Kate Stubbs, Marketing Director at Interwaste
AS a country, there is no doubt we are facing a magnitude of issues that border on human rights violation – challenges that have a long road to resolution. Not only are we in the throws of one of the worst power crises the country has seen but so too are we faced with a water crisis, a growing population putting pressure on already strained resources and of course, far reaching climate concerns. However, not all is lost, and this should be a clear message to business and government.
There are solutions that can drive sustainability within key sectors that serve South African consumers and the economy. It merely means looking deeper than the obvious solutions and finding ways to unilaterally work together to ensure such solutions become viable and cost effective, and to ensure that we drive an understanding in communities as to the vital importance of such innovations in meeting South Africa’s challenges and being part of the change. For us, effective waste management and the ability to use waste in creating a circular economy provides a critical pillar to such innovation. Not only does proper waste management ensure that we can reuse and repurpose the growing mound of waste but it ensures that, where waste cannot be repurposed/recycled, it can be – as a last resort – sent to landfill, but done properly.
Without a doubt the waste sector plays a fundamental role in meeting the country’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), tackling not one, but at least 6 of the 15 goals in total. Goals 6 (Safe water), 7 (Clean energy), 13 (Climate action) and 11 (Sustainable cities) being the most prominent in this regard. In fact, it is an integral part of these goals – where, taking the circular economy thinking into account where waste reuse and repurposing is fundamental to not only meeting these objectives but very importantly, is central to addressing environmental impact and growing ESG targets globally.
However, we have a conundrum where business, community and at some levels of government – are under informed about the potential of well-managed, compliant, and innovative waste management solutions. The reality though is that with a population of 61 million people and growing by around 1% a year, and with each person generating around 2kg of waste per day, we are heading towards a waste disaster if we don’t start creating solutions and ensuring that all parties are educated as to why effective waste management is so important.
As a starting point, let’s discuss the impact of wastewater management on driving sustainable water supply. With 7 of the 13 major water systems in South Africa predicted to be in deficit by 2040 and the demand for water expected to exceed available supply by 2030, we need to find solutions. In our experience wastewater management can result in the redistribution of water into the environment for irrigation and dust suppression, as well as to replenish rivers and catchments in our water infrastructure networks. Furthermore, treated to the required standards, we have found that nearly all effluent can be recycled, if done properly, creating a strong solution for water sustainability and access – water that was previously not deemed safe for consumption. We need to create a much more diverse water mix, including groundwater and wastewater reuse, if we hope to protect this scarce resource and create a water supply that is safe and consistent.
On the other hand, waste can tackle energy crises but needs solid business, government and industry collaboration to see it to fruition. If we consider the Just Energy Transition’s (JET) provision focus on achieving “Net Zero” carbon emissions by 2050, exploring alternative sustainable options is key and if we consider that the global waste-to-energy market is expected to grow from $28.4 billion in 2017, to almost $43 billion in 2024, waste presents a large economic opportunity to establish new industries and/or revenue streams and meet SDG Goals. Converting waste to energy production occurs through three key processes – thermal, biological and physical. For each process, there are a variety of technologies available to convert different types of waste to energy such as electricity, steam or gas and so, there are multiple layers to meeting South Africa’s energy crisis – critical to government agendas currently.
However, let’s consider the obvious. Not all waste can be reused or recycled and where it can, sometimes cost can be prohibitive. Therefore, the need for waste management strategies that look at the full value chain of waste and ensure that the growing waste generated by the very communities and businesses we serve can be best managed and disposed of, should be critical. Nobody wants to believe it but engineered landfills and associated waste management practices remain cost effective and so are still an attractive and compliant option for managing a wide variety of waste types. However, with landfill airspace diminishing across the country– with the City of Cape Town municipality only having approximately 10 years landfill airspace capacity left in current facilities, we have to consider the vital importance of creating more space to deal with the waste generated by South Africans.
In fact, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has launched a R120-billion infrastructure portfolio which looks at creating new water sources, expanding waste collection, drop off sites and landfill capacity. A significant amount of budget is being allocated to landfill infrastructure in the region – adding 35 years of airspace. Similarly, he has committed to R5-billion to water security projects – taking up majority of the infrastructure investment.
This reiterates the importance of not only alternative solutions to meeting South Africa’s challenges but indicates the fundamental role of effective, ethical and compliant waste management practices in driving South Africa’s climate agenda. The challenge is large but so are the solutions – we must create strong industry collaboration and investment projects that are supported by communities to truly change the status quo.
