ORGANIC WASTE
Using the Western Cape’s ban as a NATIONAL MODEL
Most South African cities and local municipalities have ver y little landfill space left, with estimates suggesting that the countr y has between three and five years before all landfill sites are full. To help address this, the Western Cape is turning its attention to organic waste.
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andfills are coming under increasing public scrutiny as an unsustainable and harmful method of waste management. In response to the ever-growing waste problem, the Western Cape Depar tment of Environmental Affairs (WC DEA) announced a 100% ban on organic waste to landfill by 2027, with a halfway target of 50% by 2022. This means existing waste disposal facilities and new applicants alike will have to star t reducing their intake of organic waste in order to comply. At least 37% of waste generated in the Western Cape is organic. This waste stream includes food waste, animal waste, paper and wood clippings – basically, anything that is naturally biodegradable.
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NOVEMBER 2020
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Fur thermore, according to GreenCape’s Western Cape Waste-to-Energy Position Paper (2014), there are potentially 2 992 642 tonnes of organic waste available per year in the province. Melanie Ludwig, chairperson of Organics Recycling Association of South Africa (Orasa), says diver ting organic waste from landfill sites will not only save landfill airspace, but will help in reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. Orasa, which was established to represent the organic waste recycling industr y, has been championing the ban on organic waste to landfill – not only because it will help drive recycling and diversion but because it has great potential in helping to reverse the effects of climate change. However, Ludwig asser ts that, for the successful, nationwide adoption of an organic waste ban, the following structure needs to be in place: • by-laws that require separation at source • comprehensive waste diversion plans • changes in legislation at the municipal level • annual targets and time frames for all municipalities.
Reducing emissions According to Hein Fourie, operations director at Zero Waste Technologies, disposing of organic waste in landfills is par ticularly harmful for the environment, as it rots and produces methane. This methane is 24 times more damaging as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. “There’s this idea that organic material just erodes away naturally and works its way back into the ear th via landfill. While organic materials do deteriorate much quicker than processed materials, their place in landfills gives off potent greenhouse gases,” he says. “Organic waste also creates leachate – a potential pollutant that can run off into local
“There needs to be an understanding that there is a cost to waste.”
water sources if not managed properly at landfills. This makes it all the more impor tant to reduce the amount of organic waste taking up our already-scarce landfill space,” Fourie adds. Leachate requires expensive landfill contamination barriers to mitigate sur face- and groundwater contamination – which results in high logistical costs, fur ther diver ting funds that could have been used for other infrastructure, he explains. Fourie notes that diver ting organic waste from landfill will help in the following: • extend the lifespan of existing and future landfills • contribute to financial savings • r educe methane generation, assisting in meeting national greenhouse gas emissions targets.
Separation at source vital Separation at source is vital to ensuring the success of an organic waste to landfill ban. Ludwig asser ts that the first step towards enforcing separation at source would be creating enough awareness. “Studies have found that there is more awareness about recycling in higher-income areas than there is in lower-income ones. Knowing that, we need to put in place an incentive system for those areas. There needs to be an understanding that there is a cost to waste,” stresses Ludwig.
