Stellenbosch’s new waste MRF

Stellenbosch’s

NEW WASTE MRF

As part of Stellenbosch Municipality’s commitment to becoming a greener and more sustainable valley, the local authority launched a brand-new waste materials recovery facility (MRF).

andfills across the country are

Lfilling up, including the Stellenbosch Municipality site, which reached capacity in 2019. Building new landfill sites is not sustainable, nor is it environmentally feasible, as there simply isn’t enough land available to develop new landfills.

Although Stellenbosch Municipality is currently investing in the expansion of its landfill site, it has also shifted its focus to minimising waste to landfill by reducing, reusing and recycling. Thus, the launch of the advanced recycling facility, commonly known as an MRF, is part of the process of taking the minimisation of waste to the next level. This runs in conjunction with other waste minimisation initiatives.

Other initiatives

“The municipality is looking at various waste minimisation initiatives, which include the separation of green waste – which is shredded and beneficiated. We also divert all clean builder’s rubble away from the landfill and are planning to crush this material to G5 aggregate to use in other construction projects,” says Stuart Grobbelaar, communications manager at Stellenbosch Municipality.

The municipality has obtained an environmental authorisation and is busy with detail designs to construct an organic waste transfer station. The diversion of organic waste and recyclable material entails waste streams that have been identified in the National Waste Management Strategy as those that need to be diverted from landfill. The MRF allows for recyclables to be handled and processed in Stellenbosch, allowing for faster turnaround times by eliminating the need to travel to Cape Town. At the same time, it will provide jobs to residents registered on the unemployment database, which also includes waste pickers.

MRF processes

This is how it works at the MRF: • Mixed recyclables are transferred to the

MRF and offloaded at the northern end of the building. • Bags are moved to the infeed conveyor by a loader or by hand, and are broken open by hand. • Glass bottles are removed and placed in a glass recycling container, while all other mixed recyclable material is placed on the infeed conveyor at an incline and feeds into the elevated sorting conveyor, where the sorters will extract the recyclables. • The 30 m sorting conveyor has place for 36 sorters, who extract the various recyclable materials and drop them into a separate container via a chute at each of their respective stations.

• The containers that hold recyclables that could be baled are then moved to the baler, where they are baled and stored at the western side of the building ready for collection. • The equipment was sized to handle 450 tonnes per month. This state-of-the-art facility basically serves as a place where recyclables are taken to, grouped, and baled. They then will be provided to companies for use as raw material in the manufacturing of new products. The sorted recyclables have a much higher value than mixed recyclables and will be easily accepted into the booming recycling market.

“The municipality has awarded a tender to a company that is experienced in the recycling market. Part of the scope of works for this tender is to ensure that the recyclable material is sold off and new markets are found to recover more recyclable material,” states Grobbelaar.

Community engagement

The facility also features a public dropoff area, which will allow for residents to bring garage and recyclable waste to dispose of responsibly.

Grobbelaar says that although local residents are very positive about the facility, the municipality plans to engage with more awareness and marketing initiates to get all residents’ support.

“The activating of the MRF is a significant step in preserving our environment and maximising landfill airspace for future generations.” Construction of the facility began in August 2019 and the total budget for the project was R29 million. The project was funded partly in terms of the Integrated Urban Development Grant and through own capital funding.

The MRF currently has the capacity to process 450 tonnes of recyclable material per month and, although still in its early days, Grobbelaar says the recycling capacity has already been increased from 80 tonnes of recyclables to 100 tonnes within the first two months. “The aim is to reach maximum capacity soon.”

Towards a circular economy

Grobbelaar asserts that with the country’s move towards a more circular economy, investing in alternative waste disposal sites like this will help to realise this momentous shift.

“We have to look at different opportunities to reduce the amount of waste that ends up at landfill and apply the hierarchy of waste, which entails: avoid waste from being generated, reduce waste, reuse waste, recycle, treat waste, and finally dispose of waste.

“Recycling will also result in less waste being landfilled and less raw materials being produced. Recycling will also reduce the need to develop or expand landfills in the future. Recycling creates employment and business opportunities for small and medium enterprises – and provides a source of income for many unemployed individuals. In the era of climate change, we need to reduce our dependency on raw materials, and recycling provides the opportunity to reuse and recycle material,” Grobbelaar concludes.