Rethinking rubbish: Initiatives for waste management and reduction in South Africa

HANDS-ON Experience Learning January 2024 | Issue 26

OPPORTUNITY

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Build productive synergies between communities and the environment

RETHINKING RUBBISH: INITIATIVES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA South Africa’s waste problem is a threat to environmental, human and social well-being. Overflowing landfills are polluting our air and water, damaging our ecosystems, and making us sick. The legacy of apartheid means that people living in informal settlements, usually on the outskirts of cities, have both the highest exposure to dumpsites, and the poorest access to waste removal services.

However, if we reframe the way we look at waste, it can become a source of value that we can reinvest in our shared thriving.

Civil society organisations, municipalities, waste reclaimers, social enterprises and engaged citizens are coming up with solutions to South Africa’s waste problem. This learning brief profiles three problem-solving initiatives.

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RETHINKING RUBBISH: INITIATIVES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Issue 26 /// January 2024

i THE PROBLEM OF PLASTIC The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates that the average South African uses between 30-50kg of plastic each year. This problem is worse in many South African townships that are drowning in waste due to a lack of, or inconsistent, waste removal services.

Plastic contributes to greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of its lifecycle, from its production to its refining and the way it is managed as a waste product.4 As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun's heat.

This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history.5

South Africa is teetering on the brink of an environmental disaster. According to the latest available statistics, South Africans generate roughly 122 million tonnes of waste per year, equating to roughly two tonnes per person per year.

A maximum of 10% of this is recycled or recovered for other uses, meaning at least 90% ends up in landfills or illegal dump sites.1

Plastic dropped in the street or taken to landfills does not stay there. Wind and rainwater can carry it into streams and rivers and then to the sea. According to the United Nations Environment Programme roughly 80% of plastic in the ocean originates on land.6 When the pollutants reach our ocean, they affect the marine environment with enormous repercussions both on ecosystems as well as on the socio-economic well-being of local communities.

Landfill sites are reaching capacity and most municipalities have not been able to commission new ones. Gauteng, which accounts for 45% of the country’s municipal waste, has not been granted new permits for landfills in two decades.2 With stringent environmental impact assessment regulations and waste licensing, it can take up to five years to approve a new landfill site, and, on average, another year to construct it. We need to drastically change South Africa’s waste system and encourage a circular economy3, where materials are reused for as long as possible.

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Stubbs, K. State of the South African waste industry. Published in Infrastructure News on 10 March 2022. Available at: https://infrastructurenews.co.za/2022/03/10/stateof-the-south-african-waste-industry/

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Report: Recycling of Waste and Scrap in South Africa. (2021). Available at: https://tinyurl.com/3w9fhyuv

Laville, S. 2019. Single-use plastics a serious climate change hazard, study warns.

Published in The Guardian on 15 May 2019. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/ environment/2019/may/15/single-use-plastics-a-serious-climate-change-hazardstudy-warns

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The circular economy is a model of both production and consumption that extends the life cycle of products as long as possible, through refurbishment, re-appropriation, repair and recycling.

United Nations. Causes and Effects of Climate Change. Published in Climate Action.

Available here: https://tinyurl.com/5a2ff7xb

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WWF. HOW DOES PLASTIC END UP IN THE OCEAN? Available at: https://tinyurl.com/ bdez3far

GOAL 1 /// An innovative and inclusive society.

OPPORTUNITY 3 /// Build productive synergies between communities and the environment.

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IF WE WANT TO ADDRESS SOUTH AFRICA’S WASTE ISSUE, WE MUST FIRST LOOK AT THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONTEXTS. THE PROBLEMS IN OUR WASTE SYSTEM ARE SYSTEMIC AND HAVE FOUR ROOT CAUSES:

South Africa is making progress in some areas:

It is one of the world leaders in metal packaging recycling.

Over 75% of all metal packaging recovered.7 Food tins, tin foil packaging and aluminium beverage cans are among the most common metal items sent for recycling. Most recycled metals are sold locally.

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Under apartheid South Africa, all people classed as ‘nonwhite’ were dispossessed of their land and removed to designated areas. These were often on the outskirts of cities, near areas of industrial activity such as factories, airports and landfill sites or waste sites.

It has a large informal waste sector.

Research on waste reclaimers in South Africa by Professor Catherina Schenck has shown that waste reclaiming provides between 60 000 and 90 000 informal self-employment opportunities in South Africa.8 The work of informal waste reclaimers has saved South Africa at least R950 million in landfill space.9

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COMPANIES CREATE WASTE

There is no ‘away’ to send our waste to. If it’s not biodegradable and it’s not being recycled (and most of it isn’t), then it goes to a landfill. It becomes litter. This is a problem of waste generation, not waste removal.

The updated National Waste Management Strategy (2020)10 focuses on improving household waste collection, diverting waste from landfills, promoting a circular economy and promoting community awareness of the effects of illegal dumping on health and the environment.

Since May 2021, by law paper and packaging manufacturers must ensure that their waste is recycled, re-used or converted into other end products.11

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Report: Recycling of Waste and Scrap in South Africa 2021. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/3w9fhyuv

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Chirona, M. (2022). South Africa: Recycling is About So Much More Than Waste #AfricaClimateCrisis. Published in allAfrica on 12 August 2022. Available at: https://allafrica.com/stories/202208120540.html

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Banda, M.2022. A linchpin of SA’s recycling economy, informal waste pickers should be integrated into the mainstream economy. Published in The Daily Maverick on 20 January 2022. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/487wdnnn

10 Department of Environmental Affairs, Republic of South Africa. 2020.

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Today, peri-urban informal settlements continue to be located near dumpsites and industrial zones. To add to this, these settlements have limited infrastructure and basic services, which means they are often not properly catered for by municipal refuse removal.

Companies making cheap, fast-moving consumer products such as bottles, food packaging and nappies are responsible for huge amounts of non-recyclable waste.

It has progressive legislation.

National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) 2020. https://sawic.environment.gov.za/documents/11949.pdf

SPATIAL INEQUALITY

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However, the government still needs to go further to make sure that packaging producers limit the amount of nonrecyclable material they are creating. Most of our focus in South Africa has been on waste disposal rather than on waste prevention. This means that instead of corporations taking responsibility for their littering, we instead focus on how best to clean up their mess.

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Staatskoerant. 5 May, 2021. National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008). Available here: https://tinyurl.com/mrym842r

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RETHINKING RUBBISH: INITIATIVES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Issue 26 /// January 2024

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WASTE SORTING AND RECYCLING IS NOT SUPPORTED

Even in wealthy areas, waste is often not sorted before it lands at the dumpsite.

Consumers who sort their household waste can only recycle if the infrastructure for collecting and processing their waste exists. Similarly, recycling larger volumes of waste relies on more and more households to participate in sorting.

Informal waste reclaimers, volunteers and innovative businesses provide essential services, but are not well supported. To make matters worse, although informal waste reclaimers contribute 90% of South Africa’s recycling output,12 they are often harassed, or stigmatised as criminal and dirty, especially in affluent areas.

Despite the hard work of informal waste reclaimers, a large amount of waste that could be recycled, composted, or converted into energy is still going to landfills.

Many landfill sites have closed down because of the amount of waste being put into them. A lot of waste ends up in illegal dumpsites or is burnt by residents who have few other choices for getting rid of it. This pollutes the air and is a risk to human health.

ANOTHER LOOK AT WASTE RECLAIMERS “Across the world, large numbers of people from low-income and disadvantaged communities make a living collecting and sorting waste and then selling reclaimed waste through intermediaries to the recycling industry.

Where others see trash or garbage, the waste pickers see paper, cardboard, glass, and metal. They are skilled at sorting and bundling different types of waste by colour, weight, and end use to sell to the recycling industry. Yet waste pickers are rarely recognised for the important role they play in creating value from the waste generated by others and in contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions.”

Martha Chen and Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, World Bank13

12 United Nations South Africa. 2022. Waste Reclaimers empowered through UNIDOCoGTA partnership to combat South Africa’s challenge on plastic waste. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/4kszsmf4

13 Chen, M. and Ijjasz-Vasques, E. 2016. A virtuous circle: Integrating waste pickers into solid waste management. Published in Voices, World Bank Blogs on 2 March 2016.

Available at: https://tinyurl.com/z4kuhtj5

GOAL 1 /// An innovative and inclusive society.

OPPORTUNITY 3 /// Build productive synergies between communities and the environment.

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LACK OF WASTE REMOVAL SERVICES

In South Africa, nearly half the population still lacks access to municipal waste collection, most prominently in historically non-white communities on the peri-urban fringe and in rural areas.14 Informal settlements often have few or no waste removal services. This is in large part because of the history of apartheid spatial planning, but also because of rapid urbanisation, poor planning, a lack of funds and capacity in municipalities, and the inability of garbage trucks to reach some areas in informal settlements. Some informal settlements receive no services at all because they are not recognised.

CIVIL SOCIETY INITIATIVES

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OPERATION CLEAN TOWNS (CLANWILLIAM, WESTERN CAPE)

Children could often be seen playing in the rubbish heaps outside Khayelitsha, a high-density informal settlement on the periphery of Clanwilliam in the Cederberg, Western Cape.

Most of the 8 500 people who live there have migrated from the Eastern Cape and Lesotho to look for work on surrounding fruit farms. The community does not have regular waste collection and tends to dump waste in a common area outside the settlement.

Local farmers Bernie van den Heever and Melissa Visser had long regarded the rubbish blowing around not only as an eyesore, but also as a health risk to the community and a threat to the environment, especially when it was burnt.

There had been sporadic attempts over the years by local residents and private companies to sponsor a rubbish skip but there was no cohesive waste management approach.

In June 2022 Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, handed over a waste collection and landfill management truck to the Cederberg municipality.

This was part of a national waste management intervention that sought to address waste collection issues in neglected areas, illegal dumping and landfill operations in selected municipalities. However, due to budgetary constraints, the municipality could not afford to purchase the skip bins needed.

Van den Heever and Visser seized the window of opportunity and began collaborating with community representatives of the Khayelitsha settlement in the Cederberg, as well as local businesses, Clanwilliam residents and the municipality, to resolve the problem of having a skip truck, but no skips.

Ultimately, local businesses and residents sponsored the manufacture of 10 skip bins and donated them to the municipality.

Action is Required NOW Illegal dumping surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the July 2023 AfriForum annual landfill audit report, featuring landfill sites in towns and cities where AfriForum’s branches are located, only 17,5% (28 of 161) of these sites meet the minimum requirements of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008.15 Unless we act now, South Africa will be drowning in waste.

Eventually in May 2023, after a change in political leadership, the skip bins project received the green light. Dr Ruben Richards, the executive mayor, launched Operation Clean Towns and the skips were placed at strategic points outside the settlement.16 The private sector also raised funds to pay the salaries of two rubbish collectors.

14 Kalina, M. 2021. As South Africa’s cities burn: We can clean-up, but we cannot

16 On 3 May 2023, the executive mayor delivered a speech inside the informal settlement

sweep away inequality. Published in Local Environment, 26:10, 1186-1191, DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2021.1967900

15 Afriforum. 2023. LANDFILL SITE AUDIT: LANDFILLS IN SA JUST MORE PROOF OF MUNICIPALITIES’ INCOMPETENCE. Available at: https://afriforum.co.za/en/landfill-siteaudit-landfills-in-sa-just-more-proof-of-municipalities-incompetence/

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Unfortunately, more municipal red tape and political infighting meant that the skip bins project was placed on hold for several months.

at the launch of “OPERATION CLEAN TOWNS”, a waste management collaboration between the Cederberg Municipality, private sector and civil society. See the YouTube video of the launch of Operation Clean Towns here: https://web.facebook.com/ CederbergLocalMunicipality/videos/822319345985939

RETHINKING RUBBISH: INITIATIVES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Issue 26 /// January 2024

In addition to the 10 privately sponsored skips, the national government, through the Department of Forestry and Fisheries, donated five additional skip bins for garbage collection in August 2023, one year after the donation of the truck. These bins were placed in the Riverview informal settlement in Citrusdal, which is also under the jurisdiction of the Cederberg municipality. The skip truck regularly removes the skips to dispose of the rubbish.

This is an example of how collaboration between ordinary citizens, civil society, the private sector and government led to the resolution of a waste issue.

LESSONS FROM OPERATION CLEAN TOWNS COLLABORATION AND PERSISTENCE PAY OFF

Despite the many challenges, the community and municipality worked together to address their own litter and waste problems. Individual and community initiatives demonstrate how residents care about their environment. These types of environmentally-focused actions create new social ties and social solidarity, along with a strong sense of ownership and belonging.

EDUCATION IS NECESSARY

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DIEPSLOOT COMMUNITY TURNS PLASTIC WASTE INTO ECO-FRIENDLY CLASSROOMS (JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG)

Diana Musara runs Khensani’s Collection, a non-profit educational organisation that offers after-school and Saturday classes to children in the small and under-resourced township of Diepsloot in Gauteng. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing requirements meant 70 children could not fit into one classroom, so she began researching ways to build another classroom. She discovered that eco-bricks, which are 2-litre PET plastic bottles stuffed with tightly compacted clean plastic, sweet wrappers and other material, were environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

Perhaps most importantly, the raw material was abundantly available. She recalls: “People just come and dump outside the gates or the fence. I knew we could ask the kids to bring empty plastic cool drink bottles to school and gather any plastic they found.”

Musara co-founded Earthly Touch Foundation (ETF), an environmental NPO, to mobilise communities to get involved in making eco-bricks and building an eco-brick classroom, the first of its kind in the township. The classroom was completed in 2020 using 3.5 tonnes of plastic, which is pollution that would have ended up in the environment or landfills. Since then, ETF has built five more classrooms.

Mamoeketsi Makhasane, secretary of the Khayelitsha Community Committee and a healthcare worker in the community, says thanks to the skips, the area is much cleaner, although initially many residents did not understand their purpose. She thinks more awareness initiatives would have been beneficial as the community was not used to regular waste removal services.

“It used to be dirty everywhere, and we had to tell residents not to burn their rubbish as people were getting infections from the pollution. I have to say the skips made a big difference, although, at first, some people did not know what to do with them.”

Mamoeketsi Makhasane, Secretary of the Khayelitsha Community Committee

GOAL 1 /// An innovative and inclusive society.

OPPORTUNITY 3 /// Build productive synergies between communities and the environment.

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LESSONS FROM THE ECO-BRICK PROJECT UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT FIRST

The impact of plastic pollution should be explained – the community needs to understand why plastic pollution is an issue. Education begins not by teaching people how to make eco-bricks, but by getting them to understand carbon emission and how it impacts global warming. Time and money must be spent on educating the community because as Musara says, “once it clicks and the lightbulb is there, it becomes easier to mobilise them to pick up the plastic.”

ECO-BRICKS FORM PART OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Musara’s organisation trains youth and women to make ecobricks, which gives them a sustainable, valuable skill that they can use in the circular economy, as they can sell eco-bricks to construction companies. However, sometimes there are no immediate construction projects or ETF does not receive funding, so they are unable to pay volunteers a stipend.

Musara acknowledges that people are unlikely to continue volunteering to make eco-bricks if there is no incentive.

So, she devised a barter system in which eco-bricks are exchanged for clothing, food or stationery.

ESTABLISH A TRACK RECORD

At first, it was difficult to get the community and funders to believe in the eco-brick project, because they were unfamiliar with the concept. Once the first classroom was built, it became easier to convince them of the viability of eco-bricks, as evidenced by the five additional classrooms constructed.

Once a proof of concept is established, an organisation has the grounding to embark on other projects. ETF’s next project is raising funds to buy a plastic baling machine.17 This means that EFT can start to collect a wider range of plastic.

“Don’t throw your plastic away.

Bring it to us. Plastic is an issue, global warming is a threat, and we can all do our bit. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you live; pollution affects all of us.”

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DEVELOPING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS IN RURAL AREAS (NORTH WEST, EASTERN CAPE AND NORTHERN CAPE)

In 2010, Lizelle Coombs launched Angels Resource Centres, an NPO which focuses on development in under-resourced communities. The aim is to provide the right kind of support, in the form of mentorship and training, to get small businesses off the ground and keep them running successfully.

South Africa’s waste problem was one of the main areas that Angels identified as needing urgent attention. The first sponsor was the City of Cape Town, with waste awareness and management training being given to survivalist entrepreneurs.

Angels realised that more waste initiatives were needed in rural areas and branched out into the North West, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape with two initiatives: Waste4Change and The Green Club.

WASTE4CHANGE

This programme creates sustainable small businesses in the waste industry by equipping interested community members with the skills, tools and equipment they need to address waste challenges and create jobs within their community.

In 2021, Waste4Change provided accredited business skills and waste management training to a group of 10 entrepreneurs in Postmasburg, Northern Cape.

The participants completed the programme with viable business ideas that have the potential to create employment and generate sustainable revenue in the waste management sector. Their ideas included a focus on manufacturing upcycled products, selling collected recycling materials, composting, and exploring other sustainable opportunities in their communities.

Two years later, one of these businesses is an e-waste (lighting and electronic waste) company run by Itumeleng Mojatau.

Angels connected him to E-Waste Africa, which is providing knowledge and support, and they are working together to set up the first e-waste facility in the Northern Cape.

The other growing business is an upcycling enterprise run

by Ruth Rens. She makes shopping bags, furniture and other functional items out of recyclable material and sells them to her community.

Diana Musara, ETF Managing Director

17 A baling machine is a hydraulic press that compacts materials into a dense package of a specific size.

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RETHINKING RUBBISH: INITIATIVES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REDUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Issue 26 /// January 2024

THE GREEN CLUB The Green Club is an initiative undertaken to establish recycling clubs specifically focused on schools in low-income rural areas. Pupils at Francois Visser Primêre in Pofadder and Pella Primêre in Pella, Northern Cape, are cleaning up their neighbourhoods, while having fun and learning about the environment. In addition, recycling clubs can serve as a profitable fundraising activity.

Coombs acknowledges that organisations far bigger than Angels have more impact with school recycling programmes.

However, the NPO operates in rural areas with minimal resources, so the first step is to improve environmental awareness. She explains: “Through little projects and competitions, we get the kids excited and generate awareness, and we hope they take this back home to their families or to other adults in their communities.”

LESSONS FROM ANGELS UNDER-RESOURCED ENTREPRENEURS NEED TRAINING AND FUNDING

Coombs attributes the success of the two waste solutions entrepreneurs in Postmasburg to the fact that both individuals have full-time jobs and e-waste and upcycling are “side hustles”. Essentially, they fund themselves. The other entrepreneurs on the programme developed sound business ideas but were not able to get the funding necessary to turn them into profitable businesses. Coombs explains: “We have found that it’s best to have some kind of funding to help entrepreneurs after the training, because many of them are unemployed and don’t have the resources neede to kick-start and sustain their businesses.”

i ANGELS LINK ENTREPRENEURS TO RECYCLING COMPANIES Some big companies in the Northern Cape do recycling, but like big companies in larger cities, they all expect a consignment of a minimum of 30-40 tonnes to collect recycling material. This makes it impossible for small entrepreneurs to get their recycling waste to recycling centres.

This is where Angels Resource Centres comes to the rescue by playing the role of a link between small entrepreneurs and recycling companies. They organise the collection of the goods in small quantities (the minimum is 1kg) from different places and combine them to reach the amount required (40T), which is then transported to big recycling companies.

GET A TOEHOLD WHERE YOU CAN

Angels works in poor communities where people are struggling to put food on the table, so for many recycling is not a priority. The Green Club was initiated in schools, to get a toehold in the communities. So far, the clubs are successful in the schools, but not yet big enough for the community to get behind.

UPCYCLING IS ON THE UP

Waste4Change has found that upcycling (creating resalable items from recycled materials) is becoming more popular.

Coombs thinks this is because for a single entrepreneur, there is more profit to be made from upcycling.

GOAL 1 /// An innovative and inclusive society.

OPPORTUNITY 3 /// Build productive synergies between communities and the environment.

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WHAT’S NEXT? Uncollected waste and waste that has been poorly disposed of pose significant threats to the environment and health.

As the World Bank reports, the cost of addressing the negative impact of poorly disposed waste is much higher than the cost of developing and operating simple, adequate waste management systems. It makes economic sense to invest in sustainable waste management.

The wheel is slowly turning, but addressing South Africa’s waste challenge needs joint effort from all of us, including everyday consumers, big producers, policymakers, municipalities and waste treatment facilities.

This learning brief was developed by Daniella Horwitz and edited by Rahima Essop and Cornè Kritzinger.

This brief was based on contributions from Bernie van den Heever, Melissa Visser, Mamoeketsi Makhasane and Dr Ruben Richards (Cederberg mayor), Operation Clean Towns, Earthly Touch Foundation and Angels Resource Centres.

Th i s i s t h e l e a r n i n g ex p e r i e n c e of :