chapter 14: COLLECTION, TRANSPORTATION & TRANSFER OF WASTES
In terms of the Waste Classification and Management Regulations, the handling, collection and transportation and disposal of hazardous wastes is strictly controlled and monitored. The generators of hazardous wastes are required to complete a waste manifesto document which confirms the nature, composition, quantity and details of the waste. A waste manifesto is also completed by the waste transporter and confirmed by the generator as well as the disposal facility operator and returned to the generator so that a full inventory and control of the hazardous waste transfer is fully recorded.
TRANSFER OF WASTES By definition, refuse transfer stations relate directly to waste transportation efficiency and economics. Transfer stations are generally a necessary component of solid waste management infrastructure and serve to reduce the overall cost of waste disposal where the distance between the areas of waste generation/collection and the disposal (landfill) site increases. Waste collection (compactor) vehicles are not efficient or cost effective for travelling long haulage distances, hence transfer stations provide the necessary link between the functions of collection and disposal of wastes, when the disposal sites are located remotely from the points of collection (ie such as in the case of a regional disposal facility). Transportation from a transfer station to a disposal site would generally take place by either road and/or rail.
Figure 14.2: A typical Transfer Station Compaction Hall: Compacting Wastes into Containers.
The stricter regulations promulgated in recent years in South Africa for permitting and operating landfills had led to the closure of many landfills that have failed to meet the regulatory requirements. Those remaining landfills can no longer operate without specially engineered basin floor lining systems and capping systems for disposal cells. These lining systems require special geosynthetic materials installed under strict quality assurance methods in order to ensure environmental protection and regulatory compliance. Consequently the construction of lined landfills has become expensive, and the trend is to operate fewer and more remotely dispersed regional landfills (a situation also influenced by the general public’s resistance to having a landfill located near to their place of residence!). A further consequence, therefore, is that waste collection and waste transfer vehicles have longer haul distances to accommodate in the overall cycle of waste collection to disposal. The types of modern waste transfer stations found in South Africa and other parts around the world the waste revolution HANDBOOK
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