The waste management industry in South Africa is a dynamic, continually evolving entity which is being steered to successfully respond to ever changing, ever more stringent environmental challenges.
The country has in place a framework of environmental legislation and operational guidelines that is considered to be world class. These have, indeed, been used as the basis for the development of similar structures by other countries.
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Ultimate responsibility for the protection of the South African environment currently rests with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (D.E.A.T.) and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (D.W.A.F.). Working closely with these departments, an expert group has produced the ‘Guidelines to Minimum Requirements’ covering critical aspects of waste management in respect to their potential impact on the environment.These documents lay down principles that govern not only wide ranging technical specification but also best practice parameters of Integrated Waste Management policy. The components of this policy i.e. waste minimisation, recycling, treatment and disposal, come together to guide the industry toward a holistic, sustainable position. |
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However, the existence of these wide ranging laws, standards and requirements does nothing to protect our environment without the acceptance and compliance needed to give them substance. To Interwaste they constitute a meaningful point of reference from which the company will continue to innovate.
Soon to be finalised legislation will have far reaching consequences on the industry, and by default, on every South African.The Waste Act will, for the first time, include hazardous wastes generated by the mining and power generation industries into the total recorded volumes of these materials. This will have the effect of increasing, at a stroke, the volumes of hazardous wastes to be managed by a factor of x5.The permitting of new landfill facilities will be more strictly controlled and the cost of these permits massively increased. This will result in a situation where current landfill practices become increasingly cost prohibitive.Opportunities will then arise to further develop integrated waste management strategies to extents that have previously not been financially viable.
The fact that Interwaste has been actively promoting these very strategies as the basis of its’ operational vision for many years reinforces the companys’ claim to being at the forefront of waste management development in South Africa.
