Trash keeps piling up in Gauteng

With 24% of South Africa’s population living in its smallest province, generating nearly 34% of the country’s gross domestic product, money isn’t the only thing its 13.2 million people are producing, according to figures which emerged at a landfill airspace workshop at Plastics SA in Midrand yesterday.

Gauteng may be South Africa’s economic hub but it’s also South Africa’s most congested rubbish dump.

The growing problem means provincial and local governments are faced with many waste management challenges in today’s disposable society, some of which were highlighted at the workshop yesterday.

Landfill is still the most widely used waste disposal option in South Africa. The “2012 National Waste Information Baseline Report” indicates 91% (98 million of 108 million tonnes) of waste generated in South Africa during 2011 was disposed of at landfills.

“Our reliance on landfill has come at a cost. The remaining air space at each landfill site in South Africa is fast approaching capacity, and so is the available space to extend landfill sites,” said Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa vice-president Jonathan Shamrock.

Presently, 599 landfill sites are listed on the South African Waste Information Centre (SAWIC) permit database for South Africa.

Of this number, 102 (17%) are based in Gauteng, of which 13 are municipal landfill sites.

The national and provincial waste management strategy is geared towards waste beneficiation and diversion from landfill.

As plans for waste diversion from landfill and increased recycling are gathering momentum in Gauteng, landfilling as a waste management option remains a necessary reality, at least for the immediate future.

“Gauteng is by far the biggest generator of waste, including hazardous waste, in South Africa,” said Kobus Otto, director of Kobus Otto & Associates.

“The province is not only in need of landfill airspace, it is in need of legally compliant and environmentally sound airspace.” – Citizen reporter