste Management Strategy.
As part of the project, JG Afrika helped 12 local municipalities identify alternative interventions, select best suited scenarios, and draft business and implementation plans that were both practical and financially viable. It also drafted the applications for funding for everything from the capital requirements through to the approval and commissioning phases of the projects. The firm also provided a full assessment of each project’s contribution towards landfill fees, further motivating their implementation and adding to the overall sustainability of the projects over the long term.
Progressing these projects will also require working closely with solid waste management specialists, such as JG Afrika. This expertise will include assisting the municipalities to use the various funding models that were developed and providing expertise and guidance to ensure the sustainability of the projects.
Cape Town MRF project
Certainly, an award-winning project recently undertaken by JG Afrika and the City of Cape Town serves as another sound example of the innovation that can be achieved when companies and government collaborate.
JG Afrika devised a novel way of reusing a landfill site for the development of a new state-of-the-art materials recovery facility (MRF). The MRF is the first to be located on an existing, operational landfill site and it incorporates construction over the waste into its design.
A major challenge was engineering the building platform, as well as supporting the foundation loads of the structures over a waste body.
A large stockpile of builder’s rubble was processed into an engineered fill product to use in the layer and bulk earthworks, as well as the capping of the existing landfill embankments. This approach provided significant savings in transporting the material to a different site and in the procurement of material from traditional commercial sources for use in the earthworks – even after considering the cost of overseeing the quality of material that was produced from the stockpile by the contractor. An innovative gas vent system was also designed to ensure that landfill gas does not build up and pose a risk to the facility and its operations. Based on the current design, the MRF alone has the potential to create up to 400 permanent jobs. These will be complemented by waste delivery and pickup jobs downstream. Notably, these jobs are all intended for workers such as waste salvagers, sorters and delivery drivers. This provides access to the available positions for the entire labour market. The MRF’s informal waste sorting area is also expected to stimulate the informal waste economy.
“JG Afrika was able to produce innovative and sustainable solutions to this unique and interesting engineering challenge,” Emery concludes.
