LANDFILLS
Looming landfill crisis faces
SA’S LARGEST METROS Besides being among our nation’s major metros, Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town have something else in common – they all have less than 10 years of useful landfill life left.
W
aste management is the least prioritised municipal ser vice in most South African municipalities. It lags significantly behind housing, water, electricity and road infrastructure. South Africa’s eight Category A metropolitan municipalities have the highest population numbers and therefore generate the largest waste volumes, at around 10-20 Mt (million tonnes) of waste a year each, of which the bulk is landfilled. Landfilling at an average density of 1 t/m3 means that municipalities need an annual landfill space of about 10 million m3. With this space at such a premium, the controlled, planned and systematic filling of
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landfill cells requires progressive closure and rehabilitation. The recent fire at the New England Road landfill in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, has raised awareness about the myriad issues facing the proper management of such sites throughout South Africa. Poorly managed landfill sites can cause numerous environmental issues – not only for natural resources but the social environment as well. According to Elisabeth Nortje, associate director for Environment: Africa at AECOM, there are three areas of impact that need to be considered when thinking about poorly managed landfills – i.e. impacts on the biophysical, social and economic environments. “If you think about the biophysical environment, a poorly managed landfill can, for example, affect
groundwater, vegetation and biodiversity, among others. The impact on groundwater, specifically, has a knock-on effect on surface water, as well as the habitats and users that depend on that resource. Landfills also contribute significantly to emissions,” says Nortje. Landfills are among the nation’s largest sources of methane – a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. When considering the social environment, Nortje notes that it may have an impact on human health. According to a research study titled ‘Health and Environmental Risks of Residents Living Close to a Landfill: A Case Study of Thohoyandou Landfill, Limpopo Province, South Africa’, people living closer to landfill sites are at
