Recycling
Driving municipal recycling programmes
Landfill
Oranjemund’s future waste strategy
Hazardous Waste
New liquid waste ban
Food Waste A growing environmental crisis
City of Tshwane A waste management revamp
The people keeping it clean
Heavy industry is a critical part of our economy. But disposing of the waste they produce in a way that’s safe for people and the environment takes years of expertise, scientific savvy and biochemistry knowledge.
Not just anyone can do it. That’s why EnviroServ employs qualified professionals for the job.
Like Dan. As the National Credit Manager, with ten years’ experience at EnviroServ, he’s just as passionate about protecting the planet as you are. He takes part in endurance horse riding, which means helping to protect the environment is in his best interest.
Because expertise is one thing, but employees who live the EnviroServ values of passion and integrity are dedicated to working towards delivering waste solutions that are environmentally responsible and effective.
Editor Danielle Petterson
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Contributors Leon Grobbelaar, Stan Jewaskiewitz, Sally-Anne Käsner, Neeraj Mannie, Sebastian Mienie, Chanté Snyman, Chris Wiid
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Is carbon tax the answer?
The Carbon Tax Act (No. 15 of 2019) made headlines when it came into effect on 1 June 2019. The tax will be levied on the sum of greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and fugitive emissions, with the objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.
Although government states that the Act gives effect to the polluter-pays principle for large emitters, the tax is far-reaching, and very few people will not be affected by carbon tax in some way – most notably by the separate tax on emissions from petrol and diesel that was incorporated into the fuel levy system in June.
This begs the question: can South Africa afford a carbon tax and will it really make a difference?
The pros and cons
Although the carbon tax is intended to compel companies and individuals to change their behaviour to transition to a less carbon-intensive economy, many critics have argued that this new tax will place an added burden on South Africa’s already poor-performing economy.
Having already faced a VAT increase and everincreasing electricity prices, the cost of carbon emissions is likely to be passed on to the consumer at a time when unemployment is at a near 15-year high.
On the other hand, many have argued that the tax is not sufficient to drive significant change.
The carbon tax seeks to fine companies R120 per tonne of CO2 emissions over the set threshold. However, there are a number of allowances that have been put in place that could see big emitters paying a little as R6 to R48 per tonne (read more about this on page 24).This is designed to allow companies time to transition, but the low rates could mean
we don’t see an emissions reduction at the desired rate.
The real question is whether this policy, although well intended, could be misplaced. Is the carbon tax likely to lead to jobs losses and an increase in the cost of living without reducing emissions?
Driving behaviour change
Consideration should perhaps rather be given to driving behaviour change from ground level, by making household separation-at-source programmes work.
Based on conservative estimates, South Africa’s households and hospitality industry generate close to 4 million tonnes of food waste annually. This ends up at landfill where it contributes over 2 million tonnes of unnecessary CO2e emissions (find out more on page 16).
If separation at source can be achieved, not only will South Africa increase its recycling rates, but composting at a large scale could significantly reduce CO2 emissions. And by educating people a household level, we may see more businesses carry this philosophy through into their operations.
Either way, the carbon tax marks an important milestone in South Africa’s commitment to fighting climate change. We may have a long way to go, but change is on the horizon.
ReSource is endorsed by:
Leon Grobbelaar, president, IWMSA
A cleaner, healthier environment
The IWMSA continues to strengthen its engagement with government and industry in its quest to ensure a sustainable future.
Our country’s national elections have come and gone, and newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa is serious about cleaning up the environment, by launching the Good Green Deeds programme. This initiative will mobilise all sectors of South Africa to become more environmentally conscious.
The programme seeks to promote behavioural change towards littering, illegal dumping and waste in general. Our newly elected Minister of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, Barbara Creecy, has occupied her office and hit the ground running. Within five days of taking up this mammoth task, I had the honour of meeting the minister at the Enviropaedia Eco Logic Awards in Cape Town.
Within seven days of receiving a request from Greenpeace Africa, the minister suspended the exploratory fishing of octopus after two endangered humpback whale calves were
entangled in fishing nets and died. The immediate response by Minister Creecy was widely acknowledged and respected.
2019 so far
The first part of 2019 was a very busy period for the IWMSA. Council has concluded the networking sessions hosted across the country and a strategy was formulated for implementation in 2019/20, which will be rolled out over several months.
As the IWMSA’s president, I had the honour of attending the Eco Logic Awards 2019. This is one of South Africa’s premier environmental awards functions, honouring individuals, communities and organisations that have the dedication, foresight, wisdom and emotional maturity to behave in an ecologically responsible manner. Congratulations to all category winners and to David Perry Davies for hosting a momentous event at Table Bay Hotel.
ISWA engagement
We also had the opportunity to engage with the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) as a national member, and jointly hosted dialogue sessions on integrated environmental systems and the launch of the ISWA Young Professionals Group. The ISWA has so much to offer and we, as members of the IWMSA, should join as individual members at the discounted rate offered.
For the first time ever, South Africa, through the IWMSA, will have a seat on the General Assembly, the ruling body of the ISWA, represented by 41 member countries. I will have the honour of attending the assembly meeting, which will be hosted during October at the ISWA World Congress in Bilbao, Spain, under the theme
Patron members of the IWMSA
‘Circular Economy: What are we doing?’.
The IWMSA will be submitting a bid to be the first country in Africa to host the Global Waste Management Conference in five years’ time.
MoU with DEFF
The IWMSA participated actively at IFAT Africa 2019, by hosting dialogue sessions and master classes on pressing matters affecting our environment. Although the attendance was not as expected, I was highly impressed with the participation of our members and delegates to tackle and debate these pressing matters openly.
During IFAT Africa 2019, the IWMSA also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with our regulator – the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry (DEFF) – to take up our rightful place to collaborate officially with the DEFF on numerous matters of mutual interest and concern, and strengthen the relationship with them moving forward. We are truly excited and will provide feedback to our members in due course.
Thank you to numerous officials in the DEFF who made this possible and for believing that the IWMSA can assist and support in promoting a cleaner and healthier environment. One of the first points on our agenda will be the status of our landfill facilities across the country and the looming crisis of landfill airspace in South Africa.
The signed MoU will allow the IWMSA to reach out to our municipalities and, at the same time, participate in the Good Green Deeds programme facilitated by them.
Our industry is so exciting and diverse, but we must remember that our generation is tasked with looking after our planet for generations to come. We should leave no stone unturned to achieve this.
South Africa’s waste management approach faces numerous challenges, particularly as environmentalists call for traditional waste processing measures to be done away with. By n ombulelo m anyana
Tshwane’s plans for a waste management revamp
Limited resources, population growth and poor infrastructure are increasingly impacting on waste collection and management systems. In light of this, the City of Tshwane has decided to revamp its waste management system in a bid to improve waste collection and management within the city.
Speaking at Sustainability Week 2019, Abel Malaka, head: Waste Management Division, City of Tshwane, said the municipality is looking at improving its waste processes.
“We are developing a detailed approach to waste solution processes in the city, and also
developing a vision for the future. Those are two things we didn’t have before, and it affected the
separation-at-source initiatives and household education campaigns to improve recycling rates.
“What has happened in the past is that we have had a situation where garden waste – even waste that was disposed of at garden sites – ended up being taken back to the landfill sites by the city. this meant that garden waste dumping sites were not being used effectively”
recycling and handling of waste.
Finally, Tshwane will focus on the integration of informal waste pickers into their waste management system.
Turning garden waste into compost
“What has happened in the past is that we have had a situation where garden waste – even waste that was disposed of at garden sites – ended up being taken back to the landfill sites by the city. This meant that garden waste dumping sites were not being used effectively,” said Malaka.
To combat this, the city is now looking into building garden waste shredders at its existing landfill sites. This will allow garden waste dropped off at landfill sites to be immediately shredded, stockpiled and then taken off-site to be developed into compost.
Malaka said the city will make use of local businesses to run the process of shredding the garden waste, and, in turn, wants 30% of the compost back, for use in the city’s national gardens and parks.
Separation at source and formalised waste collection
Among other initiatives, Tshwane is investigating an inventive system to encourage recycling at household level. “But that would need to go hand in hand with a formalised waste collection system,” said Malaka.
The city is also considering implementing a double-collection system, with separate trucks and schedules for general waste and recycling.
“We want the first truck to be purely for general waste and the second one will collect all the recycled goods. In that way, we will be able to keep tabs on which households are recycling and then maybe reduce their rates and taxes for that month.”
Malaka said that the city would provide plastic recycling bags to households. Waste collectors will then have to note down every time they collect recycling waste from a household. This would also require the city to establish an administrative office to strictly deal with that.
“Obviously, this system is a work in progress. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration, like waste pickers in communities that are not gated. The city is looking at a lot of
ways to promote recycling in the city and looking at a possible incentive programme that could make people take recycling more seriously.”
In order to support all the plans and initiatives the city is thinking of implementing, Malaka stressed that a more formalised and effective waste collection system would need to be established. Apart from the double-collection system, the city is still looking at ways to improve the current collection system and is open to suggestions from the public.
Integration of waste pickers
“The first thing that needs to be done is to bring back dignity into the waste picking industry, because they bring value to our waste management processes,” said Malaka.
“As the city, we are planning to build facilities where waste collectors can sort their recyclable goods instead of sitting on the side of busy roads or in areas where they can be targeted.”
The city will have the off-takers meet the waste pickers at these facilities and exchange waste
there, rather than have the pickers walk long distances to drop-off centres.
Malaka said the city is planning on building three sites at first, after which more facilities will be built as and when demand arises. The sites will also provide waste pickers with the following:
• a place to clean and sort their waste
• ablution facilities where they can shower
• small offices where they can perform any administrative duties
• cages where they can leave their trolleys overnight
• lockers to leave their recyclables if an off-taker was not available for that day.
Malaka further stated that the application of bylaws would come at a later stage; but for now, the city is focused on meeting the waste pickers halfway, by providing safe environments where they can conduct their business.
Although the city’s plans are a work in progress, Malaka said the municipality would like to start by implementing small changes and work its way up to implementing legislative changes.
SUSTAINABILITY NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Google goes green
Google has made three new sustainability commitments to better achieve its goals to integrate sustainability into its products, operations and communities. These commitments include:
• 100% of all shipments going to or from customers will be carbon neutral by 2020.
• 100% of Made by Google products will include recycled materials, with a drive to maximise recycled content wherever possible, starting in 2022.
• Google will make technology that puts people first and expands access to the benefits of technology.
“These commitments will build on the foundation and progress we’ve already
made. In 2018, we began publishing our product environmental reports, which help everyone understand exactly what our products are made of, how they’re built and how they get shipped to you,” says Anna Meegan, head of sustainability: Consumer Hardware, Google.
Meegan reports that between 2017 and 2018, carbon emissions for Google’s product shipments decreased by 40%. “We’re always working to do more, faster. But today, we’re laying the foundation for what we believe will be a way of doing business that commits to building better products better.”
UCT: a living laboratory for environmental
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has employed a director of environmental sustainability to integrate all facets of governance and operations in environmental sustainability at the university.
The new director, Manfred Braune, believes that the UCT campus can become a living laboratory for research on environmental sustainability, while fulfilling its commitment to becoming a green campus.
Although UCT research into the environment and sustainability is globally renowned, Braune believes UCT’s campus needs better integrated environmental management and care. This concerns much more than waste management, extending to water and energy efficiency, human health, green investment and good citizenship. Braune’s responsibility is to consolidate these aspects while also reducing UCT’s carbon footprint. This will be achieved by first developing a draft strategy for UCT, building on some of the commitments and progress made dating back to the Talloires
sustainability
Declaration in 1994. The draft strategy will cover five key areas, namely governance, operations, learning, research and stakeholder engagement.
This will be supported by the establishment of supporting governance, operations and resourcing plans that will enable the strategy to be effectively implemented.
Achieving these goals will require devoting resources to transforming the campus, as well as educating students. “The plan is that every student will at least have some basic level of environmental sustainability literacy when they leave UCT,” says Braune.
“For UCT to be serious about waste management and environmental sustainability, the appropriate resources and training will be required. It’s going to take time and a lot of collaboration with different departments to get the message out there – and to change mindsets.”
UCT is developing a draft strategy to improve its environmental sustainability
Google will include recycled materials in all of its products by 2022
ChemCycling could see cars made from recycled plastic
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) could soon be manufacturing cars using recycled plastic parts. The automotive manufacturer has already developed a plastic front-end carrier prototype for its first electric SUV, the I-Pace, out of Ultramid B3WG6 Black 00564.
This forms part of a ChemCycling pilot project currently being trialled in partnership with chemicals company BASF. This innovative recycling process converts plastic waste into a new, premium-grade material that could feature on future vehicles.
The waste plastic is transformed to pyrolysis oil using a thermochemical process. This secondary raw material is then fed into BASF’s production chain as a replacement for fossil resources – ultimately producing a new premium grade that replicates the high
quality and performance of ‘virgin’ plastics. The resultant product can be tempered and coloured, making it a sustainable solution for designing dashboards and exterior surfaces.
“As part of our commitment to accelerate closed-loop manufacturing across our operations, we are always looking for advances in technology that will help to reduce waste,” says Craig Woodburn, global environmental compliance manager, JLR.
“The ability to convert consumer waste into safe, quality parts for premium products through the ChemCycling process is an important step in advancing our ambition to deliver a zerowaste future.”
Is plastic the future of roads?
Construction is under way in Jeffrey’s Bay on Africa’s first eco-friendly road, which incorporates recycled waste plastic.
The groundbreaking initiative is a joint project by Kouga Municipality and MacRebur SA, together with Port Elizabeth-based civil engineering and construction experts SP Excel and Scribante Construction.
The plastic product to be used in the premix was developed by Scottish company MacRebur, whose plastic roads have already been put to the test in the UK and other countries across the globe. MacRebur turns plastic waste into pellets that replace a significant part of the bitumen, thus reducing oil consumption.
Kouga Municipality has been looking for innovative ways to address the region’s roads backlog since 2016. “The backlog in road repairs for our region is estimated to be more than R500 million. While Kouga is strong financially, we simply do not have the rates base to deal with this backlog decisively,” says Cllr Horatio Hendricks, executive mayor, Kouga Municipality
According to Hendricks, plastic roads are stronger and more durable. In addition to being more heat-resistant, water does not penetrate these roads as easily, reducing the incidence of potholes. “In this way, it will be a triple win for our people – better roads, less pollution and even more job opportunities.”
Hendricks says that if the trial is a success, the municipality would like to see a factory established within its bounds to produce the plastic pellets for local roads construction.
Jaguar has developed a front-end carrier prototype for its I-Pace model, made from recycled plastic
Africa’s first ‘plastic road’ is currently under construction in Jeffrey’s Bay
SA and Japan join forces to combat plastic pollution
Marine plastic debris is one of the most pressing environmental concerns facing the world today. Microplastics ingestion, entanglement and the bioaccumulation of toxins are just a few devastating effects plastic pollution has on the environment. By nombulelo manyana
According to the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, if present trends continue, there will be more plastic in the world’s oceans than fish by 2050.
In South Africa, the need to find sustainable solutions has been highlighted by the growing consumption of single-use plastics, combined with poor collection, recycling and disposal systems.
Following a bilateral meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe in June, Japan committed R25 million worth of funding to a project that will combat marine plastic litter in South Africa.
Japan and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) signed an agreement at a high-level signing ceremony that took place at the CSIR in Pretoria on 26 June 2019.
The three-year project aims to support South Africa in transitioning from conventional plastics to more environmentally sustainable alternatives, countering plastic pollution.
The project includes assessing new alternative materials such as home-compostable, biodegradable plastics to substitute singleuse plastic products. It will also focus on providing opportunities for local manufacturing and economic development.
The CSIR will work jointly with Unido to implement the agreement, and will also make sure that introducing new material into the South African context will not present new environmental challenges.
While speaking at the signing, Trudi Makhaya, advisor on economic policy to President Ramaphosa, said that this collaborative
partnership is a practical expression of much deliberation, which has taken place over the past years and, more importantly, the past 18 months.
“This has been firmly on the South African government’s mind and the signing shows not only the support but hope for coming innovation. The president will be very pleased and proud of this initiative.”
In moving towards realising the Osaka Blue Ocean vision – a forward-thinking concept that seeks to reduce marine plastic litter to zero by 2050 – Japan committed to helping developing countries reduce pollution through what they have termed the ’MARINE’ initiative.
The initiative will focus on the following aspects:
1. MA anagement of waste
2. R ecovery of marine litter
3. IN novation
4. E mpowerment to promote waste management and innovation through concrete policy measure.
Norio Maruyama, Japan’s ambassador to South Africa, said that apart from being perfectly aligned with the Osaka Blue Ocean vision, this collaboration will also introduce cutting-edge technology and innovation.
“That is why we invite South African companies to participate in the project and collaborate during the piloting stage. These businesses will
Japan and the UN Industrial Development Organisation signed an agreement at a highlevel signing ceremony that took place at the CSIR in Pretoria on 26 June 2019
bring a host of knowledge to the table, which will help with the success of the project and allow for more innovation. After all, innovation is the key to solving environmental issues.”
Khungeka Njobe, group executive: Business Excellence and Integration at the CSIR, says that this public-private partnership will bring more knowledge and help the R&D body expand its initiatives.
“It is in line with our objectives, which are to respond to waste challenges using innovation, bring socio-economic transformation, and increase technological development and re-industrialistaion.”
The project will also incorporate Plastics|SA, Packaging SA and the Organic Recyclers Association of SA.
The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) to commemorate a new working relationship.
By nombulelo manyana
The MoU seeks to increase collaboration between government, the IWMSA, and the private sector within the local waste management industry.
“The signing of the MoU will allow the regulator and the Institute to collaborate on and debate matters of mutual environmental interest, and find workable solutions to benefit all industry role players.
“We are not always going to agree – we sometimes have to agree to disagree – but at the end of the day, I think it is all for the purpose of a cleaner and healthier environment,” said Leon Grobbelaar, president, IWMSA.
TAckling wASTe mAnAgemenT iSSueS TogeTher
Brendon Jewaskiewitz, vice president, IWMSA, says that signing the MoU – which took place at IFAT Africa 2019 trade fair in Midrand – has taken the Institute full circle, back to its origins.
“It was basically to create a meaningful working bridge between the public and private sector, to be able to progress in the field of effective modern waste management. Moving forward with our initiatives – with respect to a circular economy, effective waste management, and protection of the environment in general – I would like to congratulate the DEFF and the Institute for coming together after many months of planning.”
Successful dialogue sessions at IFAT Africa
The IWMSA hosted two dialogue sessions in which South Africa’s current waste management systems were brought under scrutiny.
Examples of successful disposal of waste by means of landfill sites in the Western Cape, as well as financial challenges in meeting the required technical standards, were shared as a way to combat ineffective waste management system.
One of the discussions was centred on whether stringent technical design standards are required, and whether a more pragmatic,
Check out the video
risk-based design approach should be followed in order to limit development costs for smaller, cash-strapped municipalities.
An interesting point of discussion was that ideally no healthcare risk waste should be directed to landfill, particularly hazardous waste landfills. These materials have a high calorific value and can be used as alternative sources of energy, when properly treated at an incineration facility.
Another topic that was debated was whether the significant investment required to establish and operate a technically compliant engineered landfill facility properly is genuinely a problem, with respect to limited municipal budgets and expenditure. Jewaskiewitz asserted that there are many instances in municipalities where the finances required are available; however, millions of rand have been poured into non-compliant municipal dump sites with little or no improvement.
The New England landfill site, operated by the Msunduzi Municipality, was used as an example of where substantial amounts of money have been invested, and yet the facility is still substandard.
“Schools have been closed in the area in which the landfill site is operated, due to air pollution from smoke arising from the burning landfill. What must happen before the authorities take note of what is happening – must someone lose their life?” asked Jewaskiewitz, who co-facilitated the dialogue session with Grobbelaar.
The DEFF also hosted a circular economy dialogue session, where some of the topics discussed by representatives from government and the private sector were:
• our country’s plastics pollution crisis and the financial implications of levies and taxes to ensure a cleaner environment in South Africa
• the role of the Association of Cementitious Material Producers in the circular economy
• the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa.
Mark Gordon, DDG, DEFF (left), and Leon Grobbelaar, president, IWMSA, upon signing the MoU
Members of the IWMSA and DEFF sign an MoU to commemorate a new working relationship
Driving municipal recycling programmes
One of the biggest challenges currently facing waste management in South Africa is how municipalities drive reuse and recycling economies within their towns and cities.
By danielle petterson
National government set targets for all metropolitan municipalities and secondary cities to have recycling separation at source programmes in place by 2016. Three years on and these programmes have not been rolled out municipality-wide or, in some cases, at all. With many of South Africa’s landfills having only a few years of airspace remaining, it is critical that this be addressed, says Professor Suzan Oelofse, principal researcher, CSIR.
South Africa is also on a growth path, generating an increasing amount of waste each year as a result of economic growth, population growth and urbanisation. While the population grew by 7.5% between 2011 and 2016, municipal solid waste generation grew by nearly 32.2% when considering data from waste characterisation
studies conducted in 23 municipalities. “If we don’t do something about this, we are going to drown in our waste over time,” warns Oelofse.
The value of waste
The estimated resource value of South Africa’s waste is R25.2 billion per annum. When the Department of Environmental Affairs produced its baseline figures in 2011, only around 10% of waste was recycled, unlocking R8.2 billion per year’s worth of resources into the South African economy. This leaves a potential R17 billion per annum that could be unlocked.
“To put this into perspective, a living wage for a family in South Africa is considered to be R10 300 per month. That means we can pay a monthly living wage to 137 540 families if we could recover that R17 billion. If we could reintroduce those resources
back into the economy, it could make a big difference to poverty, hunger and living conditions,” says Oelofse.
“That is why it is so important for us to start thinking about what we can do to increase recycling,” she adds. In order to achieve this, we need to see change from both the demand and the supply side.
From the supply side, this means investing in collection infrastructure, creating entrepreneurial opportunities, and implementing policies and incentives to drive waste separation at source and collection systems at household and municipal levels. From the demand side, it entails making innovative use of recycled materials and developing innovative, high-quality products using recycled content.
Recycling behaviour
A 2016 study by the CSIR found that 27.1% of all South African households showed some recycling behaviour in 2015. In urban areas, 7.2% of households were dedicated recyclers, while 67% performed no recycling. In towns and rural areas, 2.6% of households were found to be dedicated recyclers, while 81% did not recycle at all.
“I think this tells us that there is a great need for us to assist municipalities in finding ways of bridging the service gap between the value chains. We need a process to get recyclables to buy-back centres so that they can be diverted from the service chain into the value chain,” says Oelofse.
This is where extended producer responsibility (EPR) programmes come into play, so that producers can take an active role in helping to recover the recyclables they produce. “EPR programmes can make a real difference, but it does not help if the municipalities are not on board and we do not get the recyclables out of the bin.”
Encouragingly, people’s willingness to recycle has increased. Between 2010 and 2015, a national survey showed that the number of people willing to put out their recyclables increased from 41% to 56%. Similarly, the number of people willing to take their recyclables to drop-off centres increased from 29% to 46%. Unfortunately, there are still a number of people not willing to recyclable.
Making municipal programmes work
According to Oelofse, research by the CSIR has found that a formal recycling system is not the only way in which people recycle. Many people support the informal sector or recycling initiatives at schools. A study conducted by the CSIR for a municipality struggling to gain buy-in on its recycling programme found that there were many other ways in which households recycled (as shown in Graph 1); however, in this study, as much as 43.1% of households did not recycle at all, despite the availability of a municipal recycling programme.
The three main reasons for households not participating in the municipal programme were given as:
1. We don’t know what, how, where, or when to recycle (38%)
2. Service delivery is unreliable or non-existent (26%)
3. It is too much trouble to separate different kinds of waste into different bags (25%) Other reasons for not recycling included not
benefitting from recycling (19%), recycling taking up too much space or time (17%), preferring to recycle in other ways (14%), and not thinking that recycling is important (13%).
Answering key questions
Addressing a group of waste industry professionals at an IWMSA recycling dialogue at IFAT Africa in July, Oelofse posed four key questions that need answering in order to improve municipal recycling initiatives:
1. What is/should be the role of municipalities in the drive to growing the recycling economy?
2. What should industry do to support municipalities to drive the recycling economy?
3. What is the role of households in growing the recycling economy?
4. What, if any, should the role of the informal sector be?
Audience members offered a number of insights into challenges and areas for improvement. There was widespread consensus that separation at source of organic and non-organic waste is essential to making recycling feasible in South Africa. The value of the recyclables is not
enough to cover the costs of sorting after collection – only separation at source makes this feasible. However, for this to be successful, behavioural change must be addressed. There appears to be a gap in people’s understanding of the urgent need for recycling, as well as identifying the types of waste that are recyclable. Without a national awareness campaign, driven by government and municipalities, we won’t see change.
Many countries have successfully implemented household recycling programmes through methods such as penalties for non-compliance, forcing behaviour change with smaller bins, and providing incentives for participation. Opinions were divided on whether incentives would be feasible for South Africa, but many people agreed that punishing people for not recycling may be the only way to enforce change. Government also needs to enforce laws and by-laws, and take action against municipalities who are not compliant.
However, this needs to be considered in the broader picture of the informal sector, which currently accounts for a large portion of South Africa’s recycling. More buy-back centres should be put in place to support this sector.
Furthermore, emphasis was given to ensuring that refuse removal costs are reflective. Many audience members agreed that some municipalities are under-charging, especially in light of the fact that many households in South Africa cannot afford to pay. These monies should also be ring-fenced and better attention must be given to planning for recycling programmes well in advance so that budgets can be allocated.
Integrated waste management plans cannot be a tick-box activity, and proper time and money need to be allocated to ensuring that good plans, backed by research, are developed and implemented.
Ultimately, audience members agreed that recycling in no longer optional, but essential. Running out of landfill space is no longer a distant reality and change must happen now to ensure a sustainable waste management future for South Africa.
Over the past 25 years, more than 1.5 billion litres of hazardous used motor oil has been kept out of the environment thanks to the efforts of the ROSE (Recycling Oil Saves the Environment) Foundation.
ROSElicensed collector Jemimah Mofokeng (right) of Jemimah’s Oils is audited by ROSE environmental compliance advisor Lihle Mqayi
The business of used oil
Approximately 350 million litres of new lubricant oil is sold in South Africa every year. This new oil is a combination of locally manufactured, as well as imported, lubes. Of the oil that is sold, approximately 150 million litres becomes used oil, of which 120 million litres is collectable for recycling.
Considering that used oil is full of contaminants that are dangerous to the environment – with a single litre capable of contaminating one million litres of water – this is a vast amount of contaminant that could make its way into our environment were it not for the efforts of the ROSE Foundation.
The formation of the ROSE Foundation to drive used oil recycling was initiated in April 1994, after government withdrew support for the used oil re-refining industry. Previously, lubricants were taxed to subsidise the re-refining of used oil back into lubricating oil. When this subsidy
was removed, the major lubricant companies operating in South Africa took it upon themselves to help protect the environment.
They formed the ROSE Foundation as part of an extended producer responsibility initiative to encourage responsible recycling and to prevent the indiscriminate dumping and burning of used lubricating oil. Currently, 21 of the leading lubricating oil manufacturers and distributors belong to the ROSE Foundation.
A sustainable recycling model
“Recycling used oil not only protects the environment, but also creates cost-efficient products for our economy, which is exactly what sustainable recycling should achieve,” says Bubele Nyiba, CEO of ROSE.
Most used oil in South Africa is partially processed to remove certain impurities before being recycled into burner fuel, which is used in furnaces and boilers for the production of a wide range of products. Processing reduces
A ROSElicensed collector decanting oil into a storage container
hazardous air emissions and the end product is cheaper than virgin furnace oil.
Retrieving and recycling used oil has proved to be a lucrative enterprise. Approximately 1 300 staff – ranging from drivers, labourers and administrators to operators and managers – are employed in the sector.
“All recycling models need to be sustainable and work towards a circular economy to be viable in the long term. ROSE has proved that recycling protects the environment, creates widespread employment opportunities, and has a knock-on financial benefit for many,” Nyiba continues.
ROSE spearheaded extended producer responsibility – an essential requirement in waste management – 25 years ago, long before it was a legal requirement.
According to Fabian Magerman, chairperson of the ROSE Foundation, the single biggest challenge facing the used oil sector is, and will continue to be, legislation and how it will impact the industry. “It is imperative that ROSE works alongside government to ensure we help shape legislation that will benefit all stakeholders in the oil industry,” he states.
“We will continue to lobby key stakeholders who make up the value chain in used oil collection to follow our example. This must be done in conjunction with government,” he concludes.
Creative uses for PET
The recent 2019 PET Recycling Company (PETCO) Awards programme recognised 14 of South Africa’s recycling champions making sustainable strides at grassroots level. The awards were presented across 11 categories.
Cheri Scholtz, CEO, PETCO, says the organisation’s greatest asset is “the remarkable network of partners we work with every day.”
Some 98 649 tonnes of PET plastic bottles were recycled in 2018, enabling PETCO to expand its collection network, build relationships with recyclers, and seek new opportunities to develop and support entrepreneurs.
The following is a selection of some of the category winners at the 2019 PETCO Awards. (For full details on all the winners, please visit www.petco.co.za)
CATEGORY:
Waste Reduction Youth Warrior
WINNER:
Rotondwa Musitha, Trash Converters (Limpopo) Musitha, 24, is a business school graduate who started her recycling business after her research showed that just 2% of all recyclable material in Limpopo was being recycled, creating a gap in the market for waste buy-back centres. Working on foot, she and her three employees collect approximately 8 to 11 tonnes of waste per month. She plans to expand into other provinces.
CATEGORY:
Top Woman in Recycling
WINNER:
Jocelyn Van Der Ross, Green Spot Recycling (Franschhoek, Western Cape)
Buy-back centre Green Spot Recycling has overcome the odds, with owner Jocelyn Van Der Ross starting from scratch three times. Van Der Ross started the business with two employees in 2005 and today has 15 staff collecting and sorting over six tonnes of PET plastic bottles a month.
CATEGORY:
Local Authority Recycling Innovation
WINNER:
Drakenstein Municipality (Paarl, Western Cape)
Fair Cape Dairies won the Recycling Partnership Gamechanger Award for its milk bottles, which are made with 50% recycled PET (rPET)
Drakenstein Municipality has transformed the Wellington landfill site from a crime hotspot into a safe, thriving recycling concern, providing a source of income for 30 entrepreneurs. The project has been so successful that the municipality has been approached by Metsimaholo Municipality in the Free State to establish a similar project.
CATEGORY:
Recycling Partnership Gamechanger WINNER:
Fair Cape Dairies (Cape Town)
When Fair Cape Dairies changed its packaging from a white PET plastic bottle to a clear one, it received feedback that recyclers were not accepting them, and they ended up in landfills. The company responded by embarking on an 18-month research project to find suppliers that could help to keep the shelf-life constant in a bottle that could be recycled. Today, each clear bottle is not only recyclable, but is also made with 50% recycled PET (rPET).
CATEGORY:
Best Community Breakthrough Initiative WINNER:
Angels Resource Centre (De Aar, Northern Cape)
Eddie Kampher set up a recycling opportunity for under-resourced communities in the Northern Cape. His Waste to Art programme teaches people how to sort, clean, bale and even create functional furniture and art. Some 30 entrepreneurs who were previously homeless or unemployed are now selling to local buyback centres and earning a monthly income.
In every case, each and every PETCO awards recipient has demonstrated that PET recycling can make a real difference, and not just in terms of the environment, but in positively uplifting disadvantaged members of society.
CAteGoRY:
Waste Reduction Youth Warrior
WINNERS:
• Rocco Antonio Da Silva, The Future Kids Club (Cape Town, Western Cape)
• Rotondwa Musitha, Trash Converters (Limpopo)
CAteGoRY: top Woman in Recycling WINNER:
• Jocelyn Van Der Ross, Green Spot Recycling (Franschhoek, Western Cape)
CAteGoRY: Media spotlight WINNER:
• Wendy Knowler (Cape Town, Western Cape)
CAteGoRY: excellence in Academia WINNERS:
• Ta kunda Chitaka, University of Cape Town (Cape Town, Western Cape)
• Melanie Samson, University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, Gauteng)
CAteGoRY: Pet-trepreneur of the Year WINNERS:
• Makhabisi Recycling and Trading Co (Boksburg, Gauteng)
• Nzima Recycle Centre (Humansdorp, Eastern Cape)
CAteGoRY:
Local Authority Recycling Innovation
WINNER:
• Drakenstein Municipality (Paarl, Western Cape)
CAteGoRY:
Recycling Partnership Gamechanger
WINNER:
• Fair Cape Dairies (Cape Town)
CAteGoRY: Recycled Product of the Year
WINNER:
• Corruseal (Cape Town, Western Cape)
CAteGoRY:
Best Community Breakthrough Initiative
WINNER:
• Angels Resource Centre (De Aar, Northern Cape)
CAteGoRY:
Public Campaign of the Year
WINNER:
• Thrive (Hout Bay, Western Cape)
CAteGoRY: Ceo special Award
WINNER:
• John Kieser, Environmental Manager, Plastics | SA (Cape Town, Western Cape)
Food waste: a growing environmental crisis
South Africa generates huge volumes of food waste. This neglected waste stream of organic material does not belong in a landfill and can instead be incorporated into natural cycles. By
danielle petterson
Food waste is the third biggest contributor to global warming. When sent to landfill, it can produce large volumes of methane, which has been shown to be 84 times more harmful than CO2 over a 20-year period. Paired with the fact that South Africa is fast running out of landfill airspace, it is imperative that alternative options for food waste disposal be developed.
Bronwyn Jones, owner of Bokashi Bran, says that, based on conservative estimates, the hospitality industry generates more than 33 000 tonnes of food waste every month. Around 95% of this goes to landfill, resulting in almost 21 000 tonnes of CO2e emissions. Another estimated 3.5 million tonnes of food waste is generated every year by households, contributing another 2 million tonnes of unnecessary CO2e emissions.
Although the Carbon Tax has been introduced as a way to change behaviour, Jones argues
that it would be more effective to focus on food waste. Unfortunately, South Africa doesn’t have many alternatives – particularly in the energy and transport space – in the areas that the new legislation focuses on. “But when we look at food waste, we can really make a difference. If South Africa is going to reach the CO2e decrease targets that they signed in the Paris Agreement, this is an easy way to start,” she says.
There are a number of disposal methods for food waste, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, as shown in Table 2.
Although there are many high-tech options and machines available, the reality is that most South Africans can’t afford to cover the costs of these methods. Jones highlights that we should instead focus on solutions that are cost-effective, easy and can be implemented today.
Jones advocates for wider use of bokashi composting as one of the most effective
methods of disposing of food waste in a manner that gives back to the environment.
Unlike traditional composting, which uses aerobic bacteria to break down food scraps and garden waste, bokashi composting uses anaerobic bacteria and yeasts. Bokashi, meaning “fermented organic matter”, is bran that has been infused with effective microorganisms or probiotics. First developed in Japan, it is now used in 130 countries worldwide as an effective treatment to stop the putrefaction of food waste. Once treated with bokashi, all food waste including meat and cooked food is safe for composting, both in homes and commercial kitchens.
The system eliminates the bad smells associated with rotting organic waste, is ecofriendly and has been shown to eliminate the Listeria monocytogen pathogen. Bokashi composting also produces little or no greenhouse gases, whereas traditional composting potentially recycles around half (or less) of the carbon into the soil, even under optimum conditions.
Finding solutions
Unfortunately, the majority of South Africa’s food waste still ends up at landfill. “Government needs to take a stand and drive separation at source with legislation. Until we start fining people for non-compliance, we are not likely
TABLE 1 CO2e per tonne of food waste (Source: 2018 Defra Greenhouse Gas Emissions Factors)
TABLE 2 Options for food waste disposal Method Advantages
Incinerate
Sink macerate
Pig farms
Worms
Anaerobic digestion and biogas
Bokashi
• Large volumes
• No transport costs
• Free disposal
• Reduces farmers’ input costs
• Low cost
• Environmentally friendly
• Handles high volumes
• Benefit of energy and digestate
• Low cost
• Environmentally friendly
to see change,” says Jones. She also called for corporates to move away from lip service and begin minimising their impact, rather than prioritising their bottom line over environmental protection.
“The logistics are massively challenging from a food waste point of view, but we need to start encouraging composting from a government point of view instead of making it difficult to start
Disadvantages
• Environmental concerns
• High costs
• Valuable organic matter
• Problem at wastewater treatment works
• Not approved by the South African government
• Swine flu and foot and mouth disease have been linked to feeding pigs unprocessed restaurant food
• No cooked food or protein unless treated with bokashi
• Low volumes
• High costs
• Categorisation of food waste is essential
• Logistics constraints
• High technical expertise required
• Logistics unless composted on-site
a compost site,” says Jones. “If South Africa’s 14 million households were all composting, how much cheaper would our waste collection be?”
Furthermore, if food waste is treated with bokashi, waste collection can take place far less frequently because the putrefaction process is halted.
An organics ban at landfills would also go a long way in enforcing change. “It’s only the
organics that are the problem on a landfill site. Take that out and there are no smells and no dangers, the trucks won’t slip down the sides when it rains, and no methane is generated,” says Jones.
“It is important that we find solutions to get food waste out of landfills and reduce our contributions to global warming,” concludes Jones.
Pellets or fluff as alternative fuels
Creating a litter-free environment
the local plastics industry will once again demonstrate its commitment to cleaning up the environment and removing plastics litter from south africa’s rivers, streams, oceans and neighbourhoods when the annual clean-up and recycle sa week takes place from 16 to 21 september 2019.
According to Douw Steyn, sustainability director of Plastics|SA, 2019 marks the 23rd year that the organisation has participated in South Africa’s foremost annual clean-up event.
“Clean-up and Recycle SA Week began as a project of the plastics industry and Ezemvelo/ KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife in 1996. Since then, it has grown to include the participation of all the packaging streams (i.e. paper, glass, metal and tetra packaging), as well as the support of major plastic raw material suppliers, converters, brand owners and retailers, product responsibility organisations, recycling bodies, conservationists and government,” he explains.
“During this week, we all unite our actions around the common goal of removing as much litter as we possibly can from our environment. We also aim to teach South Africans how to dispose of their waste in a responsible way, by highlighting the importance of recycling materials that can be used to create new products, generate employment and reduce our impact on the environment,” he continues.
Do you know an eco-warrior who deserves recognition?
Plastics | sA is calling for nominations for the inaugural Caroline Reid Award, which recognises south Africa’s leading clean-up champions. the deadline for nominations and applications is 1 november 2019. For further information, contact John Kieser at +27 (0)21 591 5512 or john.kieser@plasticssa.co.za.
Communities, businesses, schools, environmental groups and government departments are encouraged to host their own clean-ups in the areas where they work, live or play. Where possible, Plastics|SA will support these activities by donating branded garbage disposal bags, as well as by offering advice on how to organise a clean-up, and where and how to recycle.
The plastics industry helps to raise awareness of these events by listing them on the Clean-Up and Recycle SA website: www.cleanupandrecycle.co.za.
Teaming up with the world
“This week will culminate in Recycling Day (Friday, 20 September 2019) and South Africa’s participation in the International Coastal Clean-up and the Let’s Do It! World Clean-up (Saturday, 21 September). Last year, this cleanup event attracted 17 million volunteers from 158 countries, who participated in clean-ups that took place around the globe on the same day. Despite six tropical cyclones, ongoing wars, conflicts and unrest, this was the largest organised clean-up that has ever taken place in a time span of 36 hours. South Africa was proud to be part of this global event and we look forward to once again doing our bit to create immediate, and hopefully, lasting change this year,” Steyn says.
Concerns about plastics that end up in the environment, and trying to do something about it, are nothing new to the plastics industry. Plastics|SA has been working consistently to bring about change for more than 20 years by educating society and working with the designers, producers, consumers and recyclers of plastic goods and packaging.
“We’ve also been lobbying provincial, national and local government about the need for improved waste management,” he explains.
“While it is great to see the growing public support and awareness of the dangers of plastics pollution, we realise that the challenge is far from over. To truly reach our objectives of sending zero waste to landfill, dramatically reducing our environmental footprint and creating a circular economy, we need everybody’s participation. The issue of waste in the environment is a global problem, and the solution will therefore require a consistent, global effort,” Steyn concludes.
For further information, visit www.cleanupandrecycle.co.za or www.plasticsinfo.co.za.
producers and handlers of hazardous waste face a period of adjustment and investment to ensure they are compliant with new regulations, while the waste sector has to rethink the waste chain in partnership with its clients.
New rules ban liquid waste at landfills
The Department of Environmental Affairs has placed a ban on all forms of liquid waste from being dumped at landfills, effective 23 August 2019. This will force many waste management providers to rethink their liquid waste disposal methods.
This could have far-reaching consequences for producers within the petrochemical industry, as significant investment will be needed to ensure that their liquid waste is correctly processed.
“The new regulations should be applauded for helping to improve how all waste, but particularly liquid hazardous waste, is handled.
The more stringent measures will undoubtedly reduce the threat of waste seeping into the natural environment, but in the short term this will require investment to get facilities to the necessary standards,” says Johan van den Berg, managing director, Averda.
A positive change
There are, however, a number of positives to be taken from this new regulatory environment.
According to Van den Berg, these new legislative changes are creating greater urgency and a move towards circular economy designs within the industry.
Certain liquid waste, for example, can be processed and converted into specialty fuels for other sectors, such as manufacturing plants looking to replace coal used in their kilns with friendlier alternatives. However, producing this kind of fuel from waste is no small feat and requires considerable investment to ensure that it complies with the new Waste Classification and Management Regulations.
“Currently, options like refuse-derived fuel and anaerobic digestion are only available in selected regions, whereas bio-drying and gasification are not available at all,” says Van den Berg.
“Investing in compliance will drive vital funds into an industry that’s plagued by under-pricing –increasing the ability of waste experts to invest in much-needed alternative technologies.”
Averda has set up selected hazardous waste facilities that are able to receive, store and blend hazardous waste sludge (liquids and solids) to produce fuel by-products. These high-tech factories are where all liquid waste is blended together and transformed into these types of special fuels.
Hazardous Waste Solutions & Industrial Cleaning Solutions
A zero waste approach
Lanseria International Airport (LIA) is aiming for a net zero waste certification thanks to a range of sustainable interventions that are also helping to create new jobs.
By chanté snyman & sebastian mienie*
In support of the new Integrated Waste Management Policy of the City of Johannesburg, LIA recorded a 17% improvement of general waste sent to landfill between April 2018 and April 2019. Currently, approximately 32% of general waste generated by LIA is sent to landfill; however, a goal has been set to operate as a net zero
waste to landfill airport within the next 12 to 18 months.
To receive a net zero waste rating, LIA will be required to comply with the criteria set out by the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA), which entails providing 12 months of waste generation data with proof of sending 0 kg of waste to landfill. This data should adhere to the
ABOVE Compost windrows
LEFT Garden refuse and organic (food) waste collected at LIA are fed into a rotating composting vessel
GBCSA requirements of a net zero solid waste building that “reduces, recovers and reuses its waste streams to convert it to valuable resources with zero solid waste sent to landfills over the course of a year”.
LIA modernised its on-site solid waste facility (SWF) in 2009 to ensure optimal extraction of recyclables from the waste stream, thereby reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill. The facility has been upgraded further and additional waste reduction strategies consisting of a composting operation, a vermicomposting system, and separation-at-source project have been implemented.
The separation-at-source system at LIA requires airport tenants to sort and bag their waste in accordance with predetermined categories. This approach has resulted in more effective waste sorting and reduced waste being sent to landfill, as waste arriving at the SWF is less contaminated.
Tenants at LIA have been divided into three categories, namely restaurants, offices and airside tenants. The restaurants are the main source of organic waste and worm feedstock. Since vermicomposting has specific feedstock composition requirements, strict sorting criteria
need to be met by the airport’s food and beverage outlets.
The composting operation at LIA consists of a rotating composting vessel (RCV). Garden refuse and organic (food) waste collected at LIA are fed into the RCV. The compost produced by the RCV is used for landscaping at the airport. In March 2019, 3 230 kg of garden refuse and organic waste was converted to compost by the RCV.
Before garden refuse is placed in the RCV, it is mechanically shredded using a hammer mill and mixed with duckweed from the LIA wastewater treatment works to increase the nitrogen content of the compost.
Worm farming
Vermicomposting, also referred to as worm farming, is an effective way to recycle food waste. Worms consume food waste from the restaurants at LIA. Once the worms have digested the food waste, they produce nutrient-rich castings. The leachate from the worm castings is bottled and used as an organic liquid plant fertiliser.
Vermi-leachate stimulates plant growth and is also a natural insecticide. In April 2019, 50 litres of vermi-leachate were produced by the LIA worm farm, which, once fully operational, should have the capacity to produce 1 000 litres per month.
One of the big challenges faced by Delta Facilities Management (DFM), which drives the
operation, is processing tissue waste. Alternatives for disposable tissues are being investigated to eliminate this problem. Constructing a second RCV and increasing the volume of organic waste to balance the tissue paper volumes in the RCV is also being considered as an option for further waste reduction, in order to reach the target of net zero waste to landfill.
The waste management strategies implemented at LIA have also created numerous jobs at the SWF in terms of waste collection and waste
sorting. LIA is also planning to implement an educational initiative that will raise recycling and sustainability awareness among staff members and the public.
*Chanté Snyman is an industrial engineer and Sebastian Mienie a senior data analyst and physicist at Delta Built Environmental Consultants.
• Waste Collection Optimisation
• Waste Transfer Station design
• General Waste Landfill design
• Hazardous Waste Landfill design
• Landfill Rehabilitation
• Landfill Auditing and Monitoring
Numbers
(0)21 982 6570 Fax:+27 (0)21 981 0868
• Landfill Closure
• Leachate Treatment
• Regional Waste Studies
• PPP Involvement in Waste Management
• Alternative Technologies for Waste Reduction
• Integrated Waste Management Plans
Worm farms at LIA
Developing Oranjemund’s future waste strategy
Challenging geology, shifting desert sands and a remote location required creative solutions during the design of a new landfill site for an old mining town transitioning to new commercial ventures that include agriculture.
By stan Jewaskiewitz*
The town of Oranjemund is located in a remote corner of Namibia, at the mouth of the Orange River, which feeds into the Atlantic Ocean. The town of Alexander Bay can be seen on the opposite bank of the river, on the South African side.
Oranjemund has an interesting history and was originally developed as a town in 1936 for workers on the diamond mines that stretched from the Orange River mouth northwards along the coastline towards Lüderitz. The town was built by mining company Consolidated Diamond Mines (now known as Namdeb) and was closed to visitors until as recently as October 2017. Non-residents and family members had to apply for visitor’s permits if they wanted to visit.
Namdeb has for some time been winding down its mining operations: in order to enhance the economic sustainability of the town, it was decided to reduce the interdependence of the two.
Oranjemund was officially proclaimed a town on 21 October 2011 and the first town council was appointed a year later. Thereafter, the town was declared ‘open’ and anybody was free to visit.
The town is full of surprises, including signs warning of gemsbok, ostriches, bicycles and wind –more on the latter later! The gemsbok can be seen openly grazing and walking through the town.
Some services, such as water supply and refuse removal, are now the responsibility of the municipality. The next step is the transfer of private and commercial property. In the meantime, the
town management is a team effort between the town council, Namdeb, the government, business owners, investors and residents. The town currently has some 12 000 residents and ongoing township development is taking place.
The Oranjemund Town Council plans to develop a new landfill site and close the existing waste dump and rehabilitate it. The existing waste dump is unlined and uncontrolled, and poses a potential pollution risk to the environment. The new landfill will include both general and hazardous waste cells, designed and lined as per the Waste Classification and Management Regulations in South Africa as published in Government Gazette No. 36784. The site infrastructure will include internal haul roads, perimeter fencing, security facilities, a weighbridge, leachate management infrastructure, a materials recycling facility, a composting facility, and site offices and ablutions.
In association with Rent-a-Drum Namibia, a large Namibian waste management company, Envitech Consulting was appointed to carry out the required site investigations and detail design of the proposed new landfill site facility.
Site geology and topography
The proposed site is relatively flat with a gentle slope; however, the topography is constantly changing due to the non-cohesive Aeolian sands that overlay the site and are blown in different directions by the prevailing winds.
The landscape is classified as being in the Namib Plain region, an area with sand drifts and prominent
inselbergs largely of the mid-Palaeozoic Age. The site is located within the catchments of the Orange River, a perennial river, draining in a westerly direction.
The surface geology in the area is mainly dune sand and gravel. The subsurface geology of the area consists of alluvium and sand of the Namib Desert from the Quaternary Age. Groundwater flow would be mostly through primary porosity in the alluvium sands of the Namib Desert, and through secondary porosity along fractures, faults and other geological structures present within the underlying hard rock formations.
The natural ground level ranges from approximately 69 m above mean sea level at the north of the site to approximately 45 m on the south-western boundary of the site.
Climatic conditions and design criteria
The area is classified as semi-arid, with an average rainfall of approximately 100 mm per annum and an average evaporation rate of approximately 2 800 mm per annum. The site is therefore in a negative-water-balance area. The wind direction is predominantly north-westerly, bringing hot air in from the desert, while the south-westerly winds bring cold air in from the Atlantic Ocean. These climatic conditions have a significant impact on the design of the landfill site.
With the population size of approximately 12 000 people and using the international norm of
approximately 1 kg of waste generated per person per day, the town will generate approximately 12 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day.
Groundwater
Local groundwater flow from the proposed site can be expected in a southerly direction. According to the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) database, no boreholes exist within a 10 km radius of the site. Water supply boreholes supplying Oranjemund town are, however, present along the Orange River, but well upstream of the Oranjemund town CBD (approximately 8 km east).
Geotechnical investigation
A geotechnical investigation was carried out to assess the in situ soil conditions. Due to the nature of the in situ material, it being a cohesionless finegrained Aeolian sand, it proved nearly impossible to excavate the test pits, as the side walls continuously caved in. Another factor that soon became apparent was that as soon as the sand was excavated, the wind blew it away!
Due to the nature of the in situ soil, it was immediately ruled out as an option for the construction of the landfill cells. Therefore, appropriate material would need to be imported from other sources to construct the on-site roads and landfill cells.
During the site investigations, two potential borrow pits were identified. The first borrow pit (an existing open excavation) was identified near the gun club on the outskirts of the town, approximately 5 km from the new landfill site; a second borrow pit was identified within the Namdeb mining area, courtesy of Namdeb staff. Material from the Namdeb mine borrow pit was being placed on some
of the existing gravel roads within the town. Soil samples were obtained from both borrow pits and sent to a commercial laboratory in Windhoek for permeability and indicator testing. The results of the tests showed that both the materials are silty clayey sands and have permeabilities in the order of 1 x 10-9 cm/s and would therefore be suitable for the construction of the landfill cells. The maximum permeability required is 1 x 10-7 cm/s.
Landfill cell construction
The landfill will be constructed in phases comprising some 15 cells, including two cells for hazardous wastes. The cells will be constructed by excavating into the natural ground to achieve the design elevation of the basal area of the cell. The cell floor, edge containment berms, separation berms and leachate dam embankments will be constructed using the silty clayey sand material from the borrow pit.
Each cell will have a composite lining system and a leachate collection system. The containment berms will be a minimum of 1.5 m high and the basal area will have a fall in the south-westerly direction of a minimum of 2%, to allow for leachate drainage into the leachate collection system. The earthworks for the side slopes of the cells will be constructed at 1 horizontal to 4 vertical for the lined surface, and 1 horizontal to 3 vertical for the outer unlined surface.
Landfill liner system
The landfill cells will have engineered composite liners comprising both clayey soils and geosynthetic materials.
The general waste landfill cells will be lined with a single composite liner comprising compacted
clayey soil and a 1.5 mm HDPE geomembrane liner, with a geotextile protection layer and a stone leachate drainage layer. The hazardous waste landfill cells will be lined with a double composite liner system comprising compacted clayey soil and a 1.5 mm HDPE geomembrane liner with a geotextile protection layer, a stone leak detection layer, a geosynthetic clay liner, a 2 mm HDPE geomembrane liner with a geotextile protection layer, and a stone leachate drainage layer.
Landfill site infrastructure
The site infrastructure will include a single weighbridge for monitoring types and volumes of wastes, administration offices including ablutions, a materials recycling facility (steel portal framed building) and a composting area. A security gate with boom control will also be provided, with the perimeter fencing consisting of treated timber poles and plastic-coated mesh fencing.
Conclusion
This project has proved to be both interesting and challenging, considering the remoteness of the site, the site conditions in terms of lack of suitable construction soils, and the impact of strong winds in the area, which are likely to hamper construction – in particular the installation of the geosynthetic liners. The development of this new landfill site will certainly provide the basis for future waste management and waste disposal practices in Oranjemund and aid in the sustainable economic development of the town.
*Stan Jewaskiewitz is the technical director at Envitech Consulting.
The future of zero waste to landfill
South Africa is fast approaching a situation of running out of landfill space; the inevitable ‘Day Full’ is on our doorstep. The roll-out of the country’s carbon tax – which is geared towards reducing carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025 – will change the way companies do business.
This was the message from Bertie Lourens, CEO of Wasteplan, in a presentation at the 2019 SAPICS Conference in Cape Town. Lourens noted that, year after year, South Africa has ranked as the 17th dirtiest energy producer on the planet – out-polluting the UK and France.
“The carbon tax is an attempt to mitigate this consumer behaviour and reduce high greenhouse gas emissions while stimulating investor appetite for low-carbon alternatives. As of 1 June 2019, South Africa started rolling out the Carbon Tax Bill, which will be implemented in stages and phased in over time to ensure a smooth transition,” he explained.
Carbon tax roll-out
Phase 1 of the Carbon Tax Bill will run from implementation up to December 2022. The initial marginal carbon tax rate will be R120 per tonne of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent).
A basic percentage-based threshold (up to 60%) applies for the first phase of implementation that is not tax payable, in order to help businesses transition and adopt lowcarbon alternatives.
Additional tax-free allowances include an additional allowance of up to 10% for process emissions; an additional allowance for trade exposed sectors, to a maximum of 10%; and an additional allowance of up to 5% based on performance against emissions intensity benchmarks. These benchmarks will be developed in due course.
There is also a carbon offsets allowance of 5% to 10%, depending on sector, and an additional 5% tax-free allowance for companies participating in Phase 1 of
part of the tax, the carbon offset mechanism also allows companies to participate in a market-based approach to reduce emissions. According to Lourens, when these thresholds are taken into account, the tax rate is effectively much lower than R120 per tonne of CO2e, instead ranging between R6 and R48 per tonne.
Ensuring correct reporting
Carbon emissions are submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) through legislation known as the National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulation (NGER). Here, companies that rely on energy generation from their own equipment are obligated to report on all business-related activities for tax purposes.
Once the carbon tax has been calculated, it will be paid to (and administered by) National Treasury, which will determine any further tax allowances, based on trade exposure, business performance, etc. “At this point, the process could become quite abstruse and bogged down by litigative complexities, and you’ll need some expert assistance,” cautioned Lourens. “We would recommend getting experts to help you navigate the tricky terrain of tax law.”
Offsetting your footprint
Lourens went on to explain that businesses could take measures now to reduce their waste to landfill so that less of the business is exposed to heavy carbon taxability, including investing in renewable energy, cool carbon projects and biogas digesters, and reducing waste to landfill.
“Africa is uniquely poised to leapfrog fossilfuel, carbon-heavy systems and adopt wind, solar and water energy on sustainable,
companies should invest in effective and environmentally sustainable projects that come in under the marginal carbon tax rate of R120 for every tonne of CO2e, Lourens advised. “These partnerships are not only financially incentivising; they help support worthwhile green initiatives in other parts of the world.”
Zero waste to landfill
Lourens noted that the Western Cape Provincial Government has implemented legislation that will completely ban organic waste to landfill by 2028, which will force companies to implement solutions for the waste.
One such solution is the biogas digester – a well-proven technology that converts organic waste into a clean and sustainable energy source. This technology also mitigates that methane gas (which is many times more potent than CO2) that is released by organic waste at landfill.
However, despite having been around in South Africa since 2014, many biogas digesters have not been successful. “Unfortunately, many of the installations did not perform, with several facilities having closed down or running with severe performance constraints. The most important lesson for successful implementation is the selection of an experienced local operational partner that can assist in the development process from start to finish,” he advised.
“New innovations are making zero waste to landfill a reality. It requires an integrative approach with separation at source and effective downstream waste management practices,” he said.
“This approach maximises recyclables recovery, while organic waste is isolated and treated using composting or biogas. The remaining waste, consisting mainly of unrecyclable plastic packaging, can then be converted, either into energy (such as electricity or oil) using pyrolysis, or into bricks or concrete to build much-needed infrastructure.
“The waste-to-energy landscape in South Africa is still in a vulnerable state, but we believe this will all soon change as our economy is shifting to a low-carbon economy.”
As the world moves towards zero waste to landfill, waste management solutions provider Averda SA is rethinking the waste chain in partnership with its clients.
Finding value in the whole
It has become a cliché to call us a ‘throwaway society’ but, according to Brindha Roberts, head: Sustainability, Averda SA, it is a fairly accurate description. “In earlier days, consumers understood and appreciated the value of the whole,” she says.
“The consumption of a natural resource was utilised to its maximum extent, with minimal wastage. We see this in the habits of the elderly, where plastic carrier bags are folded, stored, reused and appreciated as a thing of value. As we progress as a species, it seems we predominantly learn by experience, and we have just realised the error in our ways regarding the sourcing, design production, utilisation and disposal of goods.”
The circular economy
At Averda, the concept of a circular economy is central to finding value in the whole. Roberts believes this can be achieved by an integrated life-cycle approach, and by redesigning products to include responsible sourcing of renewable raw materials, fit for purpose and with post-use (reuse, recycle or repurpose) in mind.
“A successful circular economy designs, manufactures, uses and reuses products for as long as possible, with only the truly spent items being discarded as waste,” she
explains. “Products are made by combining several valuable materials to form a useful and functional product and in most instances, can be ‘de-manufactured’ back into valuable raw materials to feed into the start of the process. This post-use beneficiation, as opposed to linear disposal thinking, has the potential to create new economic sectors to improve employment levels and spur technological development.”
The question is what to do with those products when they finally reach the end of their life cycle. As a leader in the waste management sector, Averda is constantly rethinking the process by finding sustainable alternatives to sending that waste to landfill. After all, 96 million tonnes of waste were deposited across South Africa’s 826 operational landfills in 2017, and the Department of Environmental Affairs has warned that if we continue to be a throw-away society, we will run out of landfill airspace.
At Averda, the concept of a circular economy is central to finding value in the whole
“Averda has identified that the need for landfills will be our reality for the foreseeable future to come, due to the sheer expanse of the land (logistics) and the lack of economically feasible technology,” says Roberts.
“But we acknowledge and have identified the need to rethink the waste chain in partnership with our clients. We are in the process of designing and implementing global best practice in the treatment and handling of hazardous waste to unlock the potential value.”
The ‘Nimby’ effect
While this is the case, using licensed and legally compliant facilities will help to minimise any negative consequences. These facilities have a number of mechanisms in place to manage their social and environmental impact, including contamination barriers, monitoring committees and ongoing measurement of air and soil quality for periods of up to 30 years following the facility’s closure.
“In addition to the environmental hazards, improperly managed dumps also pose serious
Averda has identified that the need for landfills will be our reality for the foreseeable future
health problems, as they become breeding grounds for disease vectors such as rats and mosquitoes, and illegally dumped waste could cause respiratory illnesses, including asthma and TB,” Roberts warns.
This all adds to the Nimby, or ‘not in my backyard’ effect. “It’s a common reaction by people who aren’t necessarily opposed to landfill sites, but don’t want them in close proximity to their properties,” Roberts explains. This opposition adds to the scarcity issue, pushing landfills further and further away from urban areas, and increasing the cost and carbon footprint associated with managing waste.
Finding the sweet spot
Roberts adds that seeking out compliance and innovative alternatives in waste management comes at a cost, so using licensed waste management facilities and abiding by their requirements can be a more expensive option for waste disposers. “However, this should not be a cost-only decision,” she warns.
“Waste management value chain outcomes should be a priority, and non-compliance should not be an acceptable cost-saving mechanism.” Currently, waste management providers compete with unlicensed counterparts, who can carry out the same service at a fraction of the cost, without regard for the environmental consequences.
In South Africa, and across Africa as a whole, waste diversion is not only an environmental objective, but it also has wider-reaching economic and social impacts. “It’s about finding the sweet spot between people, planet and economic stewardship. For example, recycling is currently favoured because it is the main income source for a large portion of the population; therefore, structuring diversion without inclusion will be faced with resistance.”
If more people were to prioritise the environment and people over cost, it would enable investment in sustainable alternatives.
“Currently, options like refuse-derived fuel and anaerobic digestion are only available in selected regions, whereas bio-drying and gasification are not available at all. Investing in compliance will drive vital funds into an industry that’s plagued by under-pricing –increasing the ability of waste experts to invest in much-needed alternative technologies,” she says.
When it comes to waste management, the duty of care is assigned to the waste generator; however, they do not necessarily have the knowledge or competence to track legislation or best practice, as it is not their core business. For this reason, it is beneficial to engage the services of responsible waste management providers. Drawing from their expertise and experience, waste generators can negotiate the complexities of compliance – and draw
“It’s about finding the sweet spot between people, planet and economic stewardship. For example, recycling is currently favoured because it is the main income source for a large portion of the population; therefore, structuring diversion without inclusion will be faced with resistance.”
on the innovative thinking of the waste management experts.
“If it is possible to recycle a fraction of a used disposable diaper back into the process of making a new diaper, surely it is possible to find the value in presently landfilled chemicals, or to find value in the molecular structure and properties of the waste as a feedstock to alternative industries,” says Roberts.
“Averda’s clients’ core functions do not include R&D for waste beneficiation – and rightly so. Their focus is upstream and on raw material sourcing, product design and
increasing efficiencies. Division opportunities depend on volume and access to a panoramic view of inputs and outputs over diverse sectors and, of course, economic influences. Averda offers this and more.”
Circular Economy –change is on the way
The circular economy concept is fast gaining momentum globally to curb rising consumption, pollution, the impacts of climate change, increasing volumes of waste, and the ongoing depletion of primary materials for manufacturing. By neeraj mannie*
The compounding impacts of global population growth and rapid urbanisation are the triggers of an unsustainable economic system for the future. The circular economy is positioned to transit from a linear-based model to a circular model, where the focus is on closing the loop on product use.
From linear to circular
The linear approach refers to the single use of a product and subsequent disposal of the product, resulting in waste. There is no thought or consideration given to how some of the materials used in the product are going to be recycled, recovered or reused. This approach is problematic and has led to the rise of the circular economy.
Companies are forced to look at alternative materials to manufacture products, as the squeeze on the availability of natural materials becomes a reality. The objective is to keep the materials in the system and use them in the same or alternative products so that there is no waste generated in an attempt to close the loop.
The shift towards the circular economy is going to require overcoming many barriers towards implementation by all stakeholders. In this shift, it is crucial that the environmental, social and economic benefits and impacts are addressed accordingly.
Making the transition
The transition towards a circular economy is going to require all stakeholders involved in the product value chain – from design through to supply chain and manufacturing – to disrupt their own thinking. For these organisations to
be able to transition, they must understand their own inner workings and barriers. Most importantly, they must examine how innovation is going to help them move towards a circular approach, so that planning, processes and production are designed in such a way that the inputs and outputs are held within the closedloop system.
People get comfortable and set in their ways of doing things, often in isolation, with little or no team effort in product design or production. To seek enhanced improvement in the value chain of the product, it is important that collaborative inputs are sought from team members to create substantial value of the product in terms of meeting the circular economy objectives, including managing risks and exposure for the business.
Organisations with the ability to reassess their business models to demonstrate that they are producing products that are environmentally conscious – in terms of material composition, reduced impact and economic benefits – have far greater value than those following a business-asusual approach.
Achieving this requires an integrated approach within organisations to uphold a commitment towards the circular economy. The integration of technology is a key driver to bring about savings in the reuse of materials or alternative materials to produce the same product. The savings point towards materials, energy, water and optimising the production line. With these potential savings contributing towards a positive sustainability culture, organisations can alter their business models to operate accordingly.
Barriers
In smaller businesses, the financial barrier is seen as one of the greatest hindrances in adapting to the circular economy. This is largely attributed to the point that transitioning to the circular economy does require investment into ideation and innovation, research and development, piloting and product preparation to market.
Furthermore, the quality and durability of a product with alternative materials must be validated. The opportunity to increase recovery and recycling of materials also requires some financial investment in equipment, which could be out of reach to some SMMEs, where there is an opportunity to create jobs at a micro level and contribute to the circular economy.
These are only a few of the barriers preventing the circular economy from achieving great success. South Africa needs an enabling environment in order for the circular economy to gain momentum and be supported by all stakeholders. This necessitates a policy framework in which the circular economy can be implemented and measured.
While the circular economy is a great buzzword, it will require policymakers to advocate for its importance, benefits and value to the larger audience, some whom are unfortunately still not even aware of its existence.
*Neeraj ‘Nick’ Mannie is a specialist advisor at Mannie Inc. – mwmannie@mweb.co.za
Is SA ready for the circular economy?
If systems were correctly designed from the start, there would be no waste generated, but the solution extends way beyond recycling. By s ally- a nne Käsner*
FIGURE 1 The circular economy – inclusive of the whole value chain
(Adapted from Anthesis Group: www.anthesisgroup. com/circular-economy)
Since the Industrial Revolution, we have come to accept the generation of waste (whether solid, liquid or gas) as an inevitable consequence of our modern existence at every level of the value chain. However, we are being reminded daily of the effects of this practice through landfills that are full, evidence of litter and dumping, and of course the very visible impacts on wildlife, especially in inland water and marine environments. It’s simply not possible to continue in this way.
The premise of the circular economy is to ensure that materials are used effectively and maintained in the economy in their highest technological or biological state. It will not be enough to tweak the current linear system and focus on only one aspect, like recycling. It is fundamental that a cascading approach be undertaken. The first approach is to redesign for reusability, refurbishment and repair.
Many may say that this is not possible for all materials – an example being packaging. However, this isn’t quite accurate. Packaging may offer many more business model opportunities that the current system is simply not willing to investigate due to the potential disruption.
Many debates are currently being held around single-use plastic bans. Perhaps the conversation should rather be around how to redesign more application-specific packaging – i.e. packaging that is responsive to the requirement of the product.
South Africa has embarked on many initiatives to move towards a green economy, with government investing in a number of these since around 2009, through an incentive programme for ‘green jobs’.
The National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa also assists industry with resource efficiency and cleaner production assessments, with a strong focus on energy and water, but more recently also waste materials.
EPR initiatives
The Department of Environmental Affairs issued the Section 28 call for Industry Waste Management Plans on 6 December 2017. In response, Packaging South Africa compiled a consolidated, multistream industry waste management plan for the paper and packaging sector based on extended producer responsibility (EPR). Further to EPR, and acknowledging the complexity, the plan
includes a longer-term vision in line with the National Development Plan’s vision and global goals, including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, to which South Africa is a signatory. Therefore, the EPR plan takes cognisance of the global market forces that impact the local paper and packaging markets through raw material imports and ready-filled and unfilled packaging imports. EPR is not a new concept or approach in South Africa and voluntary programmes have been in place for most of the material streams already – i.e. metals, glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyolefins, paper and polystyrene. The EPR plan reported that, in 2016, 58% of packaging waste material was collected for recycling in South Africa, largely through the existing producer responsibility organisations’ voluntary EPR programmes that are currently in place.
Therefore, South Africa is well positioned in the recycling economy, but requires a shift to a more circular economy approach. This is a more challenging prospect, as there appear to be proponents suggesting that South Africa is not ready for the transition to a circular economy. I would propose that if not now, then when? We do not have the luxury of time, given the climate emergency and current constraints on the economy. The implementation of circular economy principles provides a real opportunity for innovation that could lead to many work opportunities and aligned industries along the value chain.
Role of the manufacturing sector
Adopting circular economy principles must be implemented across the whole value chain. Here, the manufacturing sector can play a large role in transforming the value chain through several initiatives, including:
• changing the business model – an example could be the leasing, rather than sale, of materials/products
• opting for more sustainably derived raw materials (both virgin and recyclable raw materials)
• investing in renewable energy for their plant, vehicles and distribution networks.
Case studies
There are a number of great case studies both locally and internationally.
In South Africa, the following are project examples that may not be 100% circular yet, but are transitioning to a circular approach.
• The Berg river project (Winelands region, Cape Town) uses biomimicry principles to clean up the water and revive periurban areas. This project is driven by Biomimicry SA, which is the first network of biomimicry experts created outside of the Biomimicry Institute in the USA.
• Agriprotein (Cape Town, South Africa) is an industrial expert in nutrient recycling. Using fly larvae fed on abundant waste nutrient sources, Agriprotein provides insect-based protein feed (7 tonnes/ day), extruded oil (20 tonnes/ day) and fertilisers (20 tonnes/day) from its first factory opened in South Africa.
• Sealand Gear is a Cape Town start-up founded in 2015. The company upcycles yacht sails, canvas, and polytwill into durable bags and other accessories.
Internationally, there are a number of projects under way that are truly circular in their approach, including:
• Loop, which has teamed up with leading brands and organisations (e.g. Carrefour, Procter & Gamble, Danone, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, Shell, UN Environment and more) to provide consumer products in reusable and refillable containers. Essentially, the consumer orders online, receives their goods via courier and, when the stock needs to be replenished, the containers are collected and replaced – the old containers being refilled for new orders. The initiative is launching in New York.
• Novamont, based in Italy, has moved away from HDPE plastic carrier bags to the Novamont Mater-Bi compostable carrier bag to form part of the solution for the collection of household organic and food waste. It is a closed-loop approach to ensure that organic and food waste is diverted from landfill and rather composted, so that the biological nutrients return to the soil.
Following suit with similar projects in South Africa would make a major difference to how waste is managed as a direct feeder to both today and tomorrow’s circular economy.
*Sally-Anne Käsner is a founding member and operational manager for EcoStandard (083-558-NPO – www.ecostandard. co.za), and a founding member of the African Circular Economy Network (195590-NPO – www.acen.africa). She is also vice chairperson of the IWMSA Western Cape Branch.
Towards a fossil-free future
“Energy is key to both the opportunities and the challenges we are facing today. This is a crucial sector; what you do matters.” These were the opening words of Niklas Johansson, state secretary to Sweden’s minister of foreign trade, at African Utility Week.
Energy systems that provide innovation and focus on effective systems integration, ensure grid stability, and facilitate transformation into sustainable energy solutions are all vital for the further development of the power sector in sub-Saharan Africa. This in itself is essential for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Furthermore, Johansson believes that the energy sector has a central role to play in steering society in a new direction and enabling other sectors, including transport, construction, agriculture and industry, to deliver on climate change targets.
Decoupling growth and emissions
Over the past 25 years, Sweden has managed to outpace the average growth by roughly 25%, while seriously reducing emissions, showing that a decoupling of growth and emissions is possible.
“Climate change is perhaps the biggest threat to our world as we know it, regardless of where we live. All countries must take responsibility to meet the challenge,” said Johansson.
Sweden has some of the most stringent climate laws in the world, which has resulted in some of the worst-offending industries – such as steel, transport and mining – leading the way in adopting clean technologies, while remaining competitive.
According to Johansson, Sweden aims to achieve net zero emissions in just a few decades. This is not only necessary, but will also bring benefits for businesses and individuals.
to reach without cost-effective, innovative and efficient technologies. “In order to achieve the transition to a sustainable, fossil-free future, we need companies and collaborations that show this is possible. I believe we are at a time now when it is not just possible but also economically viable to transition to a clean-energy future,” said Johansson.
To this end, Sweden’s energy-intensive industries are taking the lead in developing a competitive, fossil-free industry future. Implementing digitalisation, Johansson believes we are at a tipping point for startling achievements, by combining new digital solutions with increased electrification. “Innovative industries that can provide the solutions we need to make the climate transition will be the winners,” he said.
South Africa’s first steps
South Africa recently introduced the Carbon Tax Act (No. 15 of 2019) as a step towards reaching emissions targets; however, the country still relies heavily on coal for energy generation.
“ e skom will have to change its business model to survive.”
The goal is to have no net greenhouse gas emissions and 100% renewable energy by 2040; however, these targets will not be possible
According to former Minister of Energy Jeff Radebe, South Africa has among the highest per capita usage of electricity in the world, despite the fact that around 3 million South Africans still don’t have access to electricity.
Outgoing Eskom CEO Phakamani Hadebe noted that the energy sector is changing fast, moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and we must adapt or remain
behind. However, there is a general consensus in Africa that reserves of fossil fuels are available and should be used.
Radebe echoed this sentiment, noting that while a paradigm shift is required to meet emissions targets, the transition to a low-carbon economy must be done in a manner that is sensitive to jobs and local economies. Technologies such as clean coal are, therefore, important to ensure fossil fuels are used in a responsible way.
Further to this, Hadebe pointed out that with fewer and fewer local and global investors willing to fund coal-fired power plants, a move towards more sustainable alternatives must be made.
The tipping point
According to Professor Anton Eberhard of the Graduate School of Business and chair of President Ramaphosa’s Eskom Sustainability Task Team, wind and solar are breaking through globally. “A global transition is under way and we are on the tipping point,” he said.
As one of the most carbon-intensive economies in the world, South Africa has something to give: accelerated decarbonisation. “We can close old, dirty, expensive coal power stations at a slightly accelerated rate in return for concession-climaterelated money. And so we can see that there is a potentially sustainable route going forward,” said Eberhard. Over a 10-year period, this could see a return to profitability for Eskom.
But this path cannot be driven by Eskom alone. Eberhard further stated that Eskom is technically insolvent, with the utility since reporting a nearly R21 billion loss for its 2018/19 financial year.
According to Hadebe, the average age of a South African power station is 37 years. With Eskom’s power stations in decline, Eberhard called for further interventions to reduce Eskom’s systemic risk to the economy. “Now is the time to restructure Eskom. Eskom will have to change its business model to survive,” he said. Part of this requires fast-tracking the finalisation of IRP 2019 and accelerating new, private investment in power generation.
He argues that, in future, traditional grids will likely be transformed, as electricity consumers also become producers, or ‘prosumers’. The utility business models will, therefore, need to change to accommodate these prosumers. Unfortunately, Eskom has not launched a new procurement for the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme since 2014.
Eberhard stressed that the REIPPP programme is not the cause of Eskom’s financial difficulties, as believed by many, and accounts for only 5% of electricity sold by Eskom. In fact, with the current pricing, renewable energy IPPs have reached grid parity in South Africa.
Moreover, the IPPs helped to mitigate the last round of load-shedding, as renewables contributed
up to 3 000 MW to the grid during the day. Without it, we could have faced unprecedented stages 5 and 6 of load-shedding. Although the initial rounds of the REIPPP programme were expensive, prices have dropped significantly and round five could see prices below R0.50/kWh.
Eberhard argued that Eskom’s conflict of interest as both a generator and buyer of power, which may have impacted the signing of IPP contracts, can be solved by splitting the utility into three units. Around the world, 106 countries have already unbundled their power sectors and utilities. Eberhard referred to Eskom’s currently structure as a “vertically integrated, state-owned monopoly”, which was fit for the past century, but is no longer fit for the kind of innovations we are seeing in technology, finance and ICT.
He noted that running a generation business is a very different from running a customer-focused distribution business. By separating Eskom into three business units – generation, transmission and distribution – greater management focus and transparency can be achieved.
“Internationally, we are on the cusp of a major energy transition,” said Eberhard. All of South Africa’s energy plans show a move towards renewable energy with a focus on solar and wind. As the grid changes in nature and prosumers emerge, the utility of the future starts to look very different. Ultimately, only change will ensure Eskom’s survival.
106 countries have already unbundled their power sectors
Chemical fixation remediates polluted soil
The remediation of an arsenic-contaminated site has successfully paved the way for new commercial uses.
When the Department of Environmental Affairs decided not to approve off-site disposal as a default remediation strategy, an alternative in situ methodology needed to be adopted in remediating a section of industrial land in Durban. The chosen approach was to use ferrous sulfate to stabilise the contaminated soil.
“Our conceptual site model had identified potential risks to human receptors, as well as groundwater and surface water resources,” explains Richard O’Brien, principal environmental geochemist, SRK Consulting. “The human health risk meant that any action plan had to ensure that impacted soil would be capped with hardstanding paving to mitigate the exposure of workers to arsenic-impacted soil.”
The remedial strategy focused on protecting the groundwater resource, occurring at a depth of 7 m to 13 m below surface. The risk assessment involved site-specific geochemical analysis of arsenic mobility and partitioning within the soil – an uncommon approach in this part of the world, says O’Brien, but one that proved effective in assessing groundwater risks.
Eastern and western zones
Results from the initial soil assessment delineated the site into two in terms of soil arsenic concentrations. In the western portion, the concentration was usually over the soil screening value for industrial land use of 150 mg/kg; the eastern portion was primarily below this level.
The eastern portion was subjected to an expedited approach using a field-portable X-ray fluorescence analyser to delineate hotspots for excavation and stockpiling: their concentrations did not indicate pervasive contamination.
In turn, the western portion progressed to a detailed site geochemical characterisation and risk assessment using geohydrological modelling due to the high arsenic concentrations.
“Geochemical and hydrogeological evaluation enabled remediation target levels specific to the site to be calculated, and the stabilisation of the residual arsenic – by adding ferrous sulfate – was assessed in laboratory-scale bench experiments,” says O’Brien. This testing was followed by a small-scale field trial, which confirmed the efficacy of mixing the ferrous sulfate with soil.
Richard O’Brien, principal environmental geochemist, SRK Consulting
Full-scale remediation began in November 2017, with about 3 200 tonnes of arsenic-impacted soil being stabilised in batches with ferrous sulfate heptahydrate. The treatment of the soil entailed excavating to a depth of 1.5 m and placing the soil into stockpile layers of about 0.5 m. The ferrous sulfate was then thoroughly mixed into the soil using an excavator fitted with a skeleton bucket.
“We also recognised that dust generation was an important safety issue, so our human health monitoring strategy included three different levels of dust monitoring,” he continues. “There were dust buckets, fence-line monitoring by an external air quality consultant, and an in-field dust monitor. It was also vital to protect the remediation crew through disposable overalls, and checking their health with medical entry and exit tests.”
The sheer scale of the project is reflected in the logistics of packaging and transporting the ferrous sulfate. This comprised some 50 tonnes of the chemical delivered in 25 kg bags for distribution around the site before mixing. Subsequently, the site has been signed off for other industrial uses.
Manually distributing 25 kg bags of ferrous sulfate
The death of landfill?
Landfill 2019 seeks to bring the landfill and alternative waste treatment industries together to learn about the latest techniques and developments, and provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas. By chris wiid*
The Landfill 2019 organising committee has been hard at work! The postponement of the conference to 6 and 7 November 2019 has brought about predictable challenges, but we have managed to secure a great new venue that we know will be suitable and accessible. The River Club in Observatory, Cape Town, has been a popular location for IWMSA events.
In November, we intend on staying true to our approach of providing relevant and interesting topics, at a reasonable cost. In addition, our conference format is a departure from the norm:
in addition to traditional paper presentations, we are planning to add to the excitement of the event by bringing in new forms of knowledge sharing. These include the airing of a short documentary movie, panel discussions on a variety of subjects and ‘lightning talks’ (back-toback six-minute presentations). We will release regular updates of the conference programme as it evolves, so keep your eyes open for emails or visit the IWMSA website.
In giving body to our conference title ‘The death of landfill?’, we intend to generate quality discussion and encourage arguments that seek
to explore the question of whether, and how, landfills will be part of our long-term future.
The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa, the South African Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society, and the Landfill & Waste Treatment Interest Group invite and encourage you to visit www.iwmsa.co.za to register for attendance as well as participation. It’s all happening at the River Club – be there!
*Chris Wiid is the chair of the Landfill & Waste Treatment Interest Group and a member of the Landfill 2019 organising committee.
Upcoming E VENTS
for 2019
Solution S for Wa S te in KZ n S eminar
Venue: Durban Botanical Gardens Conference Centre
Date: 19 September 2019
Website: bit.ly/2TQptO6
The IWMSA’s KZN Branch in partnership with the Recycling Forum invites you to the Solutions for Waste in KZN seminar. The event will be both informative and educational. The key strategies to be discussed include:
83rd imeSa ConferenCe
• Nutrient recycling: beneficiation of so-called waste streams through black soldier fly technology – Marc Lewis, Agri Protein
• Incentives/Disincentives to Recycling: Legal and fiscal measures – Bradley Thorpe, Interwaste
• Waste and Recycling: Huge challenges, small innovative solutions – Hannover Langenhoven, Wildlands
• The Waste “River-lution” – Cameron Service, The Litterboom Project
Venue: Durban International Convention Centre, KwaZulu-Natal
Date: 2 to 4 October 2019
Website: https://conference.imesa.org.za
The annual IMESA Conference creates opportunities for individuals to learn about and gain an understanding of issues facing the municipal engineering fraternity, including the presentation of topical papers, product exhibitions, and an opportunity to share and discuss ideas with like-minded engineers, municipal representatives and non-technical associates. Papers presented are from a wide spectrum of engineering fields and will offer much-needed insights.
The conference is also CPD accredited, with delegates being able to earn up to 2.5 CPD points for attending.
Venue: Forte Village, Cagliari, Italy
Date: 30 September to 4 October 2019
Website: www.sardiniasymposium.it
The 17th edition of the Sardinia Symposium, organised by the International Waste Working Group (IWWG) will be held in Forte Village, Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy.
The Sardinia Symposium is considered the most important solid waste management conference in the world with consistent participation of affirmed scientists and high-level scientific content supported by innovation and creativity. Attendance is largely international with more than 70 countries represented from all continents.
Venue: World of Windows, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Eastern Cape Date: 29 October 2019
Website: https://bit.ly/2SRHOK6
The Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa’s Eastern Cape Branch will be hosting the ‘Surfs Up... Or Is It?’ waste conference.
The conference will focus on the devastating effects of water pollution and will explore the current challenges faced on a local and global scale. Industry professionals will share valuable research and possible solutions.
Exhibitions relative to the marine industry will be on display and local entertainment will be provided.
iWmSa e aStern Cape regional ConferenCe
