Turning residents’ organic waste into compost

A City of Cape Town Urban Waste Management project is creating short-term jobs in local communities, by turning residents’ organic waste into compost.

According to GreenCape’s 2016 Market Intelligence Report, the Western Cape dumps around 7.7 million tonnes of waste every year – with 2.9 million tonnes of that being organic, compostable waste. This waste – which ends up at already full landfills across the province – slowly decomposes and produces methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Organic waste also creates leachate, which is another by-product of organic waste decomposition and a pollutant that can seep into local water sources close to landfills if not managed properly.

As part of its efforts to reduce the disposal of organic waste at landfills, the City of Cape Town is testing various strategies that can help to achieve the ambitious diversion targets contained in the Urban Waste Management Sector Plan, and the Provincial Integrated Waste Management Plan.

These documents target a 50% reduction in organic waste disposal at landfills by 2022, and 100% diversion of organic waste from landfill by 2027. This plan was adopted partly in response to the ever-decreasing availability of landfill space within urban areas. According to reports, the City of Cape Town is set to run out of landfill airspace as early as 2032 – with municipal landfills having airspace capacity for the next 10 years.

Landfill airspace refers to the volume of space on a landfill site permitted for the disposal of municipal solid waste. Alderman Grant Twigg, MMC for Urban Waste Management, says that through the adoption of various recycling initiatives, the metro would be able to divert waste from landfill, while simultaneously addressing their airspace problem.

Waste as resource

According to the City of Cape Town, 22 495 households have already received free home composting bins and are composting food and garden waste in their own backyards. One Cape Town community has taken it a step further by developing the Langa Organic Waste Diversion Project.

According to Twigg, the project was conceptualised and implemented by the City of Cape Town’s Urban Waste Minimization unit, which found three young local men keenly interested in better managing the organic waste in their community.

“The City has looked at various ways of diverting organic waste from landfill, as per the provincial goals set out. This project was just one of the ways we identified to help the Langa community in getting rid of the waste being dumped in and around the area.”

Twigg points out that in Langa, like in many local areas, there is a booming informal sector where people are selling fruits and vegetables. When new stock comes in, the older stock gets dumped, ending up at municipal landfills. The programme was born from the view of helping the community to divert that waste and utilising it to benefit the community.

The project involves collecting waste from various fruit and vegetable traders in the community and transporting it to a composting facility site in Langa, where it is beneficiated for use by local food gardens. The waste is dried out and then turned into a compost – which is then resold to community members in that same area.

“We are currently working with five fruit and veg traders, two feeding schemes and two schools that are participating on the project. We hope to get to a level where we at least divert 9 to 14 tonnes of organic waste per month,” says Twigg.

Since mid-November 2021, over 19 tonnes of organic waste have been diverted from landfills to create compost for local feeding schemes through the Langa project. Additionally, the project has also prevented roughly 24 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from seeping into the environment, and has produced over 2.5 tonnes of nutrient-rich compost, which was then issued to food gardens.

There were also three job opportunities created through the Langa project and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). The EPWP is one of government’s key programmes aimed at providing poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed. Through the EPWP, the City is able to provide the young men with a monthly stipend and access to various training programmes, to upskill and assist their efforts.

“It is really amazing to see what these young men are doing in that area. Instead of sitting back and letting the frustrations of unemployment get them down, they are working with the government to not only empower themselves but are also helping to clean up their community,” says Twigg.

Upskilling and education

He adds that the City is currently working on scaling up the project significantly and rolling it out into other communities. Approximately 400 households have been recruited through local schools to participate in this project and, from the beginning of the new school term, they are being requested to separate their organic waste for the benefit of local feeding schemes.

EPWP workers will be operating bicycle-drawn trailers, which will be used to collect the organic waste.

Once the compost has been unloaded at designated sites, the team will measure and record, decant the materials, clean the containers, prepare and maintain the compost heaps, and sieve the ready compost for distribution back into local food gardens.

“Internally, we are also providing training opportunities for these young men and have taken them to other organic waste beneficiation sites to get a better understanding of how they can grow this initiative. We are also getting different departments involved, to assist with production and pricing.

“We want them to become entrepreneurs, with the necessary skills to continue the project once the EPWP contract comes to an end,” says Twigg.

Community involvement

He points out that over R300 million in City resources was allocated to clear illegal dumping. This money could be used for something more constructive if people made use of drop-off sites and were educated about the benefits of waste.

“For too long, we have assumed that people know that they should not waste, that they need to recycle – but we need to educate the communities. We need to show them that there is value in their waste,” says Twigg.

Residents are also being urged to make use of weekly refuse collection services to dispose of waste and to utilise the various initiatives within their local communities, to help divert their waste into projects such as the Langa operation.

“Diverting organic waste to composting programmes can help the community food gardens that feed so many of our most marginalised residents and whatever angle you look at this project from, it is a win for the people of Cape Town,” Twigg concludes.