Resource may 2012 low res by 3S Media

Vol 14, No 2, May 2012

Promotin g in teg rated res ou rces man age m e nt

Pikitup

Joburg’s sustainable transformation

Earthworms Gauteng’s abattoir pilot project

Biogas

Fuelling future generations

Panel discussion

Recycling and the sustainability ‘food chain’

TruckStore

The latest used commercial vehicle offering from Mercedes-Benz P6

The official journal of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa

is printed on 100% recycled paper ISSN 1680-4902 R35.00 (incl VAT)

www.3smedia.co.za

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contents www.3smedia.co.za ISSN 1680-4902, Volume 14, Number 2, May 2012

Vol 14, No 2, May 2012

Promoting integrated re source s manage me nt

Pikitup

Earthworms

Joburg’s sustainable transformation

Gauteng’s abattoir pilot project

Biogas

Fuelling future generations

Panel discussion

Recycling and the sustainability ‘food chain’

TruckStore

The latest used commercial vehicle offering from Mercedes-Benz P6

The RéSource team stands firmly behind environmental preservation. As such, RéSource magazine is printed on 100% recycled paper and uses no dyes or varnishes. The magazine is saddlestitched to ensure that no glues are required in the binding process.

Cover story 6 The official journal of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa

is printed on 100% recycled paper ISSN 1680-4902 R35.00 (incl VAT)

www.3smedia.co.za

TruckStore – the latest used commercial vehicle offering from Mercedes-Benz

Regulars

Air pollution / CDM

3 5 72

President’s comment Editor’s comment IWMSA news

Mine water balance and climate change Climate change linked to deforestation

Solid waste

Hazardous waste

45 46

Joburg’s sustainable transformation Earthworms in waste management

Recycling 18 21

Momentous year for PET recycling Panel discussion: Recycling and the sustainability ‘food chain’

PVC given the green light Environmental health risks in the workplace Oil and gas: a balancing act

Medical waste 56

Patient disposal of insulin needles: Wentworth Hospital case study

Landfills

Wastewater management

Feasible gas-to-energy projects

Waste to energy 34 37

Fuelling the biogas generation Energy-strapped SA

Rainwater harvesting: improving access to clean water

Waste equipment 62

Special feature

Legal

RPMASA celebrates 10 years of environmental success

Reducing your truck’s footprint

CPA and waste management – beware!

69 RéSource May 2012 – 1

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President's comment

Farewell and thank you

t is not so long ago that we returned from the holiday season at the beginning of the year, then we were plunged into the Easter holidays, and with more public holidays at the end of April it would appear that there is little time for work! However, despite this, there seems to be a lot of work around and a number of people I have spoken to appear to be very busy. At the IWMSA, we have been very busy right from the beginning of the year with a number of training courses and, of course, our flagship event WasteCon 2012, which is to be held later this year in East London. Nominations for branch committees and vicepresident have been received and we will soon call for elections, so please take the time to vote and make sure we get an energetic new team in place for the next two years! Talking of elections, it is amazing how time has passed so quickly and to think that my term of office will be over at the end of June. The last four years on the council have been exciting, fruitful and very busy with a number of projects or programmes that were initiated and even completed! Foremost, we set ourselves a number of strategic objectives, which included the following: • The development of effective communications with our members and the public, which included an electronic newsletter (WasteVine), an upgraded website, regular announcements via SMS and e-mail, and regular press releases on topical issues. Judging from the number of media requests and the resulting exposure, it would be safe to say that the IWMSA is now recognised as the authority on waste management in South Africa. • The development and provision of training courses, including accredited courses.

The IWMSA is also being contracted by some large organisations, particularly municipalities, to provide training for their employees. • The accreditation or registration of our organisation members who are service providers. This process is well advanced and a number of stakeholder workshops will be held during the course of this year to engage with the relevant stakeholders for their input. • Government liaison – various initiatives are being pursued by IWMSA members in interacting and liaising with government departments at different levels. These include invitations to workshops and forums. • To involve ourselves in social responsibility opportunities with school programmes, supporting communities and providing assistance to those with existing programmes, resulting in tangible grassroots impact where projects get benchmarked and used by municipalities as well as small and micro enterprises. • Transformation – the IWMSA has been reviewing its policies and procedures in terms of procurement and, of course, our demographic profile. I am happy to report that the demographic profile of the IWMSA membership has changed significantly and membership is now slightly below 1 000, the highest it has been in the history of the IWMSA. I am indeed proud of the above achievements and can only praise the team that I have had the pleasure to work with, namely all the Council Members (who ran their

portfolios with great dedication and energy), and the ladies in head office (Gail, Ann and Sanki). To all of you, I say thank you. Unfortunately, we have also had our disappointments over the past two to four years and these mainly revolved around health care risk waste (medical waste)! The one area which we have not been able to resolve is the issue of the management of the Health Care Waste Forum (HCWF) as previously reported. I trust that the incoming council will give this their full attention as the next Health Care Waste Summit is due early next year. On a closing note, I wish to report that the council, in the last council meeting in March, took the decision to reinstate Wasteman Holdings (Pty) Ltd as a Patron Member. This decision was taken after a lengthy process which included an independent audit of Wasteman’s processes and policies which were put in place subsequent to their suspension from the IWMSA. A number of the other Patron Members have welcomed this decision. Finally, as this is my last opportunity to say goodbye to the readers of RéSource, I would like to thank all members who supported me during my term of office (including those with constructive criticism), members of the National Council and the head office staff for making my job easier. Regards, Stan Jewaskiewitz President, IWMSA

Patron members of the IWMSA

RéSource May 2012 – 3

Editor's comment Publisher: Elizabeth Shorten Editor: Candice Landie Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600, candice@3smedia.co.za Creative chief executive: Frédérick Danton Senior sub-editor: Claire Nozaic Sub-editor: Patience Gumbo Production manager: Antois-Leigh Botma Financial manager: Andrew Lobban Marketing: Martin Hiller Distrubution manager: Nomsa Masina Administrator: Tonya Hebenton Distribution coordinator: Asha Pursotham Printers: United Litho Johannesburg Tel: +27 (0)11 402 0571

Advertising sales: Christine Pretorius Tel: +27 (0)11 465 8255 christine.pretorius@lantic.net

Publisher: MEDIA No.4, 5th Avenue Rivonia, 2191 PO Box 92026, Norwood 2117 Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600 Share Call: 086 003 3300 Fax: +27 (0)11 234 7274/5 www.3smedia.co.za Annual subscription: R195.00 (incl VAT) South Africa ISSN 1680-4902 The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa Tel: +27 (0)11 675 3462 E-mail: iwmsa@telkomsa.net

All material herein RéSource is copyright-protected and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or editor, but those of the author or other contributors under whose name contributions may appear, unless a contributor expresses a viewpoint or opinion in his or her capacity as an elected office bearer of a company, group or association. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

ReSource is endorsed by:

With time comes change

ith Christmas 2011 a not-sodistant memory, it’s scary to know that Easter has already come and gone. And as we usher in the winter months, we also bid farewell to the current president of the IWMSA (Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa), Stan Jewaskiewitz, founder and director of Envitech Solutions, whose term of office comes to an end in June. Apart from secretly fantasising about becoming a world-famous chef, Stan spent the past two years dedicating his free time to, and sharing his expertise with, the waste industry. I took over as editor of RéSource when Stan came into office and hence was not given sufficient time to conduct a proper ‘background check’ on him – as we editors like to do with every new president who comes on board. But working with Stan on claiming back the magazine’s institute status by fairly representing all waste management sectors under the IWMSA umbrella, has been an absolute pleasure. Although he doesn’t always stick to his promises, such as cooking me the besttasting game meat I’ve ever eaten, his openness and helpfulness will be missed by the RéSource team. Stan will officially hand over the presidency at the opening of the IWMSA’s biennial conference and exhibition, WasteCon, which will be held in East London from 8 to 12 October. Farewells aside, in addition to the front cover story, this issue of RéSource also kicks off with the first the latest offering from the

Mercedes-Benz commerical vehicle division – TruckStore (see pages 6 and 7 for more information). This month’s line-up also includes another panel discussion, this time focusing on recycling in relation to both consumers and industry. And Pikitup is at it again, pushing towards sustainable transformation in the city of gold. See page 10 for the full story. Also on the agenda is a very interesting paper on the use of earthworms in waste management. With increased emphasis being placed on waste reduction to landfill, this paper outlines a pilot project that was conducted at an abattoir in Gauteng, highlighting the challenges experienced in relation to the National Environmental Management Bill (page 13). Rounding up, the Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and, as an association addressing environmental needs, RéSource celebrates their achievement and wishes them 10 more years of success and industry support (page 50). If you haven’t already booked your spot at WasteCon, stands and delegate seats are selling out fast – so book now to avoid disappointment. For more information on the event, refer to page 68.

Apart from fantasising about becoming a world-famous chef, Stan spent the past two years dedicated to the waste industry

Happy reading!

Editor

RéSource May 2012 – 5

Cover story

USED COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SPECIALISTS

Introducing TruckStore from Mercedes-Benz TruckStore is a first for Mercedes-Benz South Africa and will soon become one of the largest used-vehicle dealers for commercial vehicles.

ruckStore, the used commercial vehicle specialist from MercedesBenz South Africa, is ready to start construction of a brand new facility for the Southern African market. Preparing for the necessary earth works, and then commencement of construction, the TruckStore team is kicking-off with an official ground-breaking ceremony on site at Highway Business Park, Centurion.

The roll-out TruckStore is one of the largest used commercial dealer networks in Europe and will now officially be launched to the Southern African marked by the middle of 2012. In the Daimler Group, TruckStore is responsible for the professional, international used-truck business, involving trucks of all brands and ages, and with all body types. TruckStore in Europe is growing constantly and already has 30 locations in 14 European countries and has a rolling stock of around 4 000 vehicles, selling more than 20 000 vehicles annually. TruckStore is a first for Mercedes-Benz South Africa and will soon become one of the largest used-vehicle dealers for commercial vehicles – vans, trucks, buses and trailers. TruckStore sells vehicles of all brands, body configurations and ages. Conveniently situated off the N1, on 30 000 m2 of prime real estate, the facility will have ample parking for large vehicles and is well-situated in Gauteng – between the two major airports (OR Tambo and Lanseria) for the convenience of its clients.

Construction preparation

Oliver Marte, project manager: TruckStore, and Roy van der Walt, TruckStore manager

6 – RéSource May 2012

Following numerous geometric tests, it was identified that the ground works require a significant amount of preparation due to the dolomite in the area. A fair amount of excavation will take place – 15 000 m³, which equates to 1 500 truckloads of earth – after which the area will be compacted and the

Cover story

earth returned to the site. Following the earthworks, construction will commence. The builders will be laying around 1.25 million paving blocks to complete the professional display area. Consideration has been taken into the design of the building, which will be both functional and environmentally friendly. Certain eco-friendly measures will be put in place, such as retaining the rainwater for irrigation and installing solar geysers to minimise electricity costs. Architect Boorgertmann & Partners is also the contract manager of the building project, while building contractor JC van der Linde and Venter is the main contractor.

This ensures that every vehicle delivers what is promised. TruckStore will also have a dedicated reconditioning centre based at Zandfontein, which will also serve as the national return centre for the finance house: Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. Dedicated technicians and service staff will bring these used commercial vehicles up to set standards, at the Zandfontein facility, ensuring that these vehicles meet TruckStore benchmark standards. As part of the Mercedes-Benz South Africa commercial vehicle value chain, TruckStore customers will benefit from a range of services specifically for used commercial vehicles, such as finance, insurance and warranties.

A proven concept TruckStore is a Daimler initiative that began operations in 2002. This proven model concept has been adapted to suit the local market. TruckStore accepts commercial vehicles of any vehicle type or brand in part exchange; the condition of every vehicle is thoroughly checked and assessed on the basis of uniform standards. Vehicles are then sub-divided into the product categories: gold, silver and bronze.

Online product offering This TruckStore initiative will ensure significant growth in the used commercial vehicle segments and the close collaboration with the Mercedes-Benz South Africa dealer network will be strengthened. For product information, visit www.truckstore.co.za. The website recently went live with full details for customers to familiarise themselves with the new and exciting TruckStore concept. Once

Left to right: Roy McAllister, CEO of Sandown Motor Holdings; Oliver Marte, manager: Sales and Business Development at TruckStore South Africa; Kobus van Zyl, vice president: Commercial Vehicles, MercedesBenz South Africa; Dr Martin Zimmermann, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa, and Frank van Heerden, managing director of Sandown Commercial Vehicles

the TruckStore facility is officially opened, the website will be upgraded to an internet platform that will enable customers to find their ideal vehicle even faster, thanks to easy navigation functions. The new functionality will be user-friendly with its clearly structured sections, simple controls and optimised contact functions. In addition to the new design, users will also benefit from a photograph gallery of the used commercial vehicles together with full specifications. TruckStore is able to meet increasingly demanding customer requirements and continue to extend its lead at the very forefront of innovation. Contact: Shirle Greig Tel: +27 (0)12 677 1904 Fax: +27 (0)12 677 1682 E-mail: shirle.greig@daimler.com

RĂŠSource offers advertisers an ideal platform to ensure maximum exposure of their brand. Companies are afforded the opportunity of publishing a cover story and a cover picture to promote their products and services to an appropriate audience. Please call Christine Pretorius on +27 (0)11 465 6273 to secure your booking. The article does not represent the views of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa, or those of the publisher.

RĂŠSource May 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7

8 – RéSource May 2012

Profile

INTERWASTE

Finding rewards in waste Environmental solutions company, Interwaste Holdings, is not just focused on environmental protection, but is a firm believer in giving back to the less fortunate – creating a sustainable future for all South Africans.

isted South African company Interwaste adopted the Tops & Tags initiative in August last year, which gives back to the community and assists in the preservation of the environment. The tops that come off bottles and tags that are used to seal the plastic coverings of loaves of bread are the new way to help the less fortunate. For every 10 000 bread tags or plastic bottle tops collected by Interwaste, one registered charity will receive a wheel chair. Corporate and individual participants are invited to join Interwaste in this initiative by giving back to an underprivileged project of their choice. They will not only be contributing to a sustainable environment, but will also receive a Certification of Participation and will be acknowledged on the website. When the company collected its first 10 000 tops and tags in aid of this initiative, a wheel chair was donated to Hospice Soweto. “Our request is simple,” says Jason McNeil of Interwaste, “when you buy a loaf of bread or a bottled beverage, please keep the tops and tags and give it to us, and we will not only recycle these items but also give back to a needy organisation.” There are various drop-off/pick-up points where these recyclable materials can be placed: • Richards Bay: 126 Alumina Allee, Alton • Durban: 42 Brooklyn Road, Jacobs • Boksburg (Gauteng): Cnr Commissioner and Atlas Road, 41 Davids Street, Boksburg • Germinston: 5 Brammer Street, Industries Site, Germiston East • Nelspruit: 10 Bosch Street, Nelspruit • Cape Town: 6 Montreal Drive, Airport Industria, Cape Town.

The eeZeeBin system In addition to its Corporate Social Investment projects, Interwaste also introduced a new

waste collection system last year called the eeZeeBin system, which allows for the collection of recyclable materials including paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and cans which can be deposited into a single bin without any further sorting and separation. “Dedicated collection vehicles are employed to regularly collect and compact waste before transporting it to the Materials Recovery Facilities Company for final sorting and reprocessing. Six cubic metre-bins are available for use at high volume generation points with 240 ℓ wheelie bins for smaller loads,” says McNeil.

EeZeeBins are used by corporates, schools, universities, event companies and others that are interested in keeping the environment safe, and provide branding opportunities. McNeil says everyone should realise when glass or aluminum, for example, is not recycled, it costs the earth because glass takes up to 4 000 years to decompose in a landfill. This can be easily avoided through the use of the eeZeeBin. For more information, visit www.interwaste.co.za.

ABOUT INTERWASTE: For 21 years Interwaste has been built on the character of its people and through them commits itself daily to the highest standard of performance, integrity and business practice in serving its clients. Interwaste is a South African company with a solidly based national footprint. Every aspect of its sustained development has successfully integrated its people, facilities and infrastructure into a cohesive force, able to provide its customers with a truly integrated waste management solution. Solutions are based on proven systems and practices that are at the same time cost-effective and environmentally sound.

RéSource RéSour RéS ource ce May 2012 2012 – 9

Solid waste

JOBURG’S SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION

Scaling up waste management initiatives From creating jobs and encouraging active citizenry to reduce waste to the city’s strained landfill sites and converting waste to energy, Pikitup has a significant role to play in helping Johannesburg meet its 2040 Growth and Development Strategy goals and, ultimately, its aim of becoming a world-class African city.

ikitup acting MD Lawrence Boya says that as an agent of the city responsible for solid waste management, Pikitup has a meaningful contribution to make in transforming Johannesburg into a city that is sustainable, liveable, globally competitive, inclusive and resilient. Boya says methane gas, a byproduct of landfill sites, contributes towards greenhouse gases and global warming. “By instituting alternative waste management practices, Pikitup can divert waste from

10 – RéSource May 2012

landfill sites and reduce greenhouse gases,” he adds.

Waste-to-energy technology In September 2011, Pikitup implemented gas-to-energy conversion at its landfill site at Robinson Deep. By extracting the methane gas and flaring it, the harmful effects of greenhouse gases are eliminated. The next step is to convert the gas to energy, which Pikitup hopes to kick off this year. This requires being registered as an Independent

Power Producer with the National Department of Energy, tariff approvals and identifying a purchaser for the energy. In addition, Pikitup is investigating various waste-to-energy technologies such as absorbing waste into an incineration process and converting the by-product of this process into steam, electricity or heat. “Every year, 1 million tonnes of waste goes to landfill – our target is to convert at least half of this into energy,” says Boya. When this gets off the ground, Johannesburg will be one of the first cities in the developing world to institute this type of technology, apart from China. “This will hopefully expand to all cities in South Africa and ultimately contribute to job creation and economic growth,” says Boya.

Contributing towards recycling Separation at source will also play an important role in reducing waste to Johannesburg’s five landfill sites and

Solid waste

Johannesburg will be one of the first cities in the developing world to institute this type of technology, apart from China

Waste needs to be separated at source and items that don’t need to go to landfill need to be recycled

will therefore contribute towards a more sustainable city. Boya says businesses, manufacturers and households in the city need to adopt greener waste disposal practices. “Waste needs to be separated at source and items that don’t need to go to landfill need to be recycled,” he says. Pikitup is currently running a recycling pilot project in the Waterval area (western Johannesburg) in conjunction with Mondi, which provides vehicles to collect recyclable waste. Pikitup

intends to formalise separation at source for all Johannesburg households in July 2012; in this respect, citizens will have to play an active role in reducing, recycling and reusing. In addition to separating their waste, households will be encouraged to start compost heaps that can be used to nurture gardens or vegetable patches, thereby further reducing the amount of green waste going to landfill. Boya says Johannesburg needs to transform its current model of ‘collect, transport and dispose’, to a model of ‘reduce, recycle, reuse and remediate’. “This will put us in line with international best practice and the National Environmental Waste Act of 2008. Essentially, this year sees the scaling up of the plans we put in place in 2011. The landfill gas-to-energy project will be instituted at all five landfill sites, separation at source will become a city-wide endeavour and a five-year plan to build a plant for the conversion of waste to energy will get under way,” he says.

Holistic approach To ensure that the city’s waste management by-laws are adhered to, Pikitup has enlisted the support of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, which has provided 34 dedicated police officers to enforce

the by-laws. This is because the issues especially relate to illegal dumping and littering. “We will take stronger action if these pleas are continually ignored; however, we will continue to raise awareness and educate the public on the importance of disposing waste efficiently and as directed by Pikitup,” says Boya. Pikitup also views job creation initiatives by communities in a positive light. “In addition to waste pickers who collect plastic and other items for recycling, we are aware of young people in the townships who enter into agreements with households to take their bins to a central point for waste collection and then clean them before returning the bins to their owners. We believe this type of initiative can be organised and expanded to provide additional opportunities for unemployed individuals,” says Boya. Looking at the overall cleanliness issues faced by the city, Boya says rodents have become a significant health hazard. “By promoting anti-littering campaigns and providing the proper infrastructure to support this, Pikitup can begin to address this problem and at the same time dovetail these efforts to complement the city’s health objectives,” he says. He is confident that Johannesburg is on its way to becoming a low-carbon economy. RéSource May 2012 – 11

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Solid waste

THE USE OF EARTHWORMS IN WASTE MANAGEMENT

Gauteng’s abattoir pilot project South Africa is currently experiencing enormous environmental problems such as degraded soils, polluted groundwater and air, which have led to a serious global problem: greenhouse gas. But earthworm waste management can address these issues. by CC Nottingham*

s they are the world’s best natural recyclers of biological waste, earthworms can be used to convert wet waste on a large scale. Their main function when converting waste is to create a pathogen-free micro-organismrich soil conditioner, which improves soil fertility. Pilot projects have been carried out with Gauteng Provincial Veterinary Health Services on the safe reduction and conversion of abattoir offal and condemned material using earthworms. The large-scale use of earthworm compost and castings (produced from wet waste) can rehabilitate degraded mining and agricultural land in South Africa. Scientific studies have shown that by increasing the life in the soil, erosion is stopped, groundwater is purified, the air is cleaned and carbon is locked into the soil, where it belongs.

Earthworm facts It is estimated that there are at least 3 500 species of earthworm throughout the soil on the planet. They are very specific to location, habitat and environmental conditions and can be described according to the level of soil they occupy and their feeding behaviour. According to M Bouche (1977) earthworm types are described as follows: • Epigeic types – are surface dwellers that live in freshly decaying plant or animal residues. • Endogeic types – live within soil and feed on degraded organic matter present in the soil. • Anecic types – burrow deep in the soil, but come to the surface at night to forage for freshly decaying residues. In South Africa we have approximately 300 species; the longest is 3 m and can be found in the Eastern Cape area. Earthworms

are hermaphrodites and all are sensitive to UV rays. The earthworm falls under the animal kingdom, not the insect.

Earthworm anatomy The body structure is basically a hollow tube, albeit very complex. Earthworms use a ‘hydraulic’ system to move around, hence the importance of moisture replacement. The haemoglobin in their blood absorbs oxygen efficiently through the skin. They have no immune system and this is possibly one of their most important characteristics: they ingest harmful pathogens and digest them in order to grow their own bodies. Their movement in the soil introduces air and helps create an oxygen-rich environment that makes it possible for beneficial bacteria to multiply. Protozoa, bacteria, ciliates, fungi – all these microscopic organisms thrive and push out

RéSource May 2012 – 13

Solid waste

the anaerobic pathogens, thanks to the role of the earthworm in that environment. It has also been discovered that the earthworm’s excretion is 10 times more nutrient rich than what is ingested, specifically because, due to the presence of beneficial microorganisms which are increased 1 000 times while passing through the worm’s gut, food state nutrients (i.e. nutrients available to plants) are created. Analysis of worm castings showed approximately the following when compared to the parent soil: SOIL-BENEVOLENT BACTERIA IN ONE WORM FOREGUT

MIDSECTION

475 million

32 900 million

TAIL SECTION

474 billion

AVAILABLE MINERALS IN THE SOIL AFTER EARTHWORM ACTIVITY:

Phosphorous

7 times more

Nitrogen

6 times more

Magnesium

3 times more

Carbon

2 times more

Calcium

1.5 times more

Table 1: Characteristics of tested soils

Commercial worm farming There are three or four species commonly used to create compost and castings on a commercial scale, mostly because of their high rate of reproduction and dense population in enclosed conditions. The other species live in and ingest soil, and need large areas in which to move, therefore creating healthy soil in situ. The most studied earthworm species, widely used and established worldwide is the Eisenia fetida. During the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000, all food waste, sewerage and paper products were processed by earthworms. At the Bhawalker Earthworm Research Institute in Pune, India, they have successfully developed waterless earthworm toilets and sewerage treatment facilities. In Minsk, Russia, they reportedly have the largest waste treatment facility using earthworms. Due to the effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant accident about 25 years ago, the Eisenia fetida has become the

14 – RéSource May 2012

most-researched earthworm and even the radioactivity in those soils have been found to be best contained by earthworm activity. France and the United States of America also have large-scale earthworm plants. With the advent of environmental science, born as a result of the impact of environmental degradation, loss of habitat abd large-scale extinction of many species, mostly due to our actions, the global environment has our attention. It is in this light that earthworms and their products have become mainstream, and the time has come in South Africa where we are very aware of their importance in maintaining healthy soil, now that the repercussions of ‘dead’ soil have been linked to massive erosion, groundwater pollution, large-scale farming failures, adverse weather pattern changes – and even global warming. Throughout the years, scientists have studied isolated characteristics and effects of earthworms and compost. Many papers have been written, too numerous to mention. At North West University in Potchefstroom, trials have been carried out on the efficacy of earthworms to convert contaminated soils from gold mine tailings dams.

The earthworm and soil life In the 20 years of my involvement with earthworm farming, the focus has been mainly on the creation of a product – registered with the Department of Agriculture as a ‘group 2 fertiliser’ for the soil. This classification, due to the empirical approach of laboratory analyses, measures but a small window. With the technological advancement of electron microscopy and its application to soil analysis, a whole new world has opened up to us – the complex web of life of micro-organisms and hence a greater, complete picture of soil life, health and the resulting environmental consequences have emerged. Thanks are due to Dr Elaine Ingham and the International Soil FoodWeb Institute. In summary, earthworms live in and convert biological waste into a soil-enhancement product – discovered due to the role of the micro-organisms. Earthworm products are classified as follows: • vermicompost and vermicastings from the breakdown of organic matter (mainly plant matter and manures) • liquid leachates or worm tea/wee

An earthworm product: liquid leachate or worm tea

• worm bins of varying sizes and shapes (domestic, commercial, largescale farming) • doggie-loos, and others.

Safe management of abattoir waste Initial enquiry 2006 Based on some articles that were written in 2005 and 2006, I was approached by Dr Soni and Dr Louro of the Gauteng Veterinary Health Services, who at the time were compiling a Guideline Manual for Abattoirs. This meeting was about the use of earthworm technology to manage abattoir waste. This has led to an interesting journey where the focus is not only the management of a toxic, hazardous and extremely pollutant waste, but the possibility of its conversion into an environmentally safe (pathogen-free) and therefore usable, soil conditioner. Pilot research 1: June, July 2006 Armed with this question, we immediately set upon experimenting on a small scale – in two plastic boxes approximately 600 x 300 x 350 mm. Although this was carried out with the sanction of the Veterinary Health

Solid waste

Services, it took three months to obtain 1 kg of carcass meal and 1 kg of blood meal from an abattoir due to the red tape involved, especially when it was for something ‘outside the box’. The first results registered a failure in that within a short space of time, all the earthworms turned either luminous yellow from the carcass meal, or a deep red from the blood meal, and all of them died. The obvious conclusion was that earthworms are not carnivores. They do not ‘eat’ the matter itself, but rather go for the micro-organisms that are present in decaying matter. In this case, the fat and the blood then needed to be pre-digested by micro-organisms to be made ‘safe’ for the earthworms. Pilot research 2: October 2006 The next step was to compost the carcass meal and the blood meal for a period of time, and then earthworms were introduced. Although they hesitated to move in, they eventually settled in. Our conclusion was that

by ensuring the presence of micro-organism activity, earthworm composting was possible, but we needed to up the scale. Pilot research 3: 2007 – 2008 Then followed months of delay. Because we wanted to do everything above board, as we were working in conjunction with Gauteng

the same with the local municipalities’ environmental departments. We had the land and the methodology and, through Gauteng Veterinary Services, we had access to testing from the Onderstepoort Labs. However, we needed the permission to run a pilot. Presentations, written motivations and requests to the various departments

The obvious conclusion was that earthworms are not carnivores province, we approached a reputable abattoir and the local environmental departments, both municipal and provincial, to request permission for our official pilot to take place. The Department of Environment kept shifting us from one person to another; we could not get anyone to, firstly, determine how much abattoir offal we could transport and use in the pilot (our request was for 1 t), and, secondly, find a person/department that would grant us that permission. It was

eventually resulted in written responses that we would not be granted permission to run a pilot without first undergoing an Environmental Impact Assessment. It was not feasible for us to do this for the small quantities involved to run a pilot test. We were totally stumped and turned back to Gauteng Veterinary Health. After deliberation, the State Vet himself (Dr Louro) and his colleague, Dr Soni, gave us written permission sanctioning our actions. RéSource May 2012 – 15

Pelleting of Municipal and Industrial Sewage Sludge

Prebin

Possible design of a plant for pelleting of sewage sludge

Water Mixer

Pelleting press

The final products are pellets which are appropriate for a variety of applications.

Countercurrent cooler Screen

AMANDUS KAHL GmbH & Co. KG Dieselstrasse 5, D-21465 Reinbek / Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 (0)40 727 71-0, Fax: +49 (0)40 727 71-100 info@amandus-kahl-group.de www.akahl.de

Johannes Schuback & Sons (S.A.) PTY Limited, Johannesburg / RSA Phone: +27 11 7062270, Fax: +27 11 7069236 jsssa@mweb.co.za

A WELL COACHED TEAM IS A WINNING TEAM

% [IPP GSEGLIH XIEQ % KEQI TPER TIVJIGXIH XLVSYKL LMWXSVMGEP WYGGIWW % WGMIRXMJMG ETTVSEGL XS XLI KEQI 8LI MRKVIHMIRXW XLEX [SVO SR XLI JMIPH EPWS [SVO MR SYV JMIPH %X )RZMVS7IVZ [I LEZI E TVSZIR XVEGO VIGSVH MR XEGOPMRK [EWXI 86)%8 +6))2 0-/) +30(

)RZMVS7IVZ ;EWXI 1EREKIQIRX 'YWXSQIV 'EVI [[[ IRZMVSWIVZ GS ^E

Solid waste

1-3 MONTHS

COMPOST mixture Total weight (kg) Total volume (litres)

First lab tests Daily readings: Moisture pH Temperature

AT MONTH 2

AT MONTH 3

Lab tests

SFI test

EARTHWORM mixture Total volumes – compost, water Earthworms weighed Table 2: Summary of tests conducted

But the pilot was limited to half a tonne of offal and, instead of the numerous tests that would be done by Onderstepoort Labs, they would do only two: for E. coli 0157 and Salmonella. Concurrent to this, we decided to run an unofficial trial on our own. We ‘found’ 500 kg of offal from a small abattoir (to remain unnamed), mixed it with manure and greens, and composted it for a few months. Regular temperature, moisture and pH readings were taken. This was then fed to the earthworms with moderate success. Moderate because as it was an unofficial pilot, the results carried little weight. During this time, however, (2007 and 2008) I was regularly invited to be a guest speaker at many abattoir-government-related conferences and open days in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape. We also had a hearing at the Gauteng Legislature in May 2008. The word, or rather the ‘worm’, was spreading – several large abattoirs had started composting their offal, instead of the usual practice of burying or landfilling it. The National Environmental Management Bill was grinding its way towards becoming an Act. Official pilot 4: 2008-2009 This pilot is the thesis for an Honours Degree by a Gauteng Vet, Jack Motshegoa and his thesis subject was approved at the end 2008. In February 2009, armed with the necessary letters of permission, signed undertakings and Memorandums of Understanding between the various provincial and municipal departments, as well as the ‘official’ abattoir and ourselves, we collected the 500 kg offal and set up the pilot. Tests were carried out by Ondestepoort, Nvirotek Labs and the Soil FoodWeb

domestic, as each section of society has to find every means possible to prevent (or at least to minimise) disposal to landfill. This opens up many opportunities for renewable operations to establish themselves – see Table 3 Recycling, conversion and treatment of various ‘wet’ waste streams On a very small budget, and therefore rather informally, it has been proven that earthworms can be a vital link in the reduction of certain wastes that would normally either go to landfill or be buried, namely abattoir offal, manure and sewage, and vegetative matter. Rehabilitation of degraded lands In addition, NEMA places the responsibility on the owners of land to rehabilitate the land after use to “its former state”. Whether or not this seems possible or feasible, it nevertheless opens many opportunities for doing things differently. The Global Carbon Credit Exchange platform is just one such means to link recycling and treatment (prevention of disposal) of major existing waste streams through the use of Earthworm Technology, and also help clean up degraded lands with the resulting product.

There are three or four earthworm species used to create compost and castings

Institute. The results were handed to an expert on compost (Mr Dahan) and his conclusion was that ‘it is a good product’ – see Table 2.

Conclusion NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) 2009 According to the Waste Hierarchy (right), NEMA has opened the doors for different thinking to take place across all walks of life, from industry and commerce to

*Living Earth CLEANER PRODUCTION

Prevention Minimisation

RECYCLING

Reuse Recovery Composting

TREATMENT

Physical Chemical Destruction

DISPOSAL

Landfill

Table 3: Waste hierarchy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr Louro and Dr Soni of the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (Veterinary Public Health) – in asking the question of whether or not earthworms can be used to recycle abattoir waste – have initiated the exploration and helped make possible the findings of this project. Although no sponsorship has been received, the project has continued for four years as the basis of a feasibility study for the business Earthworm Waste Management. This is a Section 21 Company, whose mission is to rehabilitate the environment (land, air and water) through earthworm waste management and thereby positively impact society. Its aim is the reduction and management of wet or biological waste to become the leaders in environmental regeneration.

RéSource May 2012 – 17

Recycling

FISCAL 2011 A MOMENTOUS YEAR FOR PETCO

PET recycling grows despite tough trading markets The latest statistics reveal that over 1.4 billion PET bottles are being recycled across South Africa, which equates close to 4 million bottles recycled every day. In addition, PETCO exceeded its PET plastic recycling rate for 2010 by 5 290 t.

n 2011, PETCO celebrated its sixth anniversary and its efforts over the past year were evident in the outstanding recycling figures. While the world was still recovering from the economic recession, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling figures in South Africa continued to grow despite tough trading conditions, and the organisation is therefore proud to announce that in 2011 it achieved an annual PET recycling rate of 42% of post-consumer beverage PET and 29% of total PET. A total of 42 651 t of PET was collected and recycled out of a 145 000 t 2011 resin market. PETCO also tracked the recycling rate, including pre-consumer material, and the tonnage collected and recycled in 2011, including pre-consumer, equalled 46 276 t, representing 46% of beverage PET and 32% of total PET.

Credit where it’s due These achievements would not have been possible without the voluntary financial support from PETCO’s members. By paying the recycling levy and other contributions through grants-in-aid, the PET converters, bottlers, raw material producers and CocaCola South Africa have all helped PETCO to be the benchmark for Extended Producer Responsibility and to reduce the volume of post-consumer PET plastic in the waste stream bale-by-bale, year-by-year. The organisation achieved this recycling rate in partnership with contracted service providers, Extrupet, Kaymac and Sen Li Da, which combine collection, recycling and enduse in their PET value chain. Cheri Scholtz, CEO of PETCO, says: “Over the past six years we’ve gone from 9 840 to 42 651 t of post-consumer PET bottles recycled or from 324 million bottles

18 – RéSource May 2012

PROVINCIAL FACTS • Gauteng generates the most PET post-consumer product in South Africa at 55% of the national total, followed by the Western Cape with 13% and KwaZulu-Natal accounts for 10% • Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga account for 5% each, with the North West and Free State each generating 4% of SA’s post-consumer PET product • Limpopo and the Northern Cape create the smallest PET postconsumer product at 3% and 1% respectively collected in the first year to well over 1 billion bottles recycled in 2011. We’ve have assisted in the establishment of over 430 plastic recovery stations throughout

South Africa and supported training of staff at these drop-off sites. We have also been involved in numerous separation at source and school education projects. The organisation has grown its targets from 16% to 46% of beverage PET recycled, from 87 000 to 145 000 t of PET resin produced, from small to large amounts of recycling levies collected and income opportunities created, from success to success.” In addition, the organisation has helped generate almost 26 000 indirect jobs across the country. As far as carbon is concerned, recycling 1 t of PET saves 1.5 t of CO2, so the total carbon saved via PET recycling is in excess of 63 000 t of CO2.

A winning formula The organisation’s 28 shareholder and 42 associate members have contributed to job creation and skills development. PETCO

Recycling

has also provided millions of rands worth of financial support to PET recycling companies and in doing so has managed to expand both bottle-to-fibre and bottle-to-foodgrade recycling. “Built on the simple principle of establishing an industry-driven and -financed environmental solution for PET, the PETCO model is now proven to be expandable and sustainable,” says Casper Durandt, senior technical operations manager for Coca-Cola South Africa and PETCO chairman. According to Scholtz, 2012 will certainly prove to be a turning point in the organisation’s development as this will be the first year that PETCO will be facing a shortage of end-use market applications for recycled PET, with the local bottle-to-fibre market now reaching saturation and local recyclers have reached capacity. “This means that as more and more post-consumer PET bottles are collected, so end-use markets need to expand and develop,” she explains. South African PET recycling is unique in that

In 2012, PETCO needs to meet the targeted tonnage of post-consumer beverage PET recycled of 48 356 t or 44% of all beverage PET resin converted almost all of the post-consumer PET bottles collected are recycled into a local end-use (mainly fibre and more recently bottle-tobottle) and not exported to China, as is done by many other countries. The largest end-use market for postconsumer PET bottles in South Africa is currently the fibre market (bottle-to-fibre). More recently, there is installed capacity for post-consumer PET bottles to be recycled into new bottles (bottle-to-bottle). Bottleto-bottle resin take-up is, however, still relatively slow and PETCO is working with retailers and brand owners to increase the demand for PET recyclate.

Industry and consumer initiatives During 2011, PETCO worked closely with the Recovery Action Group on drafting the Industry Waste Management Plan for the packaging and paper industries, the main co-regulatory instrument within the waste management system. At the same time, PETCO now chairs the newly formed Sustainability Council of Plastics SA, providing leadership to the plastics industry in order to reduce carbon emissions, be more energy efficient, cut transportation and ensure that

GENERAL FACTS • Approximately 33 bottles = 1 kg PET • The fibre for a standard pillow can be made with nineteen 500 mℓ PET bottles • According to the UK-based recycling organisation Recoup, if plastics were no longer used in packaging, the weight of packaging materials would rise by 300%, the volume of rubbish would expand by 150% and the energy consumed by the packaging industry would increase by 100%.

post-consumer packaging plastics do not end up on landfill sites. Last year also saw the organisation support projects with a strong focus on public and consumer-based education and awareness programmes, and these initiatives and activities contributed to the visible recycling of PET. Many of these programmes, such as beach clean-ups, trade shows and workshops for members on topics such as designing PET bottles and containers with recycling in mind, were convened in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Together with major retailers Woolworths and Pick n Pay, PETCO has recently established the Retailers for Recycling Forum, which aims to minimise the environmental impact of post-consumer packaging on the South African landscape by creating awareness among consumers of recycling issues and supporting retailers as they work with their own suppliers to ensure that packaging is designed with reduction, reuse and recycling in mind.

• Statistics say approximately 12% of household waste is packaging

Looking ahead

waste. Estimates are that some 3%

In 2012, PETCO needs to meet the targeted tonnage of post-consumer beverage PET recycled of 48 356 t or 44% of all beverage PET resin converted, assist with the establishment of more collection and dropoff centres, and progressively build recycling awareness through compelling and focused messaging. There has to be a vigorous and cost-effective strategy from both the public and private sector.

of this, by weight, is plastic bottles (estimated to be 100 000 t for 2012 in South Africa). • Recycling 1 t of plastic bottles saves 1.5 t of CO2, and decreases the need for raw materials, thus saving energy.

RéSource May 2012 – 19

40 years of better solutions ďŝĚŝŵ ŵĂŬĞƐ ĂŶ ŝŶĐŽŵƉĂƌĂďůĞ ĐŽŶƚƌŝďƵƟ ŽŶ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ĞŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ͕ ŚĞůƉŝŶŐ ƚŽ ƌĞĚƵĐĞ ^ŽƵƚŚ ĨƌŝĐĂ͛Ɛ ĐĂƌďŽŶ ĨŽŽƚƉƌŝŶƚ͘ ZĞĐǇĐůŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ĞƋƵŝǀĂůĞŶƚ ŽĨ ϯϬ ŵŝůůŝŽŶ ƚǁŽ ůŝƚƌĞ W d ĐŽůĚ ĚƌŝŶŬ ďŽƩ ůĞƐ ĞĂĐŚ ǇĞĂƌ͕ ďŝĚŝŵ ƌĞĚƵĐĞƐ ƚŚĞ ůŽĂĚ ŽŶ ůĂŶĚĮ ůůƐ ǁŚŝůĞ ƉƌŽǀŝĚŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŽǀĞŶ ŐĞŽƚĞǆƟ ůĞ ƐĞƉĂƌĂƚŽƌ ĨŽƌ ƐǁĂŵƉƐ͕ ƌŽĂĚƐ͕ ƌĂŝůǁĂǇƐ͕ ĞŵďĂŶŬŵĞŶƚƐ ĂŶĚ ŵŽƌĞ͘ tŝƚŚ Ă ƚƌĂĐŬ ƌĞĐŽƌĚ ŽĨ ϰϬ ǇĞĂƌƐ ŝŶ ^ŽƵƚŚ ĨƌŝĐĂ͕ ďŝĚŝŵ ƐƟ ůů ƐĂǀĞƐ ǇŽƵ Ɵ ŵĞ ĂŶĚ ŵŽŶĞǇ͘

For more information, call us on Johannesburg 011 922 3300 East London 043 727 1057 Cape Town 021 531 8110 Durban 031 717 2300 Or contact us on-line at www.kaytech.co.za

20 – RéSource May 2012

octarine 3157

&Žƌ ƐŚĞĞƌ ĐŽŶǀĞŶŝĞŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ Ğĸ ĐĂĐǇ͕ ƌĞůǇ ŽŶ ďŝĚŝŵ ͞DĂŐŝĐ ĂƌƉĞƚ͟ ĂŶĚ ŵĂŬĞ ǇŽƵƌ ĐŽŶƚƌŝďƵƟ ŽŶ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ĞŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ͘

Panel discussion

PANEL DISCUSSION

Recycling and the sustainability ‘food chain’ There’s more to recycling than separate, drop and go!

ustainability – the industry buzz word that’s on everyone’s lips. From small companies to large corporates, it seems that everyone is jumping on the green bandwagon. In spite of the numerous ways that sustainability can be adopted, from basic energy and water conservation through to complex green building designs, none is more popular than recycling initiatives. But while businesses and industries have and continue

to establish effective recycling programmes, the everyday consumer in South Africa still battles with the concept. This is mainly due to the fact that recycling at household level in South Africa can prove to be quite a daunting task as the infrastructure for collecting recyclable material isn’t quite where it should be. Although municipalities are geared to implement domestic separation at source kerbside collections, until this is properly

enforced, households are left to separate their rubbish and take the recyclables to a municipal drop-off or buy-back centre. Despite the setbacks, this hasn’t deterred industry role players who continue to embark on recycling campaigns, which aim to educate and create awareness among consumers and the youth. But recycling doesn’t just include solid waste; what about the proper disposal and recycling of e-waste?

Candice Landie facilitates this panel discussion, which looks at the initiatives and projects that role players are involved in at both consumer and industry level, including the outcomes of these campaigns. The discussion also highlights how Extended Producer Regulation can affect manufacturers of recycled products and packaging.

RéSource May 2012 – 21

Specialist Waste Management Consultants Sustainable and appropriate engineering solutions with integrity and professionalism. Stanford Drop-off Vissershok Waste Management Facility

Gansbaai Recycling Centre

Velddrif Transfer Station

Integrated Waste Management Plans Waste Disposal Strategies Identification and permitting of landfill sites Design of General and Hazardous Waste sites Design of Solid Waste Transfer Stations Design of Material Recovery Facilities Optimisation of Waste Collection Systems Auditing of Waste Management Facilities Development of Operational Plans Closure and Rehabilitation of Landfills Quality Assurance on Synthetic Liners Waste Recycling Plans

Hermanus Materials Recovery Facility

Botrivier Drop-off

Jan Palm Consulting Engineers Tel +27 21 982 6570

/ Fax +27 21 981 0868 / E-mail info@jpce.co.za / www.jpce.co.za RéSource May 2012 – 21

Recycling e-waste responsibly for 20 years. Desco offers a sustainable, responsible, one-stop convenience for recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, compliant to all national, provincial and local legislation, with the assurance of secure premises and controlled processes, based on our ethos of business excellence. Drawing upon our experience over the past 20 years in this e-waste recycling industry, we are able to offer state of the art solutions for all of your e-waste recycling requirements. This allows for peace of mind to all of our valued clientele, in that your e-waste is being recycled responsibly, with the minimum impact on the environment.

For more information, please visit our website

www.desco.co.za Tel +27 (11) 979 3017 â&#x20AC;˘ E-mail: info@desco.co.za

Panel discussion

PANEL DISCUSSION Malcolm Whitehouse, sales manager, Desco Electronic Recyclers Q. What is Desco’s core business function? A. Desco is a specialist recycler of e-waste consisting of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). As an established e-waste recycler celebrating 20 years of recycling in this industry in South Africa, using clearly defined processes and procedures based on our ISO 14001 certification and standards, we are able to offer our clients a onestop solution for their e-waste recycling requirements. As it is impossible to recycle all the identified waste streams on site in a sustainable and responsible manner, Desco Electronic Recyclers uses approved, specialist downstream vendors, to effectively recycle the different categories of waste fractions, such as ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics, paper, cardboard and cabling.

Q. What initiatives is Desco involved in at consumer level to promote the recycling and proper disposal of e-waste? A. The following projects have been in place for the past two to four years: Makro Stores: Makro stores nationally have specialised 6 m closed containers on site for their customers, who can place all e-waste products into the bins for collection and responsible recycling by Desco. The initiative started as a joint venture between Fujitsu Siemens, Makro and Desco Electronic Recyclers in 2008. Incredible Connection: all stores nationally have a 1 000 ℓ capacity wheelie bin for their clients to place their e-waste into, for collection and responsible recycling by Desco. Incredible Connection also uses the wheelie bins as a marketing opportunity when they run their trade-in promotions on an annual basis, encouraging clients to

bring in their old and used e-waste and receive a discount on new goods purchased. Hi-Fi Corporation: currently has 15 stores nationally that have wheelie bins, similar to those of Incredible Connection, for their clients to place e-waste into. School projects: Acer and Miss Earth South Africa have bins placed at six schools in and around Johannesburg where pupils bring their e-waste from home, place it in the bins, which when full are collected and emptied by Desco. Holy Rosary School: Incredible Connection and Desco have a 6 m container placed at the school, offering pupils and the surrounding local community a drop off point for their e-waste. In this initiative, pupils from the school’s eco committee manage the entire process of marketing the initiative and have launched competitions to create awareness around the need for responsible e-waste recycling. Miss Earth South Africa (in association with Consol): Desco has been working closely with the Miss Earth South Africa platform to promote awareness regarding the importance of e-waste recycling in South Africa.

Q. What is Desco doing within the waste industry to promote recycling and proper disposal? Has the new Waste Act helped increase recycling statistics? A. Desco is interacting more and more with other role players within the industry, investigating synergies and possible collaborations that can bring about awareness and education to understand the importance of e-waste recycling. As this is the fastest growing waste stream within the waste management arena, it is important for role players within the industry to work together on offering more value-added services to the

consumers, and look at joint strategies to ensure a steady growth in the awareness around the importance of e-waste recycling. The new Waste Act is increasing awareness at industry level, ensuring that the captains of industry are concerned about recycling and/or disposing of their e-waste in a responsible and controlled fashion, eliminating the need for sending e-waste to landfill, as has been the case in the past.

Q. Desco prides itself on environmental excellence by providing a high-quality service for the disposal of electronic waste. Briefly explain how you ensure this service is always conducted in an eco-friendly manner? A. As Desco has been in the business of recycling e-waste for 20 years, we have refined the art of doing business in this industry based on excellence and integrity. Desco is able to offer this service on an ongoing basis, based on the following conformity, compliance and/or certification, namely: • ISO 14001 certification as certified by SGS, an international auditing company • Section 20 permit of the Environment Conservation Act (Act 23 of 1989) as amended • compliance to both ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001: we will be striving for certification in OHSAS 18001 standards by the end of 2012

• recycling authority permit from Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Environment (permission to operate a recycling facility) • all our vehicles and drivers are Hazchem certified and remain current in this certification • we are currently in possession of Waste Hub permits for both City of Johannesburg and the City of Tshwane, allowing us to traverse all areas of Gauteng with our vehicles • Level 1 BBBEE contributor • accredited and audited e-Waste Association of South Africa membership since 2008 • Members of the Metal Recyclers Association (MRA) • Precious Metals Recovery License • compliant to other national, provincial and local government legislation where applicable • compliant to client specific requirements • compliant to the Second Hand Goods Act (Act 23 of 2009) of the South African Police Services • full access security, CCTV camera’s on site and night guards with dogs after hours to ensure integrity of all clients goods arriving on site for recycling and or disposal.

RéSource May 2012 – 23

Panel discussion

PANEL DISCUSSION Zimasa Velaphi, PR/marketing manager, Collect-a-Can Q. What is Collect-a-Can’s core business function? A. Collect-a-Can was established in 1993 by shareholders ArcelorMittal South Africa (tinplate producer) and Nampak BevCan (steel beverage can manufacturer). The main aim is to recover, recycle and reuse metal cans from the environment as a litter abatement and environmental responsibility project.

Q. Collect-a-Can has a very impressive schools programme and competition running? Can you briefly explain this initiative? A. Collect-a-Can’s philosophy is that the culture of Responsible Waste Management through recycling needs to be inculcated from a young age for it to become normal behaviour in South Africa. One of the vehicles is through the school’s competition that we

currently run in four provinces: Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZuluNatal and the North West. The National Schools Competition: This is our flagship competition; it operates in six Collect-a-Can branches within South Africa. Schools can raise funds for themselves by collecting used cans and stand a chance to win monthly and annual prizes, while creating environmental awareness and

They are assisted with infrastructure such as bags for collection, arrangement of transport weighing scales and the use of mobile balers cleaning their community. The school that collects most cans per child and per school wins a prize. Can Craze Competition: An exciting competition that encourages pupils to create structures or characters using beverage cans. Through this exciting team exercise, learners are required to collect at least 300 cans and use them to build a structure. Artistic Competition: This year we’ve introduced this to tertiary institutions, where students can design our logo and create the new campaign line.

Q. Consumers aside, what is Collect-a-Can doing at industry level to promote recycling and reduction to landfills? A. Apart from recovering cans, Collect-a-Can places significant emphasis on environmental education and regularly participates in cleanup campaigns and recycling drives where we provide the

infrastructure for the cleanup, such as bags, T-shirts and transport. Collect-a-Can actively works with communities, encouraging citizens to assist in our can-collecting efforts.

Q. What services do you offer those interested in becoming entrepreneurs in recycling? A. Collect-a-Can assists upcoming entrepreneurs by providing them with advice on how to increase their productivity and profitability. In addition, they are assisted with infrastructure such as bags for collection, arrangement of transport weighing scales and the use of mobile balers. For collectors that are located far away from Collect-a-Can depot, the cost of transporting their cans to a collection point can be prohibitive. For this reason, Collect-a-Can encourages scrap metal dealers, multi-recycling companies and any other businesses or individuals that are willing and have the infrastructure to assist by becoming collection agents. The agents help their community while benefiting from being part of the Collect-a-Can network.

Q. Overall, what are your top achievements? A.The perception in corporate South Africa is that the Collect-a-Can schools recycling programme is the most organised to date in South Africa. The Guinness World Record – we’ve been breaking the record consistently for the past nine years and have a 72% recovery rate increase this year compared to 70% recovery rate for 2011.

RéSource May 2012 – 25

Remade is the largest independently owned recycling company in South Africa and has conducted business for more than 25 years. Remade has expanded into many different fields of waste management and is operational in all the major regions in South Africa. Remade generates in excess of 15,000 tons of recyclable waste per month which is sold as a substitute raw-material input source to South Africa’s leading manufacturers, including Sappi, Mondi, Nampak, Kimberly Clarke, Transpaco, Extrupet and Collect-A-Can. Government’s New Environmental Waste Act of 2009 now requires that both waste generator and waste service provider comply with the New Act. One of Remade’s primary offerings is to deliver a full OnSite Waste Management solution to all sectors of commerce and industry. This service ensures that companies become, and remain, compliant with the Act. Remade is fully certified and permitted to provide these services. Remade Onsite Waste has successfully entered into agreements to manage the waste streams generated by some of South Africa’s major retailers, including Pick’nPay, Massmart, Massbuild and Shoprite/Checkers as well as to many shopping centres and shopping malls. Each solution is tailor-made to fit the needs of any size business or industry. Remade is continuously looking for innovative methods of using recyclable waste and is currently working with municipalities and international waste management companies to create sustainable solutions for the recycling of all waste products.

Panel discussion

PANEL DISCUSSION Michael Benjamin, marketing director, Remade Holdings (Pty) Ltd Q. What is Remade’s core business function?

recyclable materials at all our buy-back centres and branches.

A. Remade provides a multitude of waste management services specialising in the minimisation of waste streams and the collection of recyclable waste.

Q. Do you have buy-back centres in Gauteng only? How many and in which areas?

Q. What initiatives is Remade involved in at consumer level to promote recycling? Do you educate consumers on what can be recycled and how so? A. Remade Recycling provides Waste Management services to Commerce & Industry and promotes recycling to

A. We currently have 30 buyback centres and we buy recyclable material at the nine Remade branches as well. In total we buy back from the public at 39 centres. Our branches are located in: Germiston, Jeppestown, Newtown, Pretoria, Wynberg, Springs, Randfontein, Rustenburg, Klerksdorp,

We then created a division called Remade Onsite which offers sustainability and management programmes to commerce and industry each of our customers who, in turn, promote recycling to their customers. We do, however, provide an offtake for most recyclable products and promote separation at source of recyclable and non-recyclable waste. We encourage recycling by putting a good marketrelated price on all recyclable material and giving clear descriptions of what can and can’t be recycled. We buy

Witbank and Nelspruit. We also have operations in Polokwane, Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Midrand, Witbank and Nelspruit. Anyone who is interested in taking their recyclables to a buy-back centre can contact our toll-free number, 0860 736 233, to find a buyback centre in their area.

Q. What types of recycling containers/bins are available to your customers?

Is the type of container environment/area specific? A. Bulk containers are available to industry in different sizes, that is, 6 m³, 9 m³, 11 m³ and 30 m³ containers and cages. We supply bags for smaller customers andprovide cardboard boxes for office recycling. These containers are not environment or area specific, but they are volume specific. Generators of large volumes of recyclables would obviously receive larger containers.

Q. Do you work with street harvesters/hawkers in the collection of recyclables? How so? A. Yes, we are supplied by thousands of street harvesters per day. As mentioned, we buy at 39 centres and each is supplied by approximately 100 people per day. They deliver their material to us and we pay them per kilogram for all recyclable waste delivered to a buy-back centre. We provide training in the identification of all recyclable waste to encourage harvesters to collect as many grades of recyclable waste as possible. We provide opportunities for harvesters to get further involved in our business and help to develop them in such a way that they might one day own their own Buy-Back Centre.

Q. Consumers aside, what is Remade doing within the waste management industry to promote recycling and reduction to landfill? A. Firstly we needed to make sure that we are fully compliant with all aspects of the new Environmental Waste Act of 2009. I’m happy to say that we have been very successful in doing so. We have also created a division within our Business called Remade Onsite. This division offers sustainability and management programmes to commerce and industry. In light of the New Waste Act, Remade Onsite provides a full waste management service, which includes: a. separation-at-source, b. retrieving all recyclable material from a customer’s waste stream, c. Managing the disposal of all different waste to the correct landfill, such as hazardous, non-hazardous, redundant stock, etc We thereby minimise waste disposed at landfill, thus ensuring that our customers remain compliant.

RéSource May 2012 – 27

YES! Cartons

are Recyclable!

NOW!

Tetra Pak is proud to announce the commencement of local carton recycling in South Africa with Gayatri Paper Mill, based in Johannesburg. The last drop of milk or juice does not mark the end of a cartons’ useful life. Used cartons are a valuable resource-easily recyclable and much in demand.

HOW? Waste management and collection companies throughout South Africa are encouraged to collect and bale used cartons for resale to Gayatri Paper Mill. Recycling takes place at Gayatri with a hydro-pulping process which separates the paper ﬁbre from the polyethylene and aluminium. The recycled ﬁbre is then used to make a range of cardboard products. The poly/alu component is separated for aggromulation and pelletisation for use in plastic injection moulded products.

WOW! In addition, carton packaging is made mainly from paper board, a natural renewable resource. In fact carton packaging is the only type of packaging made mainly from renewable materials which gives our packaging a low carbon footprint.

When the contents are gone,

let the carton live on!

For more information on how cartons are recycled, visit www.tetrapak.co.za or www.mywaste.co.za GAYATRI PAPER MILLS 1 Power Str, Germiston, Gauteng Tel: +27 11 821 8600

GAYATRI PAPER

Panel discussion

PANEL DISCUSSION Rodney Reynders, cluster leader environment SSA, Tetra Pak SA Q. What is Tetra Pak’s core business function and what products and services does the company offer? A. Tetra Pak is the world’s leading supplier of food packaging and processing equipment. It was established 60 years ago, supplying packaging suitable for long-life milk, juice and other food products. The company also supplies the food processing and filling equipment required for its packaging.

Q. What initiatives are Tetra Pak involved in at consumer level to promote reuse and recycling of its packaging products? A. Cartons can and are being recycled here in South Africa at Gayatri Paper Mill in Germiston. The hydro-pulping technology was developed by Tetra Pak’s engineers and involves the separation of the paper board from the polyethelene/ aluminium. The fibres (pulp), once separated, are used to manufacture cardboard boxes and other paper products, while the polyethelene/aluminium is processed into ‘pellets’ suitable for injection molding. Most consumers in South Africa are unaware that cartons can and

are now being recycled, so we’ve started communicating this to them through: • on-pack messaging • point of sale promotions • schools educational programmes • collection programmes with waste management companies and collectors • PRASA (Paper Recycling Association of South Africa) • leaflets • drop off recycling centres • websites.

environmental solutions for our packaging and will continue to do so with the brand owners (for example, Clover, Parmalat, Ceres and other retailer brands) using our packaging.

Q. Tetra Pak considers its packaging design to be environmentally sound and sustainable. How so? A. Our cartons are made of paper board, a natural, renewable resource. This gives our packaging a lower carbon

Tetra Pak is the world’s leading supplier of food packaging and processing equipment Q. What effect has Extended Producer Responsibility in relation to the new Waste Act had on Tetra Pak? A. Tetra Pak has been a member of RAG (Recovery Action Group of South Africa) and has worked very closely with all the other industry associations to formulate plans for the efficient and proper collection of packaging waste in South Africa. We understand that we have a responsibility to ensure proper

footprint compared to other types of liquid packaging. Our long-term goal is to ultimately supply packaging derived from 100% renewable materials. We measure our environmental impact throughout the entire value chain, from the sourcing of raw materials (mainly paper board), the manufacturing of laminated board at our converting factories, the processing and filling equipment used by our customers, to the

distribution of our packs into retail, and then once consumed, ensuring that cartons can be recycled.

Q. With regards to packaging technology, what is meant by Environment Product Declaration Certified, and how does it fair in terms of energy and water reduction? A. Tetra Pak set a climate goal objective in 2005 to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2010 and ended up achieving a 13% reduction, despite growth during this period. New targets have been set to further reduce emissions by 2020, measuring impact throughout the value chain.

Q. Consumers aside, what is Tetra Pak doing within the waste management industry to promote recycling and reduction to landfill? A. Tetra Pak works with packaging councils, industry associations, NGO’s, governments and others internationally to ensure that waste to landfill is reduced. The situation is no different in South Africa. Tetra Pak worked as a member of RAG, and together with all the industry associations formulated the IWMP (Integrated Waste Management Plan) that was submitted to government for approval. The plan encourages separation of waste at source (consumer) and then for the waste to be collected separately and taken to a Materials Recovery Facility where it will get separated, baled and sold to recyclers. The plan, if implemented, will reduce waste to land fill and create thousands of jobs nationally.

RéSource May 2012 – 29

Landfills

LANDFILL GAS PROJECTS

The search for feasible landfill gas-to-electricity projects The capture and destruction or utilisation of landfill gas is not a legislative requirement in South Africa, which opens the doors for the commercial sector to develop this resource in the warming climate of carbon credits and green electricity tariffs. By Dr M Griffith, K Naidoo and M Saner

o what is needed to extract the euros and rands from society’s detritus? Landfill site? Check! Trillions of methane-producing microbes? Check! Proven technology to extract the gas and produce green electrons? Check! A local industry with the experience and expertise to design, build and operate the facility? Check! Check! Check! Sadly, it’s not so simple, and the problems lie in the nature of the landfill sites themselves, the populations they serve, the people who operate them and the officials who regulate the entire chain. Landfill sites are good projects, with great economic and ecological benefits; however, a landfill site does not automatically equate to positive financial returns and the correct sites must be chosen. CEF (Pty) Ltd is a private company owned by the Department of Energy with a mandate to search for appropriate energy solutions to meet the future energy needs of South Africa.

Through the feasibility study of a basket of 20 wholly-owned landfill sites, some valuable lessons have been learnt on the assessment of site feasibilities, and being able to tell the difference between good sites and bad sites may save time and money.

The feasibility study approach A five-pronged approach is taken in the development of the bankable LFG feasibility studies: technical, environmental, legal, clean development mechanism (CDM) and financial. The following activities form part of each group: 1 Technical – split into two stages, namely prefeasibility and detailed feasibility studies. 2 Waste licence and environment study – the Act regulating landfill gas utilisation changed from the National Environmental Management Act of 1998 to the National Environmental Management: Waste Act of 2008. Consequently, the environmental methodology changed from a full EIA to a waste licence application and basic assessment. 3 CDM – the CDM was chosen as the system through which the carbon will be traded due to the higher prices that the Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) commanded. The CDM process includes a methodology assessment, Project Idea Note, Project Design Document, validation, CDM registration. Verification of the CERs forms part of the site operations. 4 Legal – the exclusive rights to utilise the gas is granted through an agreement

A fully functional landfill gas-to-energy plant

30 – RéSource May 2012

with the municipality, in exchange for a fair royalty payment. An important issue is the land use agreement, with triggers in the Municipal Finance Management Act causing some lively debate around the negotiations table. The two primary revenue streams – the CERs and electricity – will be secured using long-term Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreements and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). 5 Financial – Being a commercial endeavour, the project must generate sufficient returns to justify the risk of investment. The technical study, gas flows with CER as well as electricity generation estimates and sale prices are combined with the CAPEX and OPEX estimates to form a financial model. The model is used to evaluate the performance and determine the viability of the project, which is taken to the shareholder’s board for the final investment decision. A positive result for all five aspects is vital to reach bankability; however the financial performance has proved to be the greatest hurdle. As the majority of these activities are informed by the results of other activities in other groups, the processes must parallel each other in a carefully structured fashion. The experience gained in conducting the 20 feasibility studies is shared below.

Experience shared • Landfill sites are not attractive (investments): Although those in the know will argue to the reasons behind it all, the fact remains that landfill gas CDM projects are renowned for under-delivery. Worldwide, the figures are quite appalling with 35% of the projected CERs delivered from 48 projects (http://cdmpipeline.org/

Landfills

cers.htm). According to Pierce (2009) the over-projection of landfill gas extracted was the cause for many project failures. The challenge to the project developer is to convince investors or finance institutes that their project will deliver as expected. From these experiences, a more conservative approach is now being adopted. On the flip side, the financial institutions must ensure that the right professionals are appointed for the due diligence in order to recognise the level of conservatism that has been adopted and thus avoid excessive haircuts on a project that has already been to the army’s barber. • Not all sites created equal: An obvious statement for anyone involved in the industry. However, a surprising number of people believe that a landfill site equals a landfill gas project. Be they ambitious businessmen or municipal councillors, these expectations must be properly managed and the developer often needs to negotiate its way around the small and shallow to find those sites that are ‘more equal than others’. The sites that have progressed to final bankability all have the following in common: in-place volume of more than 1 million cubic metres, an annual disposal rate of more than 200 000 t and the receiving of waste for a few years into the project. • The fuel: To quote a waste-to-energy professional (McKendry, 2008), it’s all about the fuel. For a landfill gas project, the organic waste is the fuel for the production of biogas. Those industrious microorganisms supply the methane in a fairly reliable concentration of about 40 to 60%; however, it’s the quantity that concerns us the most and methane formation needs degradable organic material. Although one can be reasonably assured that the large general waste sites will receive organics, be sure of the proportions of the various waste streams as a high percentage of inert materials may mean the difference between a fizzer and foreclosure. • Open sites are better: As per the previous point, the gas supply is dependent on the incoming waste. Stop the waste and the gas supply will also cease. Due to the nature of the organic processes, the decline is a somewhat drawn-out process with a half-life (50% of the initial gas flow) of about five years post closure. This has a

profound effect on the commissioning and operation of the generation equipment as the gas engines’ performance deteriorates when operated below 50 to 65% of the rated capacity. Hence, if the site is closed, some sort of engine swapping will be required. Conversely, open sites will release gas at a more steady rate, which can be exploited through ongoing gas field development. Furthermore, a gas engine operating at a de-rated capacity will provide less return for the CAPEX outlay and is a problem for both open and closed sites, which can only be resolved through a costbenefit analysis. • Good data is like hidden treasure: Reliable data can be difficult to find, but it’s worth

The challenge to the project developer is to convince investors or finance institutes that their project will deliver as expected finding. Municipal departments often don’t have readily available access to the information, but their consultants do. Add the large number of consultants that have been appointed by the municipalities (generally due to procurement processes) and one often needs to contact many different professionals in order to retrieve the information. Despite the advancements in remote data access that the cyber age has brought us, the most reliable method of collecting the info is still physically visiting the offices. All information should also be thoroughly interrogated – weighbridge data is a prime example as when questions were asked about the apparent low tonnages at one site, the response was: “Ja, the site opens at 07:00 but the weighbridge operators only arrive at 08:30.” • Local knowledge is vital: South African waste professionals are excellent; they know the sites, know the process and they now have the knowledge to design and implement landfill gas-to-electricity projects. Although the technology is still based on international practices, a South African engineer can tell you which manhole cover is more likely to be stolen and understands concepts like ‘landfill compactor operator risk’. With

RéSource May 2012 – 31

Landfills

list of commissioned landfill gas projects, currently around nine, the South African industry is indeed gathering steam. • Landfill sites are fickle: Although cause is mostly due to the disposal patterns of the populations they serve and the regulators that govern them, an attractive site may suddenly lose all appeal because the disposal rate halves or the site is closed early. This is certainly a challenge as one progresses through a drawn-out feasibility study with continual adjustments to the design required. Significant changes in disposal trends are sometimes unavoidable, but can be picked up by well-directed consultation with the site owner and its landfill operations plan. As one can only work with the information available at the time, the development of the site should remain conceptual for as late as possible. • Projects require patience: A LFG project developer needs a deep pool of patience and an even deeper pool of resources if they wish to see any sort of project dividend. The feasibility stage, waste licence and CDM registration processes are long, drawn-out affairs. When commissioned, the municipal projects should have taken more than three years to implement. It must be said that the pioneering efforts of the early LFG project developers have helped significantly, and these timeframes are getting shorter with each instance. There are some delays, however, which are unavoidable and may catch some cash-strapped developer unawares. Take CER revenues as an example: the project is commissioned and the carbon credits start to flow – not

true. The project is commissioned and the CER monitoring process begins. After 6 to 12 months (depending on how urgently you need cash flows) the verifiers arrive on site, gather the data and write their reports. More waiting is needed while the credits are registered and finally delivered. An 18-month delay between the commissioning date and the first CER cash-inflow should be expected. • Take calculated risks: Linked to the previous point, the development of these projects takes time and the commissioning of feasibility activities ‘at risk’ is necessary to keep the programme reasonably short. It is necessary to identify what activities are required and when they should be delivered. An EIA, for example, needs technical information from feasibility work, while the CDM process requires feedback from the EIA, technical study and agreement with the municipality; the gas rights usage agreement requires the completion of the feasibility study. This web of information transfer requires careful planning and coordination for information to be available when needed and to avoid processes being repeated as a result of incorrect assumptions being applied. Additionally, if the project is taken to the market too early, delays or changes in figures may result in reputational damage. • The markets change: In 2008 the projects had a heavy carbon slant – CER prices were in the teens and electricity prices still Eskom-based (see Figure 1). Electricity accounted for less than 40% of the project revenues for the 10 years of CDM registration. Now, the CER market is down,

A fully functional landfill gas to energy plant

but REFIT-based electricity prices are up, with electricity sales accounting for over 65% of the revenue split. Incidentally, a theoretical price of €15/CER (R154/ CER) would result in a 50/50 total revenue split with REFIT-based electricity revenues. Adding to the problem is the exchange rate with the South African rand ‘pronking’ all over the euro. It’s great for buying European services or equipment, but most of the compliance buyers are also European and the CERs are likely to be Euro-based. The importance of the CER revenues is still significant. The CER revenues are required to make the projects viable and the markets may recover to the extent that the carbon surpasses the electricity revenue, but while on holiday in Greece you may want to take another look at that PPA. • The rules change: The final lesson is that

TECHNICAL

CONSTRUCTION

CDM

LEGAL

FINANCIAL

• Start pre-feasibility study • Prelim gas models and costs • Complete prefeasibility study • Begin detailed feasibility • Refine gas models and costs • Finalise technical feasibility report • Tender for services • Detailed design • Commissioning!

• Environmental • Start basic assessment • Impacts assessment • Begin public participation • Screening models • Public meetings • Draft BA report • Submit waste licence application • Specialist studies (if needed) • Complete basic assessment • Finalise public participation • Submit BA report for waste licence application • Obtain waste licence

• Methodology Assessment • Write and submit project idea note • DNA letter of no objection • Write generic draft project design document (PDD) • Investigate CER pricing • Complete detailed draft PDD • Validation • Contact CER buyers • DNA letter of approval • Final validation report • CDM registration submission • CDM registration

• Finalise MOU • Investigate generation licence and PPA • Draft gas rights agreement • Finalise municipal royalty structure and site development plan • Finalise gas rights agreement • Finalise PPA • Submit generation licence application • Obtain generation licence

• Basic financial model • Evaluate costs and revenues • Detailed financial model • Engage financiers • Final financial model • Final business plan • Draft term sheets • Shareholder decision to invest (CPs) • Select financier • Finalise term sheet (CPs) • Disbursement of debt

FIGURE 1 Recommended project development strategy

32 – RéSource May 2012

Landfills

to these changes and it is advisable to at best participate, or at worst be informed, of the intended legislation. The end result should be beneficial to the project; however, the developer must be on the ball in order to change the game plan if and when required. We look forward to a mature renewable energy sector with an established process and many REFIT projects delivering green power to the citizens of South Africa.

Conclusion

renewable energy is still a relatively new player in a parastatal monopolised market. Thanks to the state’s renewable energy strategy (the white paper on renewable energy) and, arguably, the more apparent Eskom supply problems, the regulations are adjusting to make development in the energy industry more accessible to the private sector. Public feedback is central

The monetising of landfill gas as a commercial project is a viable and established undertaking; however, a comprehensive feasibility study is vital to ensure the projects that make the cut are actually able to perform. The licensing and approval processes makes the commitment of feasibility funds ‘at risk’ almost unavoidable if one is to keep the programme relatively short and the shareholders may face a long wait for the first dividends. Changes in site operation,

legislation and markets make these projects challenging developments and a certain degree of ‘looseness’ is required to adapt and move on. The feasibility processes should be progressed, as recommended, in a structured and responsible manner in order to avoid redoing work and to preserve your reputation in the market. Finally, landfill gas-to-energy projects are attractive projects, not only because of good investment returns: the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas and odour are reduced, jobs are created and renewable energy is delivered to a country that desperately needs it. 1

Pronking is an Afrikaans term describing the boastful gait of the Springbok – South Africa’s national antelope which adorns the R1 coin

*ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dr M Griffith and K Naidoo work at CEF (Pty) Ltd, South Africa, and M Saner is from Margot Saner & Associates

RéSource May 2012 – 33

Waste to energy

TRANSFORMING WASTE INTO ENERGY, SAVINGS AND INCOME

Fuelling the biogas generation While the concept of extracting energy from organic waste is definitely not something new, most people are of the assumption that these bio-energy solutions are only reserved for large refuse dumps and industrial-sized companies. This is not true. by Jonathan de Magalhães*

iogas is a combination of mostly methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), and is created in the process of anaerobic digestion, which is the fermentation of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Simply put, a biogas digester is a watertight tank which is fed with organic waste. And the scope for usable organic waste is huge: food and table waste, animal manure, animal fat and blood from abattoirs, sewage and even grass cuttings are all perfect

is estimated that there are around 2 million biogas digesters in operation in India, while China supersedes that amount with a staggering 6 million digesters estimated to have been installed by 1970. And yet, the idea of easily converting organic waste to usable renewable energy is virtually unknown in South Africa. Even other African countries, such as Kenya, Tanzania and to a lesser extent Botswana, have active governmental assistance programmes in place to assist in the easy deployment of

Anaerobic digesters at the Lübeck Waste Treatment Facility, a mechanical biological treatment plant

candidates for biogas generation, to name but a few.

Government support? Unlike some renewable bio-energy tech– nologies that are fairly new, a quick Internet search confirms that biogas digesters have in fact been around for over 150 years. The first biogas digester was built in Bombay, India, in 1859 at a leper colony. Currently, it

34 – RéSource May 2012

biogas digesters. In fact, here are more biogas digesters installed in Lesotho than there are in South Africa! In South Africa, the assistance for any individuals, companies or communities wanting to take advantage of a waste-toenergy digester has been largely ignored by government. As Mark Tiepelt from Biogas SA observed: “Large-scale commercial biogas digesters have huge potential, but the most effective and highest impact way to establish

biogas as a viable sustainable alternative source of energy is to support its application of waste-to-energy in whatever way on farms.” So basically put, don’t expect any financial assistance from the government in the form of a REFIT (renewable energy feed-in tariff) or IPP (independent power producer) agreement.

Great potential Isn’t it ironic then that the first large-scale biogas digester privately built to generate biogas was done by South African pig farmer L John Fry in the mid-1950s. Known worldwide, his agricultural digester ran a bi-fuel generator on biogas for six years non-stop before he moved to the United Kingdom. But the good news is that, even without any financial assistance, biogas still has huge potential as being a very viable solution, showing greatcost payback periods for environments with suitable quantities of organic waste available. The biogas that is produced can also be used for a number of different applications as well. Burning the gas for heating is the most efficient way of using biogas. Heating could be a normal requirement, such as space heating for ambient temperature control (crucial for chicken farming in the winter), as well as water heating. By using a biogas water heater it is possible to provide instant hot water using nothing more than your organic waste. Using biogas stoves, rice cookers and other biogas appliances that are readily available enables normal food cooking to be done running solely off biogas. Lighting can also be provided, using biogas lights that work in exactly the same way as a camping gas light.

Energy efficiency While it’s not the most efficient way of using biogas, running a biogas generator can also generate electricity. However, the comment of low efficiency does need to be looked at in the correct context though, as using free and

Waste to energy

abundant biogas to generate electricity has many advantages, regardless of the efficiency process when running it through a biogas generator. It was in fact these advantages that took centre stage at the Bio-Energy session at the Africa Energy Indaba 2012, recently held in Sandton, Gauteng. The indaba was a platform for energy stakeholders,solution providers and professionals to get together and look at the solutions available to assist countries and projects throughout Africa who are facing various energy challenges. Biogas specialist, Jan du Preez, who was at the Africa Energy Indaba, also commented on the environmental impact of biogas digesters noting: “Currently there is very little precedence for EIA (environmental impact assessment) studies for biogas digesters in South Africa. If the digester is to treat manure, sewage and energy crops, only a basic EIA is required, provided the generation capacity is less than 10 MW and the land area used is less than 1 ha. However, if the digester is to treat other wastes such as the putrescible animal wastes from abattoirs, then a full EIA may be required, regardless of the size of the biogas digester”. So while deploying a biogas solution can be done relatively quickly, it is possible that the environmental impact studies required could take some careful planning into the roll-out schedule.

No such thing as trash One of the main advantages of a biogas system is that the organic waste that is usually subject to strict health and safety procedures can now be used to generate free energy. For new developments, or where a septic tank system is used, sewage can be routed directly into the biogas digester. Besides providing additional organic waste for biogas generation, using sewage has the benefit of providing most of the water required for

BUILDING A BIOGAS DIGESTER The main components of a biogas digester are the inlet section, the digester tank and the outlet section, and building a small-scale biogas digester is a fairly straightforward process: • First, a hole is dug for the main digester tank. For a 10 m3 digester, this would be around 3.5 m by 3.0 m. • A collapsible shutter system is installed and the inlet and outlet sections are built into the digester tank. The digester is then formed by pouring 25 MPa concrete over the shutter system. • The shutter system is collapsed and removed, and the inlet and outlet sections are completed and plastered. • A floating dome is then inserted into the digester tank. This dome will be underwater and collects the biogas as it is produced. • As the dome is underwater, the biogas being collected is automatically under constant pressure, therefore negating the need for any additional pressure pumps. • Finally, the gas piping is connected to the floating dome and the concrete covers and manhole plates are placed over the digester tank.

the biogas digester to function correctly. Additional benefits include not burdening the existing sewerage infrastructure system, as all sewage can now be naturally processed on site while generating biogas at the same time. After the biogas has been generated, the organic slurry produced by the digester also has a commercial value as an organic compost and fertiliser. This can either be used on site if the installation is on an agricultural holding, or it can be sold either in its wet form or as dry

pellets to farms requiring fertilisers. Therefore, a biogas solution offers the advantages of taking freely available, and sometimes problematic, organic waste to generate energy, reduces existing energy costs in an environment, and provides an additional revenue stream in the form of creating natural fertilisers, making the use of biogas a win--win solution. There is energy in waste. And a lot of it too! *Managing director of Ubuntu Energy Solutions RéSource May 2012 – 35

Mills & Otten cc Johannesburg Tel: (011) 486 0062 Fax: (086) 554 6573 Contact: Charles Mills / Kirstin Otten

Environmental Consultants 1998/46338/23 info@millsandotten.co.za www.millsandotten.co.za

Cape Town Tel: (021) 671 7102 Fax: (021 671 7102 Contact: Stephanie de Beer

Independent Environmental Consultants specialising in: Environmental Impact Assessments Environmental Management Systems Environmental Audits

Contaminated Land Assessment Environmental Management Plans Waste License Applications

global environmental solutions

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Waste to energy

EFW TECHNOLOGIES VIABLE BUT TOUGH

Energy-strapped SA Energy from waste is an attractive concept for South Africa and although the advantages may appear ubiquitous, financial duty presents a wakeup call to the waste and energy industries. by Lindsay Strachan*

nergy from waste (EfW) represents a favourable step towards achieving complete waste diversion from landfills – towards the widely used adage ‘zero waste’. Arguably there will always be waste residues to any waste treatment or disposal method adopted – even landfills leak out large volumes of biogas and noxious leachates. Planning in South Africa encompassing waste management plans for cities, metros and government infrastructure must consider the full waste hierarchy (as depicted in Figure 1). But to an energy intensive South Africa (as well as energy-strapped South Africa), recovery of energy (prior to final disposal) is a step yet to be fully taken.

Cost analysis Energy from waste technologies is, by and large, either biological or thermal. Biological treatment invoalves the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of wastes to produce a biogas for energy. There are many AD technologies available being applicable to specific waste feed-stocks. Thermal processes are similarly wide and the general descriptions are mass burn, advanced thermal treatment, thermal valorisation, pyrolysis, gasification. The word ‘incineration’ is largely avoided – much similar to the word ‘dump’ being avoided by the modern landfills! AD bankability: AD is, strictly speaking, aligned to a specialised industrial treatment process. Technical risk can be identified as high by funding organisations, in particular, the operational risks if a specialist operator is not involved with the ‘AD kit’ implemented. In comparison to energy outputs, capital costs are high for AD. A plant of about 12 000 tpa may offer up to 500 kWe at a total capital cost of approximately R30 million to R40 million. The project financials can also be tough on AD projects. In the United Kingdom for example, where SLR Consulting has been involved with the development of many AD projects,

FIGURE 1: Waste hierarchy

the availability of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) and the high cost of landfill disposal are significant pushers to an AD choice. An AD project locally would have to be supported by a strong ‘gate fee’, for mainly liquid wastes (avoiding co-disposal to landfills). Energy sales may also be significant particularly where a funder could offer bankability of a Fuel Purchase Agreement (FPA). Carbon credits are useful to bolstering project finances but banks are generally critical of projects requiring carbon sales for IRR. Several donor funding opportunities are also available but a project must be well conceived and detailed development underway prior to success from such financial sectors. Job creation is a significant plus with AD projects. To provide a ‘clean fuel’ to the AD plant, food wastes (for example) are to be separated by hand at source (shopping centres, restaurants and others). SLR’s current estimates in South Africa are that approximately four to six permanent jobs are created per tonne of waste provided to the AD plant. Thermal EfW bankability: Financially viable mass burn EfW plants are usually large centralised plants with CAPEX costs in excess of R1 billion. Financial viability for EfW plants

can be demonstrated where the financials employ an electrical sales tariff in line with current Eskom and municipal charges, a reasonable gate-fee and possible bolstering with carbon credits, and donor funding. The latter donor funding is generally accepted by banks and is arguably the most opportune catalyst to the financial viability of EfW plants in South Africa. Recently in South Africa, commercial organisations are considering the viability of smaller-scale (<1.0 tph) decentralised EfW plants, where gasification and pyrolysis technologies can economically come into play. Developmental costs for EfW plants by and large involve: • a FEED study (Front End Engineering Design) • project feasibility studies • environmental planning and permitting costs • detailed emissions studies. Similar to AD selection, the most important criterion for technology selection is the scalability of the plant and the scale of operations. Additionally, feedstock preparation requirements and flexibility in potential feedstock variability are considered. *Technical director and discipline manager at SLR Consulting.

RéSource May 2012 – 37

Air pollution /CDM

MINE WATER BALANCE

Project risk rising with climate change uncertainties Engineers and investors alike are increasing their risk margins to incorporate the risk of climate change, where the potential change in rainfall patterns and events could be more threatening to project viability and sustainability. by Peter Shepherd*

s part of a pre-feasibility study for a mine (a new mine or an existing mine that is being expanded) there is a risk portion included in the capital portion of the feasibility study to encompass areas that may need additional capital. Typical capital risk portions in a prefeasibility study could be the inclusion of a liner under a tailings dam because of the unknown potential for seepage under the tailings dam. All aspects of planning and implementation must be taken

Will the flow in this river still be able to sustain a mine with sufficient water if the area becomes drier?

into account when assessing the financial risk faced by any new mining operation or expansion project, and climate change has definitely been introducing more uncertainty into future scenarios for these projects.

In South Africa, for instance, climate change could make the eastern parts of the country significantly wetter and

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western regions drier, according to studies by researchers TG Lumsden and RE Shulze. They predict that in the eastern areas of the country, mines will experience a disproportionate increase in the amount of water that is spilled into the environment. On the other hand, mines in the western parts will need to manage their water supply with greater care.Using the Lumsden and Shulze research, SRK scientists, Phillip Hull and

Hediyih Ghassai, predicted that a 40% increase in rainfall could more than double the amount of contaminated water spilled by a mine into the environment. The risk of spillage is directly related to the rainfall expectations for a particular area – and not just the amount of rain, but also the way in which the rain falls. Looking into the future, we are anticipating that the intensity of precipitation in a particular area could be more intense meaning that the same amount of rainfall

could fall in a much shorter period. This has implications for the amount of run-off that a mine site will need to deal with and could mean that additional stormwater controls that are much bigger than under present conditions will need to be constructed and additional equipment may be needed to manage the silt that flows from the mine site.

Baseline Greenfield projects need data to be gathered over the entire year to incorporate the dry and wet seasons, combined with historical rainfall data, to establish a baseline for how water issues are best incorporated into the design of a new operation. Monitoring systems are put in place to gather primary data over a 12-month period on precipitation, runoff and water quality. The historical data from the various government departments are also collected but usually these records from national water authorities are collected on a regional scale and the local site hydrology and meteology data needs to be collected at the site. This baseline gives engineers the parameters in which to optimise their designs and make cost-effective proposals to clients about how to manage the various elements of risk. The data collection is relatively small from a hydrological perspective. Clearly, a baseline cannot give a risk-free prediction for what conditions need to be accommodated by site infrastructure, so a risk margin is then built into the future scenarios that need to be considered. A risk workshop – held with the client – is a good forum for considering the cost implications of the various risk scenarios, and for deciding on strategies that are

Air pollution /CDM

cost-effective while adequately mitigating against any mission-critical failures.

The new unknown This is where climate change has emerged as a factor that consulting engineers need to flag to clients as a further uncertainty. Given the evidence of changing weather patterns in various parts of the world, we can no longer assume that our baseline reflects a static picture that can be relied upon in the short- to medium-term future. So we need to ask questions like: • What if rainfall intensity increases – how much bigger will we need to build our stormwater controls? • What if rainfall increases – how much bigger will we need to build our dirty water containment facilities? • Will the yield from our water storage facilities still be sufficient to adequately supply the mine with water if there is a significantly drier period of rainfall than the historical dataset? • Will an increase in rainfall increase the excess water that the mines will need to deal with? The risks posed by these uncertainties might be operational, environmental or reputational, but they all affect the sustainability of the operation and therefore need careful consideration in advance of final design and implementation decisions. At an operational level, a relatively small shift in the intensity and length of a downpour could lead to the flooding of an open pit, leading to cessation of mining operations and possible damage to in-pit facilities. If such a precipitation event can be built into the risk profile, however, then the appropriate design could accommodate this. A relatively simple up-front design solution such as increased pipe diameter and pump capacity could be proposed with only minor impact on the capital expenditure incurred. The solution, even if more expensive, would certainly be substantially less costly than trying to introduce these specifications on an already-operating site experiencing extraordinary precipitation levels.

Regulating impact There is hardly a country that has not tightened up its environmental laws in recent years, and mines have in many instances been pioneers in mitigating and avoiding environmental impact. The area

remains a significant risk for developers and managers, however, especially as climate change threatens to ‘move the goalposts’. In areas that are likely to experience less rainfall going forward, better reuse strategies will be required to manage the on-mine water balance. Continued improvement is required in the design and implementation of ways to keep dirty water within the mine boundary, and to limit the amount of clean water that mines procure from municipal or other sources. In South

pursue water-conserving technologies that rely on reuse of stored water, there may be a higher risk of treatment plants having to deal with more polluted water due to the evaporation increasing the salinity in the water. So the overall impact of climate change on the water risks associated with greenfields and brownfields mining projects is undoubtedly adding more risk – and hence more cost – to the planning and building of new mines and their infrastructure.

Given the evidence of changing weather patterns in various parts of the world, we can no longer assume that our baseline reflects a static picture that can be relied upon Africa, the Water Act of 1998 has also forced mines to focus on floodlines on or near their properties; in the context of climate change, mines also need to proactively anticipate more frequent flood occurrences, which may even exceed previous record levels.

Reputational risk Any negative impact on surrounding communities is a risk to the reputation of the owners and financiers of a project. Flooding of Return Water Dams is a particular risk in this regard; here in South Africa, it is strictly enforced by the Department of Water Affairs Dam Safety Office. A new dam safety regulation has been promulgated in South Africa that now requires dams to be classified in terms of the size as well as its hazard potential. From a mining perspective all polluted water dams will need to apply for the services of an Approved Professional Person to do the design as well as apply for a licence. Many of the documents that the regulation requires are being prepared by the mines such as design reports (details of dam, hydrology, structural, hydraulic components) plus a flood handling procedure, engineering drawings (locality, layout sections) and dam safety aspects (if inundation of development may occur). The impact of hydrology on the dams is an important aspect for the design of these dams. Increased daytime temperatures associated with climate change also bring their own risks to the efficient running of a mine and its plant. As mines

But equally, the science behind climate change is improving continuously as we make more detailed studies of shifting weather patterns and their impacts around the world. These are all feeding into a growing body of knowledge that will gradually erode some of the uncertainties we currently face in the management of projects’ water risk. The data, of course, will still need to be modelled for the purposes of prediction, and there will always be a variety of modelling methodologies and results to be considered. But the joint endeavours of on-site professionals, contracted consulting engineers, researchers, academics and other stakeholders will keep us at the cutting edge of technologies to manage water in ways that our enterprises and our environment demand.

* ABOUT THE AUTHOR Peter Shepherd is a partner, director and principal hydrologist in the SRK Johannesburg office. Having completed his BSc (Honours) in hydrology at the University of Natal, he has been with SRK since 1992. His specialisations include flood lines, dam hydrology, mine water management, river hydrology, water supply, strategic water assessments and flood management.

RéSource May 2012 – 39

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Air pollution /CDM

CLIMATE CHANGE LINKED TO DEFORESTATION

Africa’s forests in dire straits Approximately 50 000 plant and animal species become extinct every year and just over one hectare of forest is cleared every second due to deforestation.

e live in an era where it is generally accepted that future generations may never lay eyes on many of the species we have taken for granted in our lifetime. This is why Food & Trees for Africa’s founder, Jeunesse Park, gathered a group of concerned individuals in 1990 to address climate change, with the realisation that the real environmental crisis in this country centred on people. Twenty-two years later, Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) sees the effects of climate change impacting on more people across the globe. The importance of education and awareness about environmental issues could not be more needed and this underpins all of FTFA’s work. This green work now includes the distribution of over 4.1 million trees, the facilitation of thousands of organic food gardens for the poor, the world-first verified bamboo carbon offset programme, organic farm support and training, and the initiation of the first carbon calculator and mobile site calculator in South Africa. World Forestry Day has been celebrated for over 40 years now – the concept originating from the 23rd General Assembly of the European Confederation of Agriculture in 1971. That same year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation gave support to the idea, hoping that it would raise awareness of the importance of forests. World Forestry Day stands as an annual reminder of the importance of forests and the numerous benefits we gain from them.“In a world where people know more yet understand less about natural resource extraction and what we are doing to ourselves by destroying the lungs of the planet, it is unfortunate World Forestry Day

Rain forests are a huge storehouse for atmospheric carbon, while on the other hand deforestation sets free huge quantities of CO2

ABOVE AND RIGHT Deforestation – before and after

does not happen everyday,” says Lucky Xaba, FTFA ecopreneur.

African forests According to a paper by Barbara Unmüßig and Stefan Cramer¹ on climate change in Africa, African ecosystems and people will be the major victims of global climate change. The small amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from technical sources contrasts with the larger net emissions of CO2, which result from rapid deforestation. This is true for the twelve densely wooded countries of equatorial Africa whose corresponding annual (2005) emissions are estimated at approximately 1.1 billion tonnes (FAO 2007; UNDP 2007). The stock of CO2 stored by African forests amounts to approximately 60 billion tonnes, about as much as that of all OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries put together, including densely wooded members such as Russia and the United States of America. A higher quantity of CO2 is only stored in the forests of the Amazon Basin. The biomass stored in the forests is decreasing – and therefore the emission of CO2 from forests is increasing – a disastrous development for both Africa and the global climate. Rain forests are on the one hand a huge storehouse for atmospheric carbon, while on the other hand

deforestation sets free huge quantities of CO2. With proper protection of the African forests, the continent’s emissions would be compensated for many times over and, an important contribution to the fixation of carbon in forests at the global level would be made. As deforestation continues at an alarming rate, FTFA hopes that society will learn from the mistakes of the past, and future generations will get to see what our great forests look like in real life and not just as pictures in a book. The United Nations’ data shows that half of the world’s forests were destroyed in the last century. ¹Download Barbara Unmüßig and Stefan Cramer’s full paper on http://www.boell.org. za/web/publications-431.htm

RéSource May 2012 – 41

O I LKO L O I L KO L R

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Hazardous waste

MAT-7 PVC MINIMISATION CLAUSE REMOVED

PVC products given the green light After the local PVC industry suffered a huge knock in sales following its bad environmental rap, the Green Building Council of South Africa has officially declared that the use of PVC products in eco-friendly projects will no longer be penalised.

nvironmentally conscious building contractors in South Africa can now enjoy the full benefits of PVC piping products, following the announcement by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) in October 2011 that it will remove the MAT-7 PVC minimisation clause from its Green Star rating system. The GBCSA developed the Green Star SA rating tool to provide the local property industry with an objective measurement for green buildings, and to recognise and reward environmental leadership in the industry. A green building rating tool sets standards and benchmarks for green building and enables an objective assessment to be made as to how ‘green’ a building is. The rating system sets out

MAT-7 PVC minimisation credit in its rating system, provided that PVC manufacturers adhere to best practice conditions. Initially, a PVC expert reference panel (ERP) was formed, which acted as an advisory group to the GBCSA and assisted with technical matters on domestic and international best environmental practice initiatives related to the manufacture, use and end-of-life of PVC building products. In particular, the panel advised on the applicability of the revised Australian Green Star PVC credit to the South African context.

Commitment from SAVA

The 24 members of SAVA have committed themselves to the responsible and sustainable use of PVC with the signing of the industry’s Product Stewardship is an excellent Programme (PSP) at choice for applications where energy the association’s AGM efficiency ranks high, and where earlier this year. “Our economy, low maintenance, long-term durability and environmental compatibility Product Stewardship are important Programme is a series of achievable commitments that address the industry’s a menu of all the green measures that environmental issues and forms the can be incorporated into a building to cornerstones of the association’s focus and make it green. Points are awarded to a activities,” explains Delanie Bezuidenhout, building according to which measures have CEO of SAVA. “PVC has, in recent years, been incorporated and, after appropriate received a bad rap from environmentalists, weighting, a total score is arrived at, which the public and the media who are, in many determines the rating. cases, unaware of the hard work being done The council initially introduced the behind the scenes to ensure that vinyls are clause in 2007 to minimise the use environmentally safe and sustainable.” of PVC products in buildings, due to The association therefore aims to raise environmental concerns regarding the awareness of the good qualities of PVC by formulation, manufacturing process and endassisting its members, relevant authorities of-life disposal of PVC products. Following and experts to understand, characterise negotiations with the South African Vinyls and address product stewardship issues Association (SAVA), the GBCSA agreed to associated with the life cycle of PVC products. adopt recommendations to remove the

PVC

SAVA is ideally positioned within the local plastics industry and has representation on the Recovery Action Group (RAG), the Packaging Council of South Africa (PACSA) and the Plastics SA Sustainability Council.

Pipe industry welcomes change DPI Plastics product manager for pressure pipe systems, Renier Snyman, says that the MAT-7 minimisation clause impacted negatively on plastics sales, as contractors and architects would avoid the use of PVC pipes in order to obtain a four or five star green rating for their building. “In the past, any projects that used PVC would be penalised, significantly affecting their rating in an industry that is becoming increasingly environment-conscious,” he explains. GBCSA CEO, Brian Wilkinson, adds: “In late 2011, the GBCSA completed a comprehensive credit review process for the Mat-7 PVC minimisation credit, which is one out of 69 total credits in the Green Star SA green building rating system. The GBCSA Technical Steering Committee resolved to withdraw the credit after considering the outcomes of the credit review, which involved stakeholder engagement through a PVC Expert Reference Panel and precedents set by other green building councils surrounding the treatment of PVC in green building rating tools.” Snyman points out that the removal of the clause now means that the use of PVC products has a neutral impact on the green star rating of a building in South Africa. The neutral rating does, however, only apply to PVC manufacturers that meet best practice conditions based on the manufacture and recycling of the product. Due to its light weight, high strength, low reactivity and corrosion resistance, Snyman notes that PVC is the material best-suited for piping.

RéSource May 2012 – 45

Hazardous waste

HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES AND DISEASES

Understanding environmental health risks in the workplace Statistics presented by the Department of Labour at the end of 2011 indicated that hazardous chemical substances are the most common cause of occupational diseases and chemical related incidents in the chemical and metallurgical industries.

nvironmental, occupational health, hygiene and safety involve dealing with environmental, health and safety hazards and risk within the micro (work environment) and macro environments (communities and external environments) by applying risk management concepts. These are regulated in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, the Environmental Conservation Act, the Hazardous Substances Act, the Health Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and incorporated regulations and standards such as SANS. Non-compliance to these statutory requirements can lead to environmental

46 – RéSource May 2012

pollution, accidents, incidents, disabling injuries and the prevalence of occupational diseases, which can cost the country billions in compensation claims a year. Non-compliance with legislation may result in prohibition notices (stop work), contravention notices, penalties and fines.

Health and safety in the workplace Increased global awareness of hygiene in the workplace prompted the formation of the human impact environmental testing specialist company, Specialised Environmental Services. The company is one of 29 fully accredited Approved Inspectorate Authority (AIA) companies in Southern Africa,

focusing on people and the impact of the environment on their health and safety by ensuring a comprehensive solution for ensuring employees and clients are exposed to a healthy and safe environment, compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act No 85 of 1993, says managing director, Dr Dave Bernhardi. Bernhardi says today occupational health and safety is not only on noise and lights, but the environment itself. “This is evidenced by the return of tuberculosis and the advent of swine and avian flu, as well as diseases such as legionella, which many have heard about but don’t understand the implications of. Testing for hazardous biological agents through swab,

Hazardous waste air, water sampling and hard surface testing is becoming important,” he says. The company also provides an integrated health risk assessment service for health risks associated with the exposure to hazardous chemical substances (HCSs). This assessment forms an integral part of any employer’s human resource protection strategy and drives operational readiness to ensure the health, safety and well-being of employees.

The risk assessment process In many companies, the responsibilities for Environmental Hygiene and Occupational Health and Safety are segmented, resulting in a lack of communication and therefore poor hygiene and safety standards. Specialised Environmental Services enters into strategic partnerships with its clients to implement project management and support at their sites. Full risk assessments are conducted by occupational hygienists and environmental practitioners, and services include: hard surface swabs, air quality monitoring (ventilation and gas), water sampling, sound testing, light testing, solutions consulting, staff training and education, and the management of the testing and solution process. State-of-the- art equipment is used to conduct assessments and all procedures undertaken are done as per standard legislation. The first logical step is hazard identification whereby hazards and risks are identified and anticipated. Secondly, the risks need to be evaluated by scientifically quantifying the occupational and environmental hazards and risks; and thirdly, to decide on the tolerability of the risks by applying a risk rating, decide on the effectiveness of current control measures in place, and also decide on the appropriate controls for the risk. On implementation of the mentioned controls, their efficacy must be monitored regularly by conducting control measure efficacy assessments and routine occupational hygiene monitoring as prescribed by methods, standards and legislation. Findings are documented and a report with recommendations and corrective actions is presented by the action committee. These can highlight the need for increased health and safety in the work environment, to comply with hygiene standards or to measure up to ISO requirements. Training and education ensures knowledge transfer and buy-in from all employees, from shop-floor level to senior management. The ongoing working relationship offers a cost effective alternative to annual hygiene

UNDERSTANDING THE REGULATIONS

The Occupational Health and Safety Act Section 8 Establishing, as far as is reasonably practicable, what hazards and risks to the health or safety of persons are attached to any work which is performed, any article or substance which is produced, processed, used, handled, stored or transported, and any plant or machinery which is used in his business, and he shall further establish what precautionary measures should be taken with respect to such work, article, substance, plant or machinery in order to protect the health and safety of persons, and he shall provide the necessary means to apply such precautionary measures. HCS Regulation 5 Assessment of potential exposure: (1) An employer or self-employed person shall after consultation with the relevant health and safety representative or relevant health and safety committee, cause an immediate assessment to be made and thereafter at intervals not exceeding two years, to determine if any employee may be exposed by any route of intake. (2) An employer shall inform the relevant health and safety representative or relevant health and safety committee in writing of the arrangements made for the assessment contemplated in sub Regulation (1), give them reasonable time to comment and ensure that the results of the assessment are made available to the relevant representative or committee who may comment thereon. (3) When making the assessment, the employer or self-employed person shall keep a record of the assessment and take into account such matters as: (a) the HCS to which an employee may be exposed (b) what effects the HCS may have on an employee (c) where the HCS may be present and in what physical form it is likely to be (d) the route of intake by which and the extent to which an employee can be exposed; and (e) the nature of the work, process and any reasonable deterioration in, or failure of, any control measures. Asbestos Regulation 7 (1) An employer or self-employed person shall cause: (a) their undertaking to be assessed within six months after the commencement of these regulations, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding two years, to determine if any person may be exposed to asbestos (b) the assessment results contemplated in paragraph (a) to be recorded as required by Regulation 16. Lead Regulation 6 (1) An employer or self-employed person shall cause: (a) their undertaking to be assessed within six months after the commencement of these regulations and thereafter at intervals not exceeding two years, to determine if any person may be exposed to lead (b) their undertaking to be assessed within six months after the commencement of these regulations and thereafter at intervals not exceeding two years, to determine if any person may be exposed to lead.

surveys and ensures that regular re-evaluation and monitoring of the corrective procedures take place. “Companies will be put under increasing pressure to present accredited test results when confronted by charges from consumers, who have becoming increasingly aware of their rights since the introduction of the Consumer Protection Act,” Bernhardi explains. “The Department of Labour is also aggressively pushing to ensure hygiene standards are adhered to. Although certain commercial and industrial sectors will be under the spotlight, any company employing staff and providing services to clients or consumers is liable to maintain health and safety standards.”

RéSource May 2012 – 47

Hazardous waste

GLOBAL TRENDS, LNG AND HIGH OIL PRICES

Oil and gas – a balancing act China’s economy eclipsing Japan as the world’s second largest economy has longlasting impact on global energy production, consumption and prices. These macro changes are not fleeting but structural, shifting the cyclical rhythm of the global oil and gas market. by Adi Karev* t used to be sufficient to view global oil and gas trends in the typical cyclical rhythms the industry moves in. But, in the last 5-10 years, significant macro changes caused spikes in the usual metrics we evaluate, that is production, consumption and price. For example, China’s economy eclipsing Japan as the world’s second largest economy has long-lasting impact on global energy production, consumption and prices.

and flowed from producers in South-east Asia and the Middle East to consumers in East Asia and Europe. Today LNG is slightly looking more like a globally traded commodity with greater spot trading (prices ranging from $US4 to $US17 (R31.50-R134.30) per MBTU), new exporters in Latin America and West Africa, and new importers such as China and India. In five more years, there will be more exporters in North America,

The shift that is occurring is a new balancing of the geographic flow of petroleum supply and demand, a balancing of fuel types, and of the types of players involved. To explain this balancing trend, here are some examples: • resurgence of the global LNG trade • development of unconventional natural gas • sustainment of high crude prices driving riskier energy and petroleum (E&P) investments • the rising cost of doing business.

Angola LNG is on track to deliver its first liquified natural gas exports in 2012

Global LNG developments In the early 2000s, about 10 countries exported liquefied natural gas (LNG), trade was based on long-term sales agreements

48 – RéSource May 2012

Eastern Mediterranean, and East Africa. And by 2035, LNG could account for 50% of the international gas trade, increasing from 26% in 2002. The emergence of new LNG exporters and importers changes the dynamic of energy geopolitics. A potential scenario of Europe buying gas from Israel’s Leviathan field or from the United States Gulf Coast, and less from Russia, could change the supply security in the region. The growth of LNG also signals a shift in fuel mix as countries such as the United States, China, Australia and Japan see a future more reliant

on natural gas than coal in the United States and China, and nuclear in Japan. Currently, the tight supply of LNG and high demand from Japan in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster has created a wide price spread. In 2011, Japan paid as high as $US18 per MBTU for spot cargoes of LNG to meet domestic demand, while North America gas prices remained at around $US4 per MBTU. According to economics, the law-of-one-price means global LNG prices will equalise in the long-term. Though, in the near-future, we may continue to see a high price spread considering that ship orders will be fulfilled around 2015, final investment decisions for major LNG projects in Australia will also be made by this time and, post2015, we may see significant LNG volumes exported from North America. The upward trend of LNG prices creates opportunities in further developing the global market. National Oil Companies (NOCs) and major international players are forming partnerships in LNG projects, which include E&P and downstream infrastructure development. Chinese NOCs offer much needed cash for expensive projects, especially in Australia, and in exchange the NOCs secure future supply and can potentially play the price arbitrage opportunity. The price spread, diversified market of producers and consumers, and infrastructure development creates conditions for players to exploit price differences and divert LNG cargoes to higher-paying buyers. This development is notable because it drives innovation in contract clauses, trading models, and price information sharing, which are the seeds to grow LNG into a globally traded commodity. The global LNG market outlook appears to be bright, which is good news for subSaharan Africa. Nigeria as a top producer of LNG will soon be joined by Angola, and possibly Mozambique and Tanzania, bringing

Hazardous waste

much-needed production capacity to the market. There are significant challenges throughout the LNG project lifecycle, first of which is developing natural gas fields, especially offshore. The capital intensity of liquefaction infrastructure is compounded by costs related to labour and regulatory processes.

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Unconventional gas Part of the LNG equation is unconventional gas. Shale gas and coal-bed methane resources make it possible for the United States and Australia, respectively, to be top LNG exporters by 2020. The theme of rebalancing is clearly seen in the case of the United States where the shale gas potential could reverse the country’s trade flow and make it a net exporter. Indeed, plans have been approved in the United States Gulf Coast to retrofit LNG import facilities into exporting ones. The trend of unconventional gas development is a global one. Countries that seemed to be destined as net importers of energy face the prospect of self-sufficiency. Shale gas exploration projects are occurring in China, India, Poland, Argentina, Germany, and South Africa. The major impediments to shale gas development include cost, labour, drilling complexities, and above all, the controversy surrounding fracking, which has been felt in South Africa given the government moratorium.

Rising cost of doing business Although capital expenditures and petroleum discoveries are on the rise, so too are operating costs. One of the main drivers of increased Opex is higher wages, and this could be a long-term problem with a perceived shortage of skilled labour. In a recent survey of petroleum executives conducted by The Economist, shortage of skilled labour was listed as the second major barrier to growth. The labour factor is an acute challenge in Canada and Australia where unconventional exploration is more labour-intensive, the shortage of skilled workers drives up wage rates, and locations are remote requiring additional costs. For Australia, the labour rates are compounded by rising construction costs causing LNG projects to be delayed and over budget. Ultimately these costs drive up the price of LNG and may impact the competitiveness of Australian LNG once other production comes online. In the same survey, 82% of the petroleum executives agreed that government regulation has become more important. Increased regulation also impacts operating costs. Related to government regulation is the revision of petroleum fiscal policies. High crude prices amid slumped GDP growth are prompting governments to re-examine profit-sharing agreements, and governments with new petroleum sectors are carefully crafting their petroleum policies. Governments revising such policies struggle to balance increasing revenue with encouraging investment. Using Brazil as an example, the government last year amended production-sharing agreements to mandate a 30% stake for Petrobras on strategic blocks and an oil outtake for the government. The oil and gas industry in subSaharan Africa, with its long petroleum history and bright future in offshore and unconventional resources, stands squarely in these balancing dynamics. Understanding this balancing trend offers a framework to uncover potential risks, and opportunities for investments, partnerships and cooperation. *Global Head, Oil & Gas and Asia Pacific Energy Leader at Deloitte – article delivered at the Oil and Gas Africa 2012 conference.

RéSource May 2012 – 49

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RPMASA feature

A decade of responsible packaging The Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa celebrates ten years of success within the hazardous waste industry. RéSource chats to the association’s executive director and president, Liz Anderson, on its inception and what the next 10 years might hold.

Liz Anderson

Q. What is the core function of the RPMASA? A. To be the leading authority in Southern Africa on industrial and chemical packaging, provide information and training to assist organisations with knowledge and tools to be legally compliant, and implement best global practices for sustainable use of resources, protection of people and the environment. The Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa (RPMASA) is a Section 21 and registered non-profit organisation for everyone involved in the life cycle of industrial and chemical packaging.

Q. When was the RPMASA established and what reason(s) were behind this formation? A. The RPMASA was started by a group of proactive reconditioners who approached me in late 2001 to establish an independent, professional, value chain body to bring together packaging manufacturers, users and reconditioners, to improve cooperation and recovery for

50 – RéSource May 2012

reuse and compliance. It was formally launched in May 2002 as RCMASA – Responsible Container Management Association of Southern Africa to replace the former SADRA – South Africa Drum Re-conditioners – which was formed and run by reconditioners in 1996 but became defunct in 1999. The strategic objectives of the newly formed RCMASA were: • to establish good relations with international organisations • to adopt the international principles of responsible packaging management and work with international organisations on best practice and regulations • to establish codes of practice and national standards • to establish a national audit and registration scheme to uplift standards and level the playing fields • to establish training and regional workshops to inform and educate members, users and local authorities • to work with government on packaging, transport, environmental and waste legislation • to establish a national collection system for higher recovery to clean for sustainable reuse. Excellent international relations were quickly established, with the other objectives in place by May 2004.

Q. Who were the founding members? A. The founder members include Adrian Goods, Alan Firmani, Lewis Page-Lee, George Subramoney, Liz Anderson, Chocky Moodley and Derek Cheesman, who is chairman. Other founding members are Ishmael Kunene, Bhizini Kekana, Joseph Malatjiall, Bibi Avivi, Arnand Moodley and Gal Agoustatas.

Q. What have been the RPMASA’s top five achievements? 1. Acceptance by international packaging bodies and assistance to develop the SANS 10406 Standard, Audit Protocol, Training, Southern African Auditor and Training Certification Association Auditor Registration Scheme and Reconditioner Registration Scheme. 2. Approval of application to the United Nations (UN) Committee of Experts for Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Globally Harmonised System (GHS), participation in Geneva meetings and providing information and a wealth of International Expert contacts and network to local Industry. 3. Partnering with eThekwini and working with the street traders for the City Safe drum Policy and provision of new safe “Happy drums” for the poor. 4. RPMASA 2009 and 2011 International Conferences and International Maritime Dangerous Goods and the UN Institute for Training and Research GHS training – bringing knowledge to our country. Looking to the 2013 Conference – we are in planning process with the South African Maritime Safety Authority, and invite companies to contact us to partner, sponsor and exhibit. 5. Providing members the opportunity to participate in Cleaner Production programmes with the National Cleaner Production Centre to improve their operations, save resources and money.

Q. With regard to hazardous packaging, what has been the single worst experience that you have encountered? A. Lack of support and indifference to stewardship and record keeping, especially by large industry for their used packaging resulting in dumping

RPMASA feature

and poisoning of children through contaminated drums containing heavy residues being sold to traders: • Durban 1997 – 36 children were hospitalised after using a white chalky residue from a drum (identified as organophosphate), which they licked to chalk the pavement to play hopscotch – two children died. • Soweto 2004 – 3 children who drank water from a 25 ℓ drum died a painful death from an acrid chemical residue. Also, unacceptable reconditioner sites (and practices) used and condoned by large business as well as various spills and accidents caused by use of incorrect or non UN certified packaging for chemicals.

Q. What awareness campaigns are currently being run by the RPMASA? A. Safe Happy drums to improve recovery, reduce pollution and protect poor families and communities. • Safe and proper methods for drum emptying to reduce waste, save money and reduce burden to reconditioners and recyclers – posters in partnership with KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development. • Duty of Care – EPR Stewardship by companies to record where their waste packaging goes to and ensure safe collection.

Q. Has the RPMASA been involved with government on any projects? A. Yes, at national, provincial and local level: • Happy drum – eThekwini since 2005 • Department of Transport – packaging and transport standards and regulations since 2002 • Departments of environment, health and agriculture – on safe handling of correct specification packaging to reduce risks to people and environmental pollution • Department of Environment – Waste Act and regulations, as well as request for Sector Integrated Waste Management Plan for industrial and chemical packaging • Provincial departments – KwaZuluNatal, Gauteng, Western Cape and Free State on environmental and waste minimisation and pollution prevention • Department of Labour – safe handling

ABOVE: Educating the public on the proper reuse of plastic drums LEFT: RPMASA’S Pink Drum Campaign

of chemicals and packaging and GHS of classification and labeling of chemicals and dangerous products for sale and use, that is, workplace and consumers • Department of Trade and Industry – Environmental Goods and Services sector for the Industrial Policy Action Plan funding to assist members improve their business and job creation for service providers • Consumer Protection Act and participation in National Standards and International Mirror Standards through the SABS • International: UN Committee of Experts for Transportation of Dangerous Goods and GHS as well as input to work groups and through our sister organisations.

• manufacturing and service companies compliant and implementing Duty of Care and EPR • that all large packaging is accounted for and recovered for reuse or responsible recycle/use in a sustainable process. In reality focusing on: • education – technical and regulatory through participation in international and national committees • assisting industry with packaging compliance, cleaner technologies, recovery, reuse and recycling of all packagings • awareness raising and capacity building for communities and seeing the roll out of Responsible Packaging Management and Happy drum across South Africa, SADC and Africa as well as other developing countries • audit and registration of organisations processing packaging for legal reuse with chemicals and liquids for safe transportation and reduced risks.

Q. Where do you see the association in the next ten years? A. Ideally looking back with satisfaction to see: • industry embracing Responsible Packaging Management

RéSource May 2012 – 51

RPMASA feature

PREVENTING WASTE, MANAGING RESOURCES

Cleaner production – more than just a noble idea “The NCPC-SA’s network of expertise is invaluable in demonstrating successes and assisting companies in exploring new technologies for waste prevention and reuse,” says Liz Anderson, executive director and president of the RPMASA.

nvironmental awareness in industry has come a long way in the 10 years that RPMASA (Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa) has been championing an environmentallyfriendly, safe and responsible approach to packaging, manufacturing, transport and disposal. It is towards this mission that the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) has also been working for the past decade. Established in 2002, the NCPC-SA is a key industrial sustainability programme of the Department of Trade and Industry. It assists industry in preventing waste at source and in managing resources more efficiently along the value delivery chain, utilising resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP) methodologies and services. RECP has become the preferred strategy in reconciling the dual needs of economic growth (through competitiveness) and environmental protection (through waste minimisation and efficient resource use). Examples of RECP practices include the following: roun undd • improved housekeeping, especially around tic ices es material flows and maintenance practices • process modification that may includee surface coatings and filtration systems • product redesign that may include natural material use • changes to technology that may combine operations that reduce wasteful practices • input material substitution, for example, substituting a water-based ink for a solvent-based one in printingg processes • on-site recycling, which could mean the recovery of a nickel-plating

solution using an ion-exchange unit. The NCPC-SA currently focuses on eight key industrial sectors, which are: agroprocessing; clothing, textiles, footwear and leather; chemicals, plastics fabrication, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals; metals fabrication, capital and transport equipment; automotives; pulp and paper; tourism and hospitality; and green industries, including waste recycling/remanufacturing. Audits undertaken in companies in these sectors over two years yielded potential savings opportunities of more than R78 million in terms of energy, water and materials usage (including waste minimisation), and process improvements. The NCPC-SA also manages the Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvement project, which was launched in 2010 in response to the growing need to improve energy efficiency in South Africa. The objective is to involve companies to demonstrate the impact of energy efficiency practices as a means of increasing profitability. In addition, the centre contributes to

ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF RECP Reduced operating costs Improved environmental solutions Increased competitive advantage Improved workplace quality More economical flows of materials Productivity improvement Better compliance with environmental regulations A more positive public profile

capacity building in the country through RECP and energy-related training events presented by international experts, a studentship programme and an SMME accelerator programme. For more information on the NCPC-SA’s services and training events as well as participation opportunities, visit the following websites: www.ncpc.co.za and www.iee-sa.co.za.

Some members of the NCPC-SA RECP team

RéSource May 2012 – 53

AFRICA

Commitment makes the best chemistry.

Congratulations to RPMASA on their 10 year Anniversary!

RPMASA feature

OVERVIEW AND INDUSTRY CONCERNS

40th UN session on dangerous goods Until the regulations and laws are strictly adhered to, packaging and transport of dangerous goods will continue to rank as important agendas on the global ‘safety list’.

epresentatives from 24 countries, OTIF, IAEA, ICAO, IMO and the WHO together with 29 industry associations attended the 40th United Nations (UN) session on the transportation of dangerous goods. Many corresponding work groups will continue to work to firm up formal documents for submission and approval in the June or December 2012 sessions, so as to be included in the 18th Orange Book revision due in 2013. Eva Molnar, director, UN Economic Commission (UNECE) transport division, addressed committee delegates at the December 2011 meetings, thanking all, especially industry, for their continuing efforts and inputs from experiences and technology, to improving the safety in transportation of dangerous goods (TDG) across all modes. Molnar informed members that budget cuts would impact on the UNECE transport division in the 2012/13 programme budget but assured that the secretariat of TDG and Globally Harmonised System (GHS) sub-committees would not be affected due the importance of their work, which has a significant effect on the entire world’s transport systems, particularly now with the launch of the Decade of Road Safety: 2011 to 2020. She encouraged countries that are not yet embracing the UN Model Regulations to ensure implementation in their national legislation and for members to promote implementation. Molnar further encouraged participation in the Decade of Road Safety Programmes across the five main regions: • Asia and the Pacific • Africa • Middle East • North America • Latin America and the Caribbean Ed de Jong, chairman of the Explosive Working Group, reported on inter-session progress made and difficulties experienced with some tests including oxidisers. He advised that he was expecting a large number of documents especially on tests, desensitised explosives and explosion

risks of unstable substances for a parallel explosives work group session in June 2012. Applications from two new industry associations were reviewed and accepted as NGO (non-governmental organisation) consultative members, namely, the Dangerous Goods Trainers Association (DGTA) and the Global Lighting Forum (GLF), which addresses the growing concerns on e-waste. The packaging industry was well represented with several papers addressing issues such as marking of manufacture dates on plastic packaging, preconditioning of plastic packaging and IBCs for compatibility to vibration tests, GHS classification of corrosion sensitivity, and regulations for the transport of

Many corresponding work groups will continue to work to firm up formal documents for submission and approval in the June or December 2012 sessions uncleaned waste packaging which contained dangerous goods – all of which could have far reaching impacts for the packaging industry. The Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa (RPMASA) is

participating in local working groups for the above, as well as addressing other issues of importance within the packaging industry, and all input is welcome. Other serious concerns arising at the meetings included: • harmonisation of transport classification criteria with GHS classification criteria for substances and mixtures corrosive to skin • IBC packaging instruction requirements for solids that may become liquid • packaging with capacities exceeding 450 ℓ • large salvage packaging • proposal to amend and extend the transitional period for UN portable tanks • electronic data interchange • decade of Action for Road Safety. Items of general interest included: • report back from lithium batteries working group, which included proposals on the transportation of damaged or defective goods, and the transportation of waste such as used batteries • Lithium battery markings • fumigation warning mark and coolant/ conditioning unit warning mark to prevent asphyxiation on opening of containers • light bulbs containing small quantities of dangerous substances • classification and packing of asbestos • ‘Torch’ cigarette lighters that contain lithium batteries.

RéSource May 2012 – 55

Medical waste

SHARPS DISPOSAL PRACTICES

Case study of diabetic patients using insulin Wentworth Hospital is a district-level hospital in Durban that sees almost 12 000 outpatients per month. The hospital pharmacy dispenses about 5 000 insulin pensets monthly, each with a needle, to patients. There is no record of any sharps being returned to the hospital for disposal. by D Govender and A Ross

nsulin-dependent diabetic patients are not educated on safe sharps disposal methods, leading to unsafe disposal of needles. Appropriate education on the correct disposal of sharps should be an integral part of their diabetic counseling. Patients should be advised to either discard sharps into puncture-resistant containers placed into their household refuse, or return them in secure containers for disposal by the dispensing institutions. Patients should also be educated regarding health risks associated with used needles.

of 132 diabetic patients using insulin was chosen. The sample size was based on the assumption that the population prevalence of incorrect needle disposal was 90% and was calculated to give a precision level of 5%. To ensure representation of all the racial groups treated at WWH, the sample was stratified into 45 Indian, 44 Black, 36 Coloured and 7 White patients. The study took place from October to December 2010. Questionnaires on current practices regarding insulin needle disposal and on education received regarding sharps disposal were administered to each participant by the principal investigator. Data was entered onto an Excel spreadsheet and the SPSS computer software package used to analyse the data. Factors associated with correct disposal methods were analysed using Pearson’s chi-square tests. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Results

We investigated current methods of sharps disposal by diabetic patients attending Wentworth Hospital’s (WWH) outpatient department (OPD), to compare these practices with the education received by patients about correct sharps disposal, and to make recommendations regarding the safe disposal of sharps by diabetic patients.

Methods The study at WWH included insulin-dependent diabetic patients over the age of 18 attending WWH OPD who consented to participate. In consultation with a biostatistician, a sample

56 – RéSource May 2012

The ages of the study population ranged from 18 to 86 years; most had type 2 diabetes; 29% were male and 71% female; 4 (3%) were younger than 25 years, 3 (2.2%) were between 25 and 39 years old, 64 (48%) were between 40 and 59 years old, and 62 (46.2%) were over 60 years old. Nine patients had received no formal education; 31 had only attended primary school, 84 attended secondary school, and 8 had tertiary education. Each month, 850 needles were generated by the 132 patients. Needles were reused 2 to 20 times by patients; 117 (88%) patients disposed of used needles directly into their household rubbish bins, 8 (6%) flushed used needles down the toilet into the sewage system and 4 (3%) used other methods such as burying the needles. Only

3 (2.2%) patients returned their needles in puncture-resistant containers to the hospital for disposal. No associations were found between race, gender, education levels and correct disposal of used sharps. Forty-six (35%) patients were aware of the potential health risks associated with injury caused by the incorrect disposal of used needles. Of the participants, 91% (120/132) had received diabetic education and counseling regarding insulin use, storage and administration; 68% (89) rated the diabetic education as good, 22.7% rated it average and 9.7% as poor. Despite the positive response to the education provided on use and storage of insulin, only 5 (3.8%) patients stated that they had received education and counseling regarding correct methods of sharps disposal. All three patients who were correctly disposing of their needles had been educated about how to do so. There was a highly significant association between education received by patients and correct needle disposal methods (p<0.001). Of the five who were educated in disposal, 60% correctly disposed of the needles whereas, of the 127 who were not educated in disposal, none correctly disposed of the needles.

Discussion The race groups recruited for the study are representative of the patient population with diabetes seen at WWH. The data showed that over 97% of the study population discarded their sharps inappropriately. No recent studies were found on safe disposal of sharps by diabetic patients. However, our findings are consistent with studies in the early 1990s in Europe and the United States of America, highlighting the fact that needle disposal is a global problem in the developed and developing world.

Medical waste

The large number of patients who dispose of their needles incorrectly is of concern. The National Environmental Management Act of 1998 states that the duty of care principle requires the generator of hazardous waste, under all circumstances, to carry the responsibility of the ultimate fate of the generated waste. Patients, healthcare workers or healthcare facilities could be liable for costs associated with treating garbage collectors who can prove that they were infected from contaminated needles. This serious issue requires urgent attention from health professionals, who have a responsibility to provide information to patients about safe disposal of needles. It is disappointing to note that since 2009, when disposal of needles and other hazardous material was identified as a serious issue at the Health Care Summit, more emphasis has not been placed on safe needle disposal. Despite much work on needle-free products for the administration of insulin, progress has been slow and inconsistent, and no significant needle-free alternative method of insulin administration is available. As

SHARPS CONTAMINATION – THE FACTS

Diabetes is conservatively estimated to occur in 4 million South Africans; all type 1 and up to 40% of type 2 diabetic patients require insulin therapy. Used sharps are a biomedical hazard as incorrect disposal could lead to needle-stick injuries (NSIs), posing the risk of contracting HIV, hepatitis B or C, and other bloodborne diseases. An individual not protected by prior hepatitis vaccination who sustains an NSI from a needle used by an individual testing positive for hepatitis B surface antigen has a 6 to 30% chance of infection by the virus. Sharps disposal is a problem in South Africa because of accidental NSI to garbage removers or other persons handling domestic waste. The 2009 Health Care Waste Summit recognised the problems with sharps disposal in South Africa. The safe disposal of needles and lancets used by insulin-dependent diabetic patients is not only a problem in South Africa; in 1989, 109 NSIs were formally reported by garbage collectors in the Atlanta (United States) metropolitan area, and other studies in Atlanta and European countries have highlighted the problem of incorrect sharps disposal practices by patients at home.

needles will continue to be part of diabetic care by all patients requiring insulin for some time to come in South Africa and other countries, their safe disposal must therefore form an integral part of diabetic education. Although this study’s numbers are small and the results must be treated with caution,

they suggest that appropriate education and knowledge on sharps disposal is the most important determining factor in correct disposal methods. Published with permission from the South African Medical Journal: Vol 102, No. 3 (2012) RéSource May 2012 – 57

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Wastewater management

IMPROVING ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER

Two rainwater harvesting projects revealed South Africa is one of the many countries faced with the serious issues of water scarcity and the high cost of potable water. Research has shown that by using rainwater tanks, the need for expensive systems such as recycled wastewater can be delayed.

ccording to authorities and research organisations in Australia, by using rainwater tanks for non-potable applications, the need for expensive systems such as desalination and recycled wastewater can be delayed. In leveraging this, many developers and municipalities are changing legislations and building codes to require the installation of rainwater tanks for toilet flushing, irrigation and laundry uses. Rocla Southern Africa, in collaboration with Rocla Australia, launched the Rocla ecoRain and ecoRain plus water harvesting systems in a bid to encourage rainwater harvesting, retention and re-usage. According to Justin Kretzmer, sales engineer at Rocla, South Africa is one of the many countries today faced with water problems, including the high cost of potable water to consumers. “In Australia there has been a shift towards water sustainable cities and integrated watercycle management. These systems aim to conserve potable supply by implementing the rainwater capture and re-use aspects of water sensitive urban design,” he explains. With South Africa facing sanitation and water challenges, the ecoRain system, that is designed to capture clean rainwater, which is then stored underground for further use, is a step in the right direction. As the source and quality of any captured water cannot be assured, this system is intended to deliver stored rainwater for non-potable applications, helping to save costs and address some sanitation challenges, while conserving potable water.

How the system works “The captured water is conveyed through numerous roof gutter down-pipes to the ecoRain filter, which removes all debris and waste greater than 0.5 mm diameter

58 – RéSource May 2012

in particle size. Only clean water is then transferred to the system’s concrete tank, while coarse litter is continuously removed from the filter and discharged through the overflow to the stormwater drainage system,” Kretzmer describes. Since the tank is installed underground, it will not take up valuable land and the load-bearing capacity allows it to be located almost anywhere on site. While common

rainwater harvesting systems are in plastic form and traditionally placed above ground exposing the tank to heat and sunlight, these underground concrete tanks are an ideal method of storing water, proving an almost germ-free environment away from light and heat. “Concrete cisterns are strong, durable, last indefinitely and help to neutralise rainwater,” he adds. The concrete tank capacities range from 3 000 ℓ up to over

Wastewater management

BELOW Learners from Homba Primary School in Khayelitsha can now enjoy cool water between classes thanks to the RAIN Water for Schools project. Homba Primary is one of a growing number of schools that has benefited from the project in South Africa RIGHT An underground concrete storage tank of Rocla’s ecoRain system

The captured water is conveyed through numerous roof gutter down-pipes to the filter, which removes all debris and waste greater than 0.5 mm in particle size

1 000 000ℓ, and the harvested water can be used for everyday applications such as toilets, laundry, car washing and irrigation.

The RAIN project In a bid to preserve every drop of water, the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) Water for Schools, aims to improve access to clean water for over 2 million Africans by 2015 through a $US30 million (R228.83

million) investment in programmes such as the one at Homba Primary School in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Working together with government, Coca-Cola South Africa is providing schools in disadvantaged areas across the country with basic water and sanitation infrastructure such as working toilets and urinals, taps with drinking water in and around the school area, drainage systems and new basins and taps. The infrastructure upgrades implemented in schools varies according to individual needs as assessed by the Department of Basic Education.“We started the RAIN Water for Schools project in 2010, with nine schools

as our legacy project for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” says Sammy Mohlaoli, senior manager of Community Affairs at Coca-Cola South Africa. “Since then we have identified a total of 100 schools in all nine provinces of the country that are in dire need of basic water and sanitation.” The lack of running water presents an obvious set of challenges, in particular, health risks. The project is a three-year initiative that will be funded and implemented by The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation working with a number of co-finance and implementing partners, including the Global Environment and Technical Foundation, Re-Solve Consulting, the Mvula Trust and the South African Department of Education. In line with this year’s World Water Day theme, which focused on water and food security, and as part of the Homba Primary RAIN Water for Schools project, rain water is collected by the school and used to water a vegetable garden, which is maintained by women from the local community. The produce grown in this garden is sold, providing economic empowerment for the women.

RéSource May 2012 – 59

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Waste equipment

REDUCING YOUR TRUCK’S FOOTPRINT

Rebalancing residential collections With today’s increasing focus on waste footprint reduction, proper route optimisation provides a substantial opportunity for waste collection companies to reduce their footprint in kilometres travelled, fuel used, vehicle maintenance costs and labour cost. by Terry Daley* and Matthew McCarthy** hile normal city council terrain may be relatively flat, population densities can vary considerably with satellite pockets of suburb shopping centre clusters, dispersed along main road arteries from rural fringes into denser city dwellings. Differing terrain divided by geographic features such as rivers, mountains, rail lines or main roads and the variable distance of run areas from depots to and from nearest disposal sites on different days of service means widely different sets of time and workload capacity go into the balancing mix for route optimisation. This case study shows how Townsville City Council, Australia, went about capturing bin lift data automatically for balancing and reducing travel and time across disparate population density areas and different waste streams.

Merging of council runs This project started with the merging of two separate councils’ waste services into BELOW LEFFT The Strand and tourist beach swimming area BELOW RIGHT Townsville featuring Castle Hill and the boat harbour

62 – RéSource May 2012

one consolidated council, which resulted in the need to re-balance residential collection areas within days of service boundaries. There was no packaged software that we could find available at the time, so the resulting innovative approach was developed as an iterative method of applying available technology to assist with the computerised mapping analysis in a study of how travel, time and workload could be optimised and balanced across disparate population density areas and different waste streams using actual presentation (lifts) from onboard automated data capture. This real-world review project involved the use of cadastral map data that served as a background for plotting the dots of where different residential services (bins) were located and then overlaying data from GPS devices that could automatically capture actual travel data and each bin-lift arm movement. This enabled review of actual travel time, distance and number of lifts (real presentation rates) against number of potential property services on the map. We were then able to project the likely travel time, collection (lifting) time and distance in these areas bound by

different trucks capacities and diversions to nearest disposal sites.

Project objectives The project in Townsville started with the following objectives: • to review and equalise existing collection runs from the amalgamated councils • to resolve the large disparity in the time vehicles are operating daily (some operators finishing early and some being paid overtime) • to optimise small teams by geographic area under the control of a leading hand • disruption to commercial and domestic collection days must be kept to a minimum • incorporate capacity for growth in developing areas • drivers and supervisors to be involved in design/testing process • produce revised run areas in electronic and printed format.

Residential route optimisation This is usually the most technology neglected segment of the waste industry and could well do with a

Waste equipment

• Townsville is a coastal city in Queensland (Australia) with a population of 170 000 residents, and has a major port for the export of mining materials as well as a large military air force defence base. • Townsville Waste Services has a staff of 82 for covering waste collection, transport and disposal using 19 side lift vehicles, three overhead lift trucks, three rear-loaders and one hook-lift truck and there are two landfills servicing the area. • There are approximately 18 000 wheelie bins, 12 000 waste bins and 6 000 recycling bins collected each day as well as some 200 bulk bins and 150 litter bins emptied per day.

major make-over. Too many council waste collection companies sit back and accept the timeworn path their drivers weave. Planning relies on old driver road knowledge and out-dated yellow-marked wall-maps and the experience and intuition of depot managers, rather than on any empirical calculations or projections based on readily available hard data. Manual planning approaches have been using figure eights (8s) or ever-diminishing circles or flower patterns for gatedproperty-estates under an iterative trial and error approach to gauge any impact on total kilometres travelled. Yet variable terrain factors can make this difficult. Major express ways also act as geographic dividers with restricted access and egress points and city centre peak

traffic times add occasional traffic snarls as they slow travel times to parking-lot speeds after accidents hem in trapped trash transporters. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a key enabling technology combined with new on-board, automated data gathering devices (GPS) for giving visibility to management on current travel times and distance.

Data required for route optimisation Start by gathering what you are doing now. A typical list of the data you will most likely need to pull together for a residential mapping route optimisation project is as follows: GIS geographical map data • street map centre lines and ability to section these into cross streets • street map network and any road

section restrictions • speed limits, maximum weight restrictions, one way sections, turn limitations • time restrictions – noise restriction hours, school zones, traffic time restrictions • house numbers alongside of street sections or cadastre property boundaries • size of properties and property type for example parks, industrial estates, apartments, high rise buildings). Ratepayer data • ratepayer addresses and property classifications (these address records can be used with a lot number to crosscheck for correct spelling and suburb classification and valid house number ranges against the mapping data)

RéSource May 2012 – 63

Waste equipment

• the number and type (size) of bins allocated to properties (either by property type or individually) • special properties classifications (for example infirm or walk-in servicing required) – this has an impact on how many bins are likely to be at which properties (often this can be extracted from combinations of ratepayer service records linked to lot numbers). Other useful statistics and data • projected population growth by suburb expected over life of contract • the waste streams involved per bin type and average weight/volume per stream/bin size • likely presentation rates for each waste stream/service type • depot locations and which vehicles work from what depots • fuel locations and truck range between fuel stops • the number and type of available vehicles and their weight and volume capacity • local labour and operational time limits • how long a typical driver day is expected to be • what driver fatigue rest breaks are required at what intervals • truck start-up pre-check time allowance (they can’t all get out the gate at once) • likely truck unload times at landfills • end of shift truck wash and refuel time allowances • landfill or transfer station disposal site addresses for geographic locations • site operating hours if these are likely to be restrictions.

Challenges faced Main operational challenges • quantifying existing bin collection runs • getting the unions onside • changes to start and finish times/overtime • some drivers fear technology • getting internal departments onside (fleet, IT, GIS). Geographical challenges While in a normal city council the terrain may be relatively flat, population density in areas can still vary considerably. Satellite pockets of suburbs around shopping centre clusters, dispersed along main road arteries from rural fringes don’t tend to follow any regular geometric pattern. Denser city dwelling areas and smaller properties means more lifts per kilometre compared to sparser coastal stretches meaning longer travel for less bins. Also the distance of different run areas away from depots or disposal sites means differing transit times and less available pickup time in a run area if you have more travel time getting to and from the area or to and from the disposal points.

Putting the dots on the map Plotting residential services within day of service run boundaries Geo-coding is a process that involves translating a street address to a dot on the map. If the address is wrong, the dots can’t be plotted correctly so this process of correcting addresses – although a simple task, it can be very time

RéSource May 2012 – 65

Waste equipment

consuming. Geo-coding utilises property and street centreline data. Property geo-coding should provide a match rate better than 95%, but relies on up-todate cadastre (geo reference property data layers). Data quality is usually not an issue where you can use a single property identifier field (a second property identifier such as lot plan may also be utilised during geo-coding). Adequate data currency might require a property table update periodically for high growth areas. For properties which don’t match to property identifier, a street address geocode is attempted. This attempts exact address, street name only, suburb and finally postcode matching. Geo-coding processes are usually able to match based on aliases for street type and to correct for ‘vanity’ suburb allocation (not likely to be an issue with rateable property addresses). New subdivisions with no property or address information may not match with either geocoding method. Drawing route boundaries Drawing route boundaries with modern GIS mapping systems is also an easy process – as simple as clicking lines on a map – and you can often scan in a picture of your old paper maps to use as an underlying guideline or look at aerial photos or satellite views to check property features so you know lines are in the right place. This is where we found you could get great driver involvement as they could relate to the picture and aerial views; they also felt important being consulted for advice. This ensures driver buy-in at an early stage. Check your run area maps Using GPS tracking you can validate where trucks are actually travelling as well as see what actual pick-up vehicles are doing on the run. Simple integration to PTO gear or electronic piezo switches linked to lift arm activation can give you such presentation rate data. Let the computer do the counting The next step is to get the computer to count the dots within the day of service plots. This helps to summarise key statistics like kilometres in each collection area and number of lifts or bins in the area. Once you have these

counts summed up based on the number of services within the run boundary, you can go back to moving the boundaries and have the computer count up the bins within the borders.

Multi-vehicle route planning Our experience from this project found that the trickiest technical processes to master were what the mapping gurus called Multi-Vehicle Capacitated Route Planning (MVCRP) algorithms. These took into account the wide range of factors from depot start times, shift duration limits, driver vehicle checks, service point locations, disposal tip locations, vehicle capacities, ideal shift lengths, vehicle refuelling time, truck wash times and lift rates by area type (city, urban, rural), and were used in formulae to suggest how to break a day of service area up into roughly equal workloads in time, travel and number of lifts for the nominated truck capacity (multi-vehicle capacitated planning). In simple terms, this means the computer mapping technology can help to auto-divide a designated day of service area into even workloads for the number

Capturing GPS trail and lift points

Conclusion At the completion of our project we had achieved the following: We’d reviewed and equalised existing collection runs from the amalgamated councils. This resolved the large disparity in the length of time vehicles are operating per day, with some operators finishing early and some being paid overtime. Disruption to collection days were kept to a minimum, with only a need to change collection day of service for some 3 000 residents (this can be one of the most

Drawing route boundaries with modern GIS mapping systems is also an easy process – as simple as clicking lines on a map of trucks you have within nominated lift, time and volume or tonnage capacities. All that then needs to be done is to road-test the result and override with manual boundary adjustments where necessary. For this again you can use live GPS data to validate assumptions made in optimising factors.

Side of street route optimising The next step is to get the computer to suggest which way the trucks should travel within any nominated single truck area to get the least amount of travel. In addition to this, you may also want to add counts for items you want to minimise – such as cross traffic turns or number of reversing points or U-turns – all of which can be occupational health and safety risks to people on the street, as well as to minimise risk of vehicle damage.

costly areas and complaints contributors if you have to change people’s habits for getting bins out on the right day of the week). After automated mail-outs to affected residents, there were only 12 calls from the public. Given that we now have a technical mapping data base to do calculations on, it is easy to project and balance service counts factored by population growth projections per year as well as being able to adjust for population migrations from one area of concentration to another. We also managed to streamline commercial collection schedules with site access time restrictions and litter bin collection schedules. Projected cost savings for the year (based on 10% labour and fuel savings) amounted to over US$250 000 (R 1.9 million). ASPsoftware, Sydney, Australia* Townsville City Council, Townsville, Australia**

RéSource May 2012 – 67

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Legal

BEWARE THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

The CPA has massive impact on waste management The Consumer Protection Act diverges from most other legislation as it benefits the consumer more on almost every occasion. On this basis, it is the third most important statute in South Africa, behind the Constitution and the Public Financial Affairs Legislation. by Gavin Gow*

he Consumer Protection Act (CPA) lays down general principles, as opposed to the details provided by the Waste Act and other laws in this field. Supply chain – strict liability One of the main differences between the CPA and the Waste Act is that in terms of the CPA, any supplier within the supply chain can be held liable in full for the negligence of any of the others in that chain, regardless of whether that supplier (held liable) is negligent or not. There does not have to be a monetary aspect for a supply to be created

in this chain. This is in contrast with the Waste Act in terms of which the liability is interrupted when the goods/containers are handed over to responsible people, such as those who specialise in waste disposal. Therefore, theoretically, the initial supplier in the chain can be held liable in terms of the CPA for the people poisoned by its drums that eventually end up on a refuse site.

Know the harm Scope of harm suffered in terms of the CPA Suppliers will only be held liable for harm suffered by the consumer if the harm

relates to the supply of unsafe goods: a product failure, defect or hazard in goods, or insufficient instructions or warnings given to the consumer relating to any hazard arising from the use of those goods. But, as above, negligence is not required to establish liability. Types of harm covered by the CPA The harm for which a supplier can be held liable includes death or injury of a consumer; an illness of a consumer; any loss of, or physical damage to any property, whether movable or immovable;

RéSource May 2012 – 69

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as well as any economic loss that results from the abovementioned harm – that is, consequential damages. The CPA contains important definitions of ‘unsafe’, ‘defect’ and ‘hazard’. It is important that suppliers of chemicals and hazardous substances familiarise themselves with these definitions and take reasonable steps to avoid liability in terms of the Act. If there are reasonable grounds to believe that any goods may be unsafe, or that there is a potential risk to the public of exposure to those goods, the National Consumer Commission may require the producer undergo an investigation as to the nature, causes, extent and degree of the risk to the public and to carry out a recall programme on any terms required by the commission. The Act also deals with the recovery and safe disposal of designated products or components.

CPA compliance It is important to ensure that all the suppliers within your supply chain are CPA compliant. Besides civil liability through the courts, the CPA imposes a maximum sanction of 10% of the annual turnover of the entire group.

Relevant sections of the CPA With regard to waste disposal, there are various very serious sections of the CPA that have to be complied with. Some of these are: • Warnings and instructions: warning of risks for hazardous goods, for example. • Safety monitoring and recall (industry codes). • Recovery and safe disposal. • Packaging: This should enable consumers to understand the goods supplied to them and to see what they are buying. This should avoid many returns in the first instance, to which the consumer is entitled in terms of the CPA, due to implied warranty of quality in terms of the CPA. • Product labelling: The CPA also sets standards for product labels and marketing of goods and services. A supplier must not apply a trade description to a product that could mislead a consumer as to that product. The supplier must not, by words or conduct, directly or indirectly

imply a false, misleading or deceptive representation to a consumer in relation to

If there are reasonable grounds to believe that any goods may be unsafe, the National Consumer Commission may require the producer undergo an investigation the marketing of any goods or services. • Displaying of prices.

Waste management plan for the packaging and paper industry The Waste Management Plan (WMP) for any industry must comply fully with the CPA. There are two key components to the plan – the waste supply chain and the development

of markets – to absorb the extra waste collected. There is a specific section of the CPA that states that where the industry and WMP, or regulations, have provided for a goods collection facility for specific waste types, consumers may dispose or deposit such goods at such facilities. No exemption clauses are allowed in terms of which the consumer waives any rights accruing to them terms of the CPA. Further, the original supplier cannot delegate any responsibilities to the end supplier or anyone else.

*Gavin Gow is an attorney and conveyancer with over 30 years of practice experience. He is director of Gavin Gow Inc. Attorneys & Conveyancers in Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal.

RéSource May 2012 – 71

IWMSA news

FIVE-YEAR INDUSTRY PLAN

Committed to send waste packing Municipal service delivery in terms of domestic household waste collection and disposal currently varies from very poor to good in South African cities and towns. The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA) has identified a few key issues, which require resolution over the next five years so that significant progress can be achieved within this critical field.

ith the new Waste Act (Act 59 of 2008) now in place, as well as a new National Waste Management Strategy, new standards for waste collection have been gazetted for comment, aiming to provide the necessary levels of service delivery required for all citizens. IWMSA president, Stan Jewaskiewitz says: “In terms of the new Waste Act, all relevant waste management facilities will need to be licensed and appoint waste management officers who will have significant legal responsibilities with regard to compliance. These new and improved standards include providing more stringent requirements for landfills, while simultaneously reducing and limiting the amount of waste that arrives at landfill, especially hazardous industrial liquid wastes. Many landfill sites are not presently licensed and of those that are, some are poorly run or managed, causing a detrimental impact on the environment and local communities. Government recognises that at local government level, there is a significant lack of capacity and expertise. To this end they have initiated a number of interventions such as training and assisting with the financing of various initiatives, all of which entail investing funds into training and

capacity building.” Jewaskiewitz continues: “We at the IWMSA are proud of our involvement in municipal training workshops and are delighted to now offer accredited basic Waste Management training courses.” The Department of Environmental Affairs has been running an annual Waste Khoro for the past two years, aimed at informing and up-skilling municipalities to meet the requirements of the new legislation. However, many municipalities do not have the necessary skills, capacity or management experience to run effective waste collection and disposal systems. They also do not have any planning processes in place and as a result do not have sufficient financial budgets to implement such

systems. Industrial and commercial waste are therefore generally handled by private sector waste companies whose service, while not excellent, is adequate in respect of both general and hazardous wastes. According to Jewaskiewitz, companies in this sector have already begun a process of looking into and implementing waste recycling and waste treatment systems especially for industry and are gearing up in anticipation of the implementation of the new standards. The IWMSA focuses on providing education and training for its members, as well as other interested parties, whether private individuals or government entities. For more information, visit www.iwmsa.co.za.

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS Afrisam South Africa Amandus Kahl Buckman Laboratories Collect a Can Desco Electronic Recyclers Duncanmec Enviroserv Waste Management Envitech Solutions Gast International Golder Associates Africa Howden Africa

72 – RéSource May 2012

40 15 54 24 22 66 16 31 IFC 49 57

Interwaste Jan Palm Consulting Engineers Kaytech Mercedes Benz SA Mills & Otten Mpact Plastic Containers MTM Bodies National Cleaner Production Centre Oilkol Otto Waste Systems Pikitup Johannesburg

8&9 21 20 OFC 35 2 64 52 42 - 44 IBC 12

Pilot Crushtec Plastics SA PTN Parts & Equipment Remade Holdings Rose Foundation SLR Consulting Tetra Pak The Waste Group Vermeer Equipment Suppliers Worley Parsons

LI 11 26 4 36 28 OBC 65 33

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