HOPE FOR A sustainable TOMORROW

It is always such a humbling experience putting together our quarterly waste management magazine, which has somehow become a time for some serious reflection – not only for the industry but personally as well.

Social will

Publisher Jacques Breytenbach

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ISSN 1680-4902

Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa

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It always begs the question whether we are doing enough to fulfil the constitutional imperative that stipulates everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health and to have the environment protected for the benefit of future generations through legislative and other measures.

I ask myself whether we are recycling enough and whether industry measures – coupled with government legislature – will be enough to reduce our carbon footprint. More importantly, I ask myself what more needs to be done in order to guarantee that South Africa becomes more socially and environmentally sustainable.

Industry and government commitment

The introduction of the EPR Regulations in May 2021 heralded a change in how producers and importers design, make, sell and keep their products in the recycling loop.

The 2022 ban on organic waste and waste electrical and electronic equipment (widely known as WEEE or e-waste) was also welcomed wholeheartedly by industry – with so many stakeholders getting excited about what this meant for the value that waste could add to the economy and the number of jobs that could be created from this.

The revision of the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) 2020 also showed renewed commitment by government to provide a framework for policy and strategic interventions for the waste sector. According to industry experts we interview in this edition, as well as past ones, South Africa has some of the best legislature in the world.

What is left now is enforcement, compliance and personal will.

Understanding that all these measures and a sound legislative framework are great on paper but just smoke and mirrors if not executed is the beginning of knowledge. We must not only enforce these changes in our businesses and have industry take charge with making sure that waste in beneficiated, but we also have to comply in our homes.

We need to separate our waste at source; we need to reduce waste generation in our daily lives by being conscious about how we use plastics. Most importantly, we need to recycle consistently. We need to stop littering.

The bins are there and the framework exists ; although there is some more work to be done, it starts with us. It starts with our relationship with waste and understanding that, without personal intervention, pollution levels could potentially double by 2040, according to a study by the CSIR.

The only way we will have a better and more sustainable tomorrow is if we make it. So, let’s take charge, let’s reduce, let’s reuse and let’s recycle.

Nombulelo