Economic development, population growth and rapid urbanisation continues to contribute to an increase in waste generation, placing continued pressure on South Africa’s landfill sites.

The Department of Environmental Affairs (“DEA”) says 98 million tonnes of waste is deposited across South Africa’s 826 landfill sites every year.

The government’s ambition is to have a zero waste to landfill objective – through avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, treat and dispose, but the current lack of alternatives means landfills need to be used for the foreseeable future.

Also, South Africa’s waste is going to waste – the National Pricing Strategy for Waste Management says that the country disposes of at least R825 billion worth of recoverable resources each year.

San Francisco, for example, diverted or repurposed 80% of its waste in 2017 through re-using, recycling and composting.

South Africa is a long way from that yet.

Johan van den Berg, MD of Averda South Africa, says with landfills a reality for years to come, it is crucial that licensed and legally compliant facilities are used to help minimize negative consequences.

Landfills in the Western Cape and Gauteng, for example, are on the brink of reaching capacity.

Earlier this year, the provincial Environmental Affairs Department warned that the area could be headed for a waste crisis.

It is essential that provincial governments address this, and other waste management shortfalls, to prevent the spread of harmful diseases that threaten the wellbeing of all South Africans.

The country’s listeriosis crisis highlighted the extent to which we remain at risk to widespread disease. The circumstances and causes of this outbreak may be isolated, but the loss of nearly 200 lives drives home the importance combatting the spread of deadly pathogens by enforcing stringent hygiene requirements.

“Although the risk of epidemics is often only acknowledged in times of crisis, this danger is far more prevalent than people realise,” says van den Berg.

“High rates of urbanisation are placing many municipalities under increasing strain and vigilance is required to avert future health crisis related to insufficient hygiene in our waste management practices.”

According to van den Berg, although the Western Cape has done much to implement the waste hierarchy most of the other provinces needs to address its approach to waste management.

He points to the findings of a 2016 report by Statistics SA into the state of basic service delivery, which showed that nearly a third of households nationally lack any kind of refuse facilities.

This was highest in Limpopo (71,8%), Mpumalanga (50,5%), Eastern Cape (50.3%) and KwaZulu-Natal (42,9%). This waste is either left to fester in the streets or taken to unlicensed dumping grounds for disposal.

Uncollected refuse at street level leads to thriving bacteria, insect and vermin populations, increasing the risk of diseases like salmonella, typhoid or enteric fever. Similarly, waste dumps are breeding grounds for carriers of disease, like rats and mosquitoes. Illegally dumped waste has also been linked to respiratory illnesses like asthma and tuberculosis.

According to environmental and social justice organisation Groundwork, nearly half of the country’s 1 327 documented waste dumps are unlicensed. In addition, 58 highly hazardous landfill sites are not licensed.

“These are illegally operated receptacles for uncontrolled, untreated and unmanaged waste,” says van den Berg. “Conversely, licensed landfills are tightly controlled, closely monitored and highly regulated to mitigate against any negative consequences on health and wellbeing.”

While it is not legal to allow an unlicensed dump to operate, many municipalities do not take the necessary steps to control them or convert them into licensed landfills because of the costs and complexities associated with compliance.

Unfortunately, lack of enforcement has given rise to an industry that’s plagued by unlicensed providers which, as well as compromising hygiene standards, has resulted in severe under-pricing that’s a significant barrier to success.

“The costs associated with building and managing landfill sites, like those required in the country, can run well over R100 million and the low-cost nature of waste management can make it hard for companies to foresee getting a return on this investment.” explains van den Berg.

To address this, he believes that government representatives need to work with waste management providers to make compliance a priority, for the sake of the economic, environmental and physical wellbeing of communities.

“Expertise in waste management exists to support provinces and municipalities in their journey to compliance and the promotion of these industries is essential for a flourishing sector that prioritises safety in all of its endeavours,” he concludes.