ISSN 1680-4902 R40.00 (incl VAT) • Vol 15, No 2, May 2013 Promoting integrated resources management Adaptable reliability Solid Waste eThekwini: modernised & mechanised Landfills Swaziland’s solid waste management facelift Cape Town Considering Considering urban home urban home composting composting Recycling Beverage Beverage bottle recycling bottle recycling grows 18% grows 18% The official journal of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa Expert Opinion is printed on 100% recycled paper “Our role is to prove that technologies can be rolled out and commercialised using the intellectual capacity within the university.” Mansoor Mollagee, Director of the Process Energy and Environmental Technology Station (PEETS), University of Johannesburg Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa 6 0-4 80 80-4 E SS I ISSN 1 N N 1
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ISSN
168
0-49
02 R
40.0
0 (in
cl V
AT)
• V
ol 1
5, N
o 2,
May
201
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Promoting integrated resources management
Adaptable reliability
Solid WasteeThekwini: modernised & mechanised
LandfillsSwaziland’s solid
waste management facelift
Cape TownConsidering Considering urban home urban home compostingcomposting
The offi cial journal of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa
Expert Opinion
is printed on 100% recycled paper
“Our role is to prove that technologies can be rolled out and commercialised using the intellectual capacity within the university.” Mansoor Mollagee, Director of the Process Energy and Environmental Technology Station (PEETS), University of Johannesburg
Institute ofWaste Managementof Southern Africa
660-
48080
-4
E
SSIISSN
1NN
1
Reduce your CO² footprint. Through our experience and knowledge we can help your company reduce the CO² impact on the environment and be in compliance with Environmental Act of 2012. Through our 18 years of experience, we have developed strategic partnerships revolving around corporate social investment in environmental sustainability. For more information on purchasing and installing bins, contact us on (011) 466 2939 or visit www.collectacan.co.za. Recycle cans today. Sustain tomorrow.
Cover StoryMercedes-Benz Atego
Adaptable reliability 6
RegularsPresident’s comment 3
Editor’s comment 5
IWMSA News 56
Hot seatPEETS, University of Johannesburg 8
Solid wasteSolid waste management practices
in Western Africa 10
Cape Town:
Considering composting 14
Ekurhuleni moves towards
strategic waste management 16
eThekweni: Modern and mechanised
waste transfer station 18
Waste to energyIncineration: a changing landscape 22
contentswww.3smedia.co.za ISSN 1680-4902, Volume 15, Number 2, May 2013
The RéSource team stands firmly behind environmental preservation. As such, RéSource magazine is printed on 100% recycled paper and uses no dyes or varnishes. The magazine is saddle-stitched to ensure that no glues are required in the binding process.
RéSource offers advertisers an ideal platform to ensure maximum exposure of their brand. Companies are afforded the opportunity of publishing a cover story and a cover picture to promote their products and services to an appropri-ate audience. Please call Christine Pretorius on +27 (0)11 465 6273 to secure your booking. The article does not represent the views of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa, or those of the publisher.
Annual subscription: [email protected] (incl VAT) South Africa ISSN 1680-4902
The Institute of Waste Management of Southern AfricaTel: +27 (0)11 675 3462E-mail: [email protected]
All material herein RéSource is copyright-protected and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the publisher. The views and opinions ex-pressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or editor, but those of the author or other contributors under whose name contributions may appear, unless a con-tributor expresses a viewpoint or opinion in his or her capacity as an elected office bearer of a company, group or association.
Reliability, safety and environmental awareness, with excellent driving comfort, are but
a few of the qualities that set the Mercedes-Benz Atego apart.
MERCEDES-BENZ ATEGO
Adaptable reliability
as specialised equipment vehicles such as
the waste collection vehicles favoured in most
waste management applications .
As the Atego frame was specially designed
with the demands of short-radius operation
in mind, a special feature insuring this is its
two-piece design. The front section compris-
es two downward-sloping longitudinal mem-
bers with Z-profile, which enables the front
part to be lowered, resulting in a lower entry
level for driver and passenger convenience.
The vehicle offers two cabs for a wide
range of applications. The short cab is ideal
for short-radius operations and the long cab
with crew seat/bunk combination is best for
short- to medium-radius operation.
Christo Kleynhans, Mercedes-Benz Trucks
product manager, says: “Featuring relia-
ble, high-torque 4- and 6-cylinder engines
as well as gearshift systems, transmis-
sions and axles aligned with each appli-
cation, the Mercedes-Benz Atego delivers
supreme performance.
Three high-per formance, weight-opti-
mised and perfectly configured 6-speed
Cover story
The low-noise, low-maintenance drive axles have a positive effect on
fuel consumption
ABOVE AND BELOW The Atego is designed to cope with the demands of light-duty short-radius distribution, while ensuring driver comfort
transmission sys-
tems (optionally
available with the
Telligent auto-
mated gearshift)
enable engine
power to be trans-
ferred to the road
with minimal loss
due to friction,
adds Kleynhans.
The low-noise,
low-maintenance
drive axles have a
positive effect on
fuel consumption. Boasting a large num-
ber of different ratios, they deliver opti-
mum drive configurations to handle virtually
all applications.
The Atego chassis offers optimum protec-
tion against rust as a result of the cathodic
dip priming. Due to the 50 mm hole pattern,
no further drilling is necessary when mount-
ing any attachments and other units, such
as tanks, exhaust systems and batteries.
Bodies can therefore be pre-assembled and
mounted, efficiently reducing processing
time at the bodybuilder.
Kleynhans adds: “The Atego is arguably
the benchmark in its market segment and
offers unsurpassable performance, safety
and uptime among other things. Total cost
of ownership along with the support from
Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s value chain
offerings makes a strong business case for
the Mercedes-Benz Atego.”
Shift in focus“While we believe that there will be a shift in
the mode of transport as government imple-
ments the aggressive and ambitious expan-
sion of the rail network, we also believe that
the demand for more integrated transport
solutions will remain and increase,” con-
cludes Kleynhans.
RéSource May 2013 – 7
The biggest tyre grab crane in SAMercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) has handed over a fleet of three Mercedes-Benz Actros 4144K/51 trucks with a unique heavy-duty tyre crane to Beltread Tyres. Mounted on the Actros, it is the largest and most sophisticated tyre handler currently in operation in the country. The iconic tyre grab was achieved by adapting the Stellar TM16160 Tyre Manipulator to suit the HMF 6020-K1-RC truck-mounted crane. The tyre handler was designed to fit onto a Mercedes-Benz Actros 4144 (8x4) with custom wheelbase and body crafted to the last centimetre to meet the spec from Beltread Tyres. Peter Toweel, managing member of the company, says: “The Mercedes-Benz Actros 4144 is a comprehensible choice for our requirements because it is power ful and reliable. The reliability of the Mercedes-Benz brand, as well as the support from the dealership and head office, is an added bonus to us.”Craig Rogers, sales manager of Crane & Forestry Equipment, says: “Custom-built tyre handlers have to conform to local and international mining safety standards. In the end, we had a phenomenal vehicle and are proud to have been part of this journey.”The vehicle allows for faster ear thmoving machinery, such as those necessitated on landfill and waste management sites, than the conventional method, with unsurpassable safety standards. The Stellar TM16160 Tyre Manipulator is capable of handling up to 63 inches of the largest ear thmoving tyre in Africa and has as safe working load of 7 500 kg.Mounted on the truck is an SHD-245 American Eagle air compressor – an industrial four-cylinder, two-stage unit that is powered by a hydraulic motor that
puts out 110 cfm at 175 psi. The crane is equipped as standard with continuous rotation, while the Danfoss PVG32 high-precision proportional valve bank offers smooth, multifunction operation.A feature that increases operator safety and efficiency of the crane operation is a Scanreco radio remote control that offers live feedback on crane speed and load percentage.The crane is equipped with multiple safety features for the protection of the staff and fitters working in and around the machine. The vehicle is remote-controlled so that the operator can work at a safe distance, away from possible harm, such as that posed by unstable landfill sites.
ABOVE AND BELOW (From right to left) Peter Toweel, Beltread managing member; Pieter Theron, regional sales manager (MBSA) and Dave Croxon, (sales executive Union Motors Lowveld)
TABLE 1 What is the product range?
Freight Carrier918/42
1118/48
1318/48
1323/48
1518/54
1523/54
1528/54
Tipper1518K/33
All wheel drive1118AF/39
1428AF/39
Cover story
Hot seat
The core business of the Process, Energy
and Environmental Technology Station
(PEETS), according to Mollagee, is in
the energy (focusing on renewables and en-
ergy efficiency) and environmental spheres (fo-
cusing on water, air and solid waste), with the
emphasis on waste-to-energy. “Our role is to
prove that technologies can be rolled out and
commer c ia l i sed
using the intellec-
tual capacity within
the university.”
Essentially, says Mollagee, PEETS moves
from the premise that the UJ's faculty of
Engineering and the Built Environment has a
7 000-strong student base, a considerable
postgraduate pipeline at master's and PhD
level and approximately 200 academics at its
disposal. These intellectual “resources” are
in addition to the over 1 000 trainees
eligible for internship in the technology
and training programme that are “being
churned out” every year across 10 to
12 different disciplines. “Harnessing
human capacity in a contextual man-
ner is really where a lot of the problem
originates because there is traditionally
a big chasm between universities and
industry – and that is where we envi-
sion our role,” says Mollagee, adding
that the issue is not skills but rather
the relevance of those skills to the
local markets and challenges.
“It is purely the idea of harnessing
the human capital within a real time,
real world context and then focusing
it on the problem at hand in order to
galvanise the role players towards a sustain-
able solution.”
Contextual analysis:1. AirThe focus in this context for the unit is on
investigating emissions from industrial activ-
ity in the engineering and mining sectors, pri-
marily. “There is appropriate legislation that
was recently modified, e.g. the Air Quality
Act, so our idea is to iron out the kinks that
prevent companies from complying with the
law,” he states.
Mollagee believes that the current “car-
rot and stick” approach is not necessarily
always the most beneficial approach and
is actually having a negative effect on the
growth of SMMEs in the sector. In addition,
the capacity to enforce this approach is
8 – RéSource May 2013
PEETS, UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
Resourceful innovationA newly created unit, within the broader University of Johannesburg context, is focusing
on developing intellectual, technological and well-defi ned practical solutions for the
multitude of energy and environmental challenges within the South African milieu,
director of technology station Mansoor Mollagee tells Chantelle van Schalkwyk.
also lacking. “The main challenge therefore
comes down to technical competence and
the ability to implement lasting and sustain-
able solutions while bringing companies
closer to compliance with the law.”
On a project by project basis, the unit
assesses a particular operation, specifically
evaluating the extent to which the operation
contributes towards harmful emissions and
technological interventions to mitigate this.
“In this arena, we work with
all tiers of government, whether
national, provincial or local, to
make these interventions rel-
evant and help realise already
established targets.”
2. Water and wastewaterThe primary challenge in the context of
drinking water is the optimal utilisation of
the resource currently available to us as a
country. “We are losing water at the rate of
billions of litres per annum that are unac-
counted for,” continues Mollagee.
As such, the focus is on the capacity of
the coalface of service delivery – municipal
It is purely the idea of harnessing the human capital within a real time, real world context.” Mansoor Mollagee, Director of PEETS
RéSource May 2013 – 9
officials. “We are looking at interventions
and specifically setting up facilities that
can train municipal officials in the already
prevalent and apparent challenges, like leak-
age detection, how to do a water audit and
so forth,” explains Mollagee, adding that he
believes it is pivotal that this problem be
addressed on a micro pilot scale, municipal-
ity by municipality. The intervention will start
in Limpopo and Gauteng jointly, before being
rolled out on a larger scale.
PEETS has, however, taken a different
approach to addressing the challenges faced
in the wastewater context. “We are sitting
with more than 800 water treatment plants,
of which at least 400
are operating at criti-
cal levels in the last
Green Drop report.
We require more
than R500 billion to
upgrade and main-
tain existing infra-
structure and build
new treatment plants
because it has gone
into a state of disrepair. But blame is not the
issue – we as PEETS are interested in how
we are going to solve the problem sustain-
ably,” he says.
Regionally, PEETS has started by focusing
its proposed interventions on KwaZulu-Natal.
“We are looking at creating strategic partner-
ships with international investors where they
will come and build the plant at no cost to the
municipality, recovering their cost per kilolitre
through water purchase agreements with the
municipalities, over sustained periods of
time,” states Mollagee. Obviously, challeng-
es arise around governance and municipal
finance management, but these can, to a
large degree, be solved through establishing
sound public-private partnerships (PPPs). “I
think the solution lies in forming solid PPPs
driven by technically competent entities, be it
us or similar role players, so that the related
politics is sidelined,” he continues.
A further wastewater focus – and a major
driver in the unit – is the waste-to-energy
aspect. The unit is engaging Johannesburg
Water on a project that assesses the use of
the sewage’s low-grade methane emissions
to generate electricity, wastewater treatment
plant by wastewater treatment plant.
“These interventions are about rolling out
implementable, bankable, scalable pilot
projects that feed into government’s drive
for increasing human capacity develop-
ment, technology transfer and job creation,”
says Mollagee.
3. Solid wasteAccording to
Mollagee, the con-
text locally with
regards to solid
waste and the
related legislation is
good; the ideal of a
zero-waste-to-landfill
is fully realisable. “It
is possible to move to a zero waste–to-land-
fill reality not only on a policy level, but on a
realised implementation level; however, the
issue is cascading this idea and its related
implications down to a micro-level within
communities and municipalities.”
The technology to make this a reality, how-
ever, is proven and readily available – as is
the case specifically with waste to energy,
which is where the unit is specifically focus-
ing its efforts in this sphere. “The problem
with waste to energy, particularly locally,
is the cost of rolling out the technology.
Our approach as PEETS is going to be very
different, looking at localising the technol-
ogy so that it becomes affordable within the
South African context.”
Proven processesPEETS, however, is not about merely provid-
ing intellectually driven solutions – it is more
than willing to practise what it preaches.
A good example of this is the implementa-
tion of the abovementioned technologies on
the Doornfontein Campus in Johannesburg,
where the unit is based.
Part of the project includes a 1 MW (gen-
eration capacity) photovoltaic installation of
a few thousand solar panels on all of the
campus’s rooftops to mitigate the current
consumption and move off-grid. “The idea
is to reduce our dependence on the city
power grid, and if this proves to be success-
ful, it will be the largest mass-scale roof-
top photovoltaic installation in the country,”
continues Mollagee.
Once the solar installation is complete, the
unit will move on to processing all waste gen-
erated on-site and piloting waste-to-energy
technologies, as well as assessing the effi-
cacy of harvesting its own water and digest-
ing the campus’ own sewage. “I think within
three to five years we will have achieved all
this and it will stand as proof that similar
integrated energy pilots can be implemented
on a micro-scale in South Africa and become
a major contributor towards job creation,”
concludes Mollagee.
PEETS: WHAT IS ON OFFER?
THE PRIMARY MANDATE of PEETS is to foment technology transfer and human capacity development in the energy and environment realm for the socio-economic benefit of all South Africans. “We support youth who demonstrate innovation, government entities that need refinement of their systems to achieve greater capacity to deliver or private companies that need assistance in addressing their energy needs or environmental problems,” says Mollagee.
The unit’s products and services include:• testing• analysis services• manufacturing/prototyping/ up-scaling• consultation/technology audit• product and process development• project-applied engineering, design and
development• project research and development• technology demonstration• training and development.
Hot seat
These interventions are about rolling out implementable, bankable, scalable pilot projects that feed into government’s drive for increasing human capacity development
ABOVE PEETS exhibition stand at the Energy Indaba, Sandton Convention Centre which was held from 19 to 21 February.OPPOSITE Qedani Mahlangu Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development at the exhibition opening
10 – RéSource May 2013
Solid waste
PART IV OF IV
Solid waste management practices in Western AfricaIn Western Africa, the rapid rate of uncontrolled and unplanned urbanisation coupled
with a high density of urban settlement and changing consumption patterns, have
accelerated the need for water supply, sanitation and waste management infrastructure –
often resulting in no proper separation of the different health care waste as well.
This is the fourth and final instalment
of a paper investigating waste manage-
ment and its challenges in the west of
the African continent and deals specifically
with the handling of health-care waste in the
region as well as the final conclusions.
Health-care wasteOften, no proper separation of the differ-
ent types of health-care waste takes place,
resulting in it getting mixed with household
waste. Very few institutions separate their
waste – predominantly large hospitals in
major cities. They separate sharp waste;
infectious, but not sharp waste; and ana-
tomical waste; sometimes using a colour
code system. In the healthcare institu-
tions, waste is most often not transported
adequately (containers without wheels, etc).
Infectious waste is sometimes treated
with bleach, sterilised in autoclaves or
incinerated. But most health-care facilities
do not have access to such treatment
facilities and, if they exist, they are often
dysfunctional (open-air incinerators) or out
of operation. The most modern incinerators
in Senegal are to be found in the principal
hospital – the Dantec Hospital – and in the
Pasteur Institute. Ash is put together with
household waste and brought to the dump-
ing sites. Anatomic waste such as placentas
is often delivered to the belonging families
for burial.
Besides the few treatment options, most
of the health-care waste transportation is
subcontracted to the same companies that
transport municipal solid waste (MSW).
Consequently, it ends up at official or
informal dumpsites together with the MSW
without any prior treatment, except in Lagos
where the waste is shredded and the
original volume is reduced by 80%. The
shredded waste is heated at temperature of
135°C and 4 bar pressure. The final prod-
ucts are then disposed of with other general
waste (LAWMA, 2008).
Some structures, such as the University
Hospital of Yopougon (Ivory Coast) have
their own dumpsite for the reception of
wastes of all types.
A factory in Port Harcourt, River State
(Nigeria), called BOSKEL Thermal Factory
incinerates expired pharmaceutical products
and antiretroviral drugs in a high temperature
rotary kiln incineration (Iyortim et al., 2011).
ConclusionsMSW is composed of recyclable materials
ABOVE Plastic waste sorting at dumpsite, SenegalSource: IAGU 2006
ABOVE RIGHT Plastic waste sorting, GhanaSource: www.trashybags.org 2012
RIGHT Infectious waste bin in a health-care facility in Lagos, NigeriaSource: Oketola et al., 2011
BOTTOM RIGHT A locally built incinerator at a health-care facility, Ibadan, NigeriaSource: Oketola et al., 2011
12 – RéSource May 2013
official dumpsites feature leakage water or
gas control; leakage water often reaches the
closest river or lake. In none of the target
countries does a sanitary landfill exist where
MSW could be disposed of appropriately,
although in some countries such landfills
are planned. Instead of dumping MSW, it is
a very common practice for households to
burn paper and plastic components of their
waste. Also, at irregular and official dump-
sites, waste is often burnt in order to reduce
the volumes. Burning of waste, especially
plastics, can lead to significant air pollution
with dioxins and furans.
Plastic waste, which accounts for around
15 to 20% of municipal waste in the four
countries, is rarely sorted at source but dis-
posed of together with the remaining waste
fractions. Separate collection is carried out
by informal collectors that sort, reuse and
recycle plastics themselves or work together
with a formal plastic recycler. Both formal
and informal plastic recycling exists that
include sorting, shredding, washing, drying
and extruding in order to produce pellets
or flakes. There is little documentation
on recycling processes and its resulting
environmental impacts. There are plans to
intensify sorting and recycling of plastics in
some cities.
Waste electric and electronic equipment
(WEEE) or e-waste originates mainly from
households, corporate businesses, public
institutions and repair businesses. There
is no formal collection of e-waste, but due
to its valuable content (iron, aluminum,
copper etc.), it is often bought or collected
by informal e-waste collectors who go from
door to door but also sift through waste
bins, visit landfills and other waste dumping
grounds to search for e-waste. The quantity
of e-waste is difficult to determine due to
different product scope of existing studies.
Ghana and Nigeria, which have received
large quantities of second-hand equipment
in the past years, have showed a signifi-
cantly higher e-waste generation than Ivory
Coast and Senegal.
Obsolete electric and electronic equipment
is often refurbished or repaired before it is
disposed of. These activities in general do
not lead to negative environmental impacts
but contribute to the extension of the lifetime
of equipment and
therefore a reduction
of WEEE generated.
Recycling of e-waste
mainly takes place at
informal scrapyards
where devices are
manually dismantled
and valuable sub-
stances are extract-
ed, sorted and then
sold to local smelters
or exporters. Copper
cables are often burnt
to remove the plastic
casings. ‘Non profit-
able’ fractions such
as plastic casings
are not recovered
and usually dumped and eventually burnt in
order to reduce the volumes of the dump-
sites. Besides valuable substances, e-waste
also contains many toxic substances (lead,
cadmium, mercury, plastics with brominated
flame retardants) that are released during
the dismantling and burning process and
lead to serious environmental impacts.
Final disposal of e-waste fractions often
takes place on irregular or illegal dump-
sites next to the scrapyards. There are no
ABOVE In Senegal, the average waste generation for municipal waste is 0.60 kg/day per inhabitant for cities with more than 100 000 inhabitantsBELOW The public administration and the private sector are challenged in developing adequate waste management policies
Solid waste
RéSource May 2013 – 13
Solid waste
Integrated Waste Management PlansWaste Disposal StrategiesIdentification and permitting of landfill sitesDesign of General and Hazardous Waste sitesDesign of Solid Waste Transfer StationsDesign of Material Recovery FacilitiesOptimisation of Waste Collection SystemsAuditing of Waste Management FacilitiesDevelopment of Operational PlansClosure and Rehabilitation of LandfillsQuality Assurance on Synthetic LinersWaste Recycling Plans
Specialist Waste Management ConsultantsSustainable and appropriate engineering solutions with integrity and professionalism.
ABOVE LEFT E-waste refurbishing, NigeriaSource: Empa 2009
ABOVE RIGHT E-waste recycling, GhanaSource: Green Advocacy Ghana 2010
Solid waste
This is in line with ongoing investigations
into waste minimisation as part of our
commitment to being a caring city,” says
Ernest Sonnenberg, mayoral committee mem-
ber for Utility Services.
The “caring city” represents one of the
five pillars of the Integrated Development
Plan (IDP). The IDP is a strategy that was
implemented in 2012 to provide the strategic
framework for building a city based on five
pillars: the opportunity city, the safe city, the
caring city, the inclusive city and the well-run
city. These five key focus areas inform gov-
ernment of all of the city’s plans and policies
over the next five years.
Critical impactIf residents in the City of Cape Town com-
post their organic waste, this will effectively
minimise garden and kitchen organic waste
directed to the city’s landfills for disposal,
subsequen t l y
reducing green-
house gases,
such as meth-
ane, which these waste streams currently
generate in the landfill, says Sonnenberg. He
adds that for the individual residents the use
of their organic compost in their gardens will
enrich the garden soils, thereby stimulating
plants grown.
The City of Cape Town has invested a lot of
time and effort into this project and similar
alternatives because, as Sonnenberg states,
the city currently has less than 10 years of
landfill airspace remaining, compared with
the international standard of 15 years, and
has been in the process of obtaining a
licence for a new regional landfill site for over
10 years.
Phase 1: pre-feasibilityPhase 1 of the project (the pre-feasibility
study) was undertaken during 2012, where
19 participants trialled the use of home com-
posting containers for their kitchen organic
and a portion of their garden waste, over a
period of nine months. The city then ana-
lysed the data submitted by participants
and, according to Sonnenberg, found that
participants diverted between 2.5 and 40 kg
of kitchen organic waste (originating from
fruit and vegetables) per container per month
into their home composting containers, with
the majority of them diverting between 11 to
22 kg per container per month.
“Participants also diverted an average of
1.8 kg of soft garden waste (such as grass
clippings and leaves) per container per month
into their home composting containers.”
“These results are promising, and Phase 2
of the research project (the feasibility study)
has been commissioned to test the results
of Phase 1 on a significantly larger scale,
with approximately 700 participants from four
different representative residential areas in
Cape Town. In addition, households in the
city are generally being encouraged to begin
composting their garden and kitchen organic
waste in an appropriate manner,” states
Sonnenberg, adding that the City of Cape
Town hopes to record similar diversion rates
to that of Phase 1, which could be reason to
motivate for further roll-out of home compost-
ing in the city in an appropriate manner.
The impact of Phase 1 has already deliv-
ered measurable results. “During the
Phase 1 reporting period, over 1 000 kg of
kitchen organic waste and 250 kg of garden
waste was recorded as being
composted by participants who
submitted comprehensive data,”
explains Sonnenberg.
Although additional partici-
pants did not record data for all
the months they participated,
all 19 participants used their
containers for composting, indicating that
this figure is an underestimate of the actual
kilogrammes composted to date.
Furthermore, the participants have contin-
ued to use their composting containers after
CAPE TOWN
14 – RéSource May 2013
“
The City of Cape Town has, as of the fi rst
quarter of this year, started rolling out Phase 2
of its home composting research project, fi nds
Chantelle van Schalkwyk.
Considering composting
These results are promising, and Phase 2 of the research project has been commissioned to test the results of Phase 1 on a significantly larger scale” Cllr Ernest Sonnenberg, City of Cape Town
RéSource May 2013 – 15
Solid waste
the project reporting period, therefore con-
tinuing to divert organic waste from landfills.
Education essentialSonnenberg explains that in the city’s recruit-
ment process, consultants went door to
door in the project areas to invite willing par-
ticipants. This engagement process included
information sharing about the project and its
expectations. On receiving their composting
container, each participant received an infor-
mation leaflet that explained every aspect of
the composting project.
“Following this period, residents have been
e-mailing and SMSing questions specific
to their individual challenges to the project
team. Responding to these queries has given
the project manager an opportunity to share
additional knowledge with all participants,”
says Sonnenberg.
Practical priorities: containersWith regard to the system to be utilised by
the homeowners, Sonnenberg indicates that
the City of Cape Town advertised a request
for quotations for home composting contain-
ers for the purposes of this project, which
was won by the Green Genie 150 ℓ compost
container supplier.
“However, generally for home composting,
this is not the only technology which the city
supports, and it is essentially the residents’
choice in terms of the technology they wish
to use. For residents who generate higher
volumes of organic waste, building a com-
post heap or carrying out trench composting
is advised, and for those without gardens,
a worm composting system is suggested,”
says Sonnenberg.
He adds that the use of bokashi effective
microbes can also assist in the preservation
of organic waste prior to composting.
Challenging circumstancesPhase 2 of the project is currently being
undertaken to identify some of the potential
challenges and potential solutions. “In any
city, there would always be certain residents
who would either be disinterested or unable,
due to age or frailty, to participate in home
composting. For those unable to participate
in home composting, the city is hoping to
investigate alternatives, such as community-
based composting programmes, which could
receive organic waste from these residents,”
says Sonnenberg.
However, challenges such as some partici-
pants being unable to read the city’s commu-
nications and composting instructions have
already surfaced and the city is finding ways
of dealing with them. “The city encourages
such participants to get a family member to
assist and keep in telephone contact, where
possible,” advices Sonnenberg.
In addition, there were participants who
did not read the instructions sufficiently, and
sent the project team the information in the
incorrect format. This was resolved by further
e-mail, SMS or phone communication to rec-
tify and explain these mistakes.
“Some confusion was also caused by
the fact that the container was originally
sold with an insect repellent cap, which
was later found by the supplier to be coun-
ter-productive. As such, the participants
enquired about an insect repellent that
could kill insects in the containers, such as
fruit flies, and the project team needed to
explain that these insects are not harmful,
whereas an insect repellent could potentially
negatively impact on other living organisms
within the delicate composting process,”
explains Sonnenberg.
According to Sonnenberg, residents were
eager to participate in this project. “It must
be noted that certain participants underesti-
mated the effort and commitment required
by the project, so their enthusiasm waned
slightly after participating for a while, but
it is hoped that when they experience the
benefits of utilising the compost, their
enthusiasm will once again increase,” con-
cludes Sonnenberg.
Solid waste
EKURHULENI
Move towards strategic management of wasteThe provision of effi cient refuse removal services in Ekurhuleni is top priority for the
head of the Department for Waste Management Services at the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan
Municipality, Qaphile Gcwensa.
The metro has been criticised for incon-
sistent service standards, lack of exper-
tise to drive innovation, and a difficult
to understand and unreliable refuse collection
system. Gcwensa, who has been at the helm
of the department for a year now, has been
working hard at a business reengineering pro-
cess set to transform the department’s op-
erations, systems,
models and legisla-
tive compliance.
“One of the key
areas of this pro-
cess is our opera-
tions,” she high-
lights. “We are
looking into the way
in which we render
our services, the
balancing of our routes, the number of shifts,
the distribution and utilisation of equipment
and vehicles, and also considering the effec-
tiveness of our move-on system of refuse
collection versus the fixed system.”
Residents of Germiston and Bedfordview
have already begun to experience the
effects of this focus on streamlining
operations. In January, the Bedfordview
waste management depot started render-
ing comprehensive services to the areas
of Primrose, Elandsfontein, Klopperpark,
Malvern East and Wychwood instead of only
litter picking. These areas were previously
serviced by the Germiston depot, based on
an informal agreement, and this led to an
unreliable service.
The re-engineering process is putting a
spotlight into such matters, which were pre-
viously overlooked and in turn had a nega-
tive effect on service delivery.
Bins and trucks Another element is the phased roll-out of
Waste removal cooperativesIn September last year, executive mayor
Mondli Gungubele announced the introduction
of cooperatives to render removal services
in informal settlements that currently do not
receive these services. The department is at
the final stages of phase one of this process.
LEFT Qaphile Gcwensa, head of Department for Waste Management Services, is focusing on getting the wheels running right to improve service deliveryBELOW Waste collection in Ekurhuleni is set to be quicker and more efficient once 240 ℓ bins are rolled out throughout the metro
16 – RéSource May 2013
RéSource May 2013 – 17
Solid waste
A cleaner EkurhuleniWaste minimisation and recycling are key
components of an integrated waste man-
agement system. The Waste Management
Services department is due to present this
plan, which will be a key part of a broader
Integrated Waste Management Plan, before
the end of this financial year. This plan
offers, among others things, the removal of
recyclables from the waste stream in order
to reduce waste volumes to landfill sites,
which are running out of airspace.
According to Gcwensa, the metro is
moving towards ensuring compliance with
all legislative requirements, including
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INFORMAL RECYCLERSThe Ekurhuleni Metropolitan
Municipality is forging ahead with
its mission to achieve a ‘Cleaner
and Greener Ekurhuleni’ by kick-
starting a recycling initiative in
the communities of Wattville and
Actonville in Benoni.
THE METRO RECENTLY commenced with a R4 million pilot project, which includes two recycling drop off/collection centres in those areas built by NETSAFRICA, an organisation formed from the twinning of Tuscan and South African local governments. The project involved capacitating 45 informal waste collectors who have now formed the Nkoza Environment and Cleaning Primary Cooperative. The organisation will be responsible for collecting waste in areas of Wattville and Actonville where the municipality is not already rendering this service. The waste will be sorted and sold for recycling purposes.
Over the past 18 months, partners have been setting the foundation for the pilot by conducting research and training, and constructing the necessary facilities. Now the project is to fully roll-out its operations to the community to test the effectiveness of the model that involves community-based organisations in waste collection and recycle efforts.
According to a member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development and City Planning, Bennett Nikani, the objectives of the project are twofold. The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has developed a comprehensive job creation programme that seeks to activate social entrepreneurship through the implementation of community-driven work programmes,” he said.
“Hence the partnership with NETSAFRICA, which has enabled us to spearhead and provide thought leadership in the area of waste management through the use of alternative service delivery methods. It is in this regard that the lessons that have been generated from the programme will be instrumental in shaping our thinking and approach towards community-based empowerment.”
The collection of recycling waste involves placing bins in areas where there is illegal dumping and door-to-door collection with refuse bags at households. This system seeks to allow for contact with individual residents in order to encourage them to enlist in the culture of recycling. The cooperative will make use of a truck and tricycles with a front mesh cage for the collection of recyclable waste, which they will deliver to the drop-off centres for sorting and storage until it is sold.
LANDFILL GAS WELLS EXTENSION TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY“Due to its status as Africa’s industrial hub, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) is one of the country’s priority areas to improve its air quality. One of the measures that the metro is taking is the implementation of a gas extraction project at its landfi ll sites,” says acting media relations unit manager and EMM spokesperson, Sam Modiba.
THE METRO IS INSTALLING gas wells at selected waste landfill sites as an extension of its gas extraction Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project, which aims to drastically reduce odour and improve air quality in areas surrounding these facilities.
The project commenced in 2006 and has to date implemented the system at four of its five landfills. Positive results reflecting a large drop in gas emissions from the landfills has prompted the municipality to continue with the project and extend its wellfield at the Rooikraal (Boksburg) and Weltevreden (Brakpan) sites.
Modiba has appealed to residents and business owners in close proximity to the two sites to be understanding for the next three months as the process of installation of the wells will result in odour release in the area. “This process involves digging and trenching into waste, which is already in place at the landfill and, as a result, the release of a stench. Odour control will, however, be used and will be applied directly to the waste as well as in the form of an ambient spray curtain,” he said.
The CDM project is expected to destroy approximately 1 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent gases during a five-year period. Emission reduction is achieved by the
combustion of recovered methane contained in landfill gas that would be otherwise emitted to the atmosphere. To recover landfill gas, EMM is using vertical gas extraction wells and horizontal gas collection systems.
At this stage, the landfill gas collected through this system is being used for environmental purposes. The metro’s long-term goal is, however, to have it converted into electricity and has rekindled this process.
BELOW The gas flare station at the Simmer and Jack landfill site in Germisten into which the wells ultimately feed
measures and mechanisms aimed at mini-
mising waste. The revision of the Ekurhuleni
Metropolitan Municipality’s waste manage-
ment by-laws and introduction of norms and
standards have also been prioritised.
The picture of actual service delivery,
however, is promising as the department
reports that 91% of refuse removal rounds
were collected as per schedule in the
last quarter. Litter picking services are
rendered on a daily basis to ensure clean-
liness on main entrances, main routes,
central business districts, industrial areas,
around shopping malls and at other strate-
gic areas.
18 – RéSource May 2013
The construction of the 1 200 t/d Electron Road Waste Transfer Station by eThekwini
Municipality to serve the Durban area is almost 70% complete, Marc Wright of Durban
Solid Waste (DSW) tells Chantelle van Schalkwyk.
This new waste management facility is
set to provide the region with a modern
and mechanised means of transferring
municipal general solid wastes as efficiently
and cost-effectively as possible to the landfill
sites,” says Wright.
“Although currently the project is all about
the construction stages as it hasn’t been
commissioned yet,” he adds.
Wright states that the challenges faced
to date have therefore been construction
related, but adds that these have been few
and far between and easily remedied, such
as the use of tilt-up panel wall system.
Instead of conventional brickwork laid layer
by layer, the system is erected fully formed
on-site having been precast in proprietary
moulds. “However, it will still have the
same face brick finish,” he explains.
“Other construction frustrations causing
some delays have been early September
rains and high seasonal rainfall and mate-
rial supply delays, specifically steel for
“ the steel structure.” Construction on this
R140 million project started on 12 March
2012 and is set to continue for 78 weeks.
“Currently, the project is approximately
70% complete with commissioning pro-
jected to take place in September 2013,”
says Wright.
Distinct design Jeffares & Green, the firm of engineering
and environmental consultants responsible
for designing the facility, was appointed to
design a modern and mechanised waste
transfer station (WTS) at Electron Road in
Springfield Park, an industrial and commer-
cial area north of Durban.
The main structure, which includes a
refuse transfer station and compaction hall
among other facilities, will be built on a
site roughly 4 ha in size where waste will
be offloaded, compacted and containerised
for bulk transportation. The Electron Road
Waste Transfer Station (WTS) will comprise
a main four-storey DSW office building and
some 4 290 m² in plan, in which waste will
be offloaded into compaction units, com-
pacted into purpose-made containers for
bulk transportation and then transported to
the new Buffelsdraai landfill site.
As Wright explains, the aim of construct-
ing the facility in Springfield (Durban) is to
somewhat reduce the transport expenses
of transferring solid waste to landfills, as
landfills are increasingly sited further and
further from the point of waste generation
(households, business, commercial, indus-
trial, etc.).
At present, most of the waste in Durban
City is disposed of at the Bisasar Road
landfill site in Springfield Park, but this site
is reaching capacity. When this capacity
is reached, waste collection vehicles will
have to travel to the Buffelsdraai landfill
site approximately 33 km away – more
than double the 15 km distance that is
considered an economic travelling cost for
Solid waste
ETHEKWINI
Modern and mechanised waste transfer station
RéSource May 2013 – 19
Solid waste
waste collection vehicles. These prohibitive
transport costs have made the provision of
a WTS financially prudent, particularly since
the Electron Road site is less than 1 km
from the Bisasar Road site. The reduced
transportation will also reduce fuel con-
sumption, congestion as well as wear and
tear on road systems, with an overall reduc-
tion of carbon emissions.
Upgrading of Electron Road roadway
will provide dedicated access to the site,
access roads to the various handling areas
within the site, a security building, weigh-
bridge kiosks for the monitoring and record-
ing of waste mass, wash bays for the
waste fleet and containers, a car park
and covered waiting
area at the entrance
to the facility.
The contract
involves the construc-
tion of the structures,
civil works and infra-
structure, and build-
ing-related mechani-
cal, electrical, elec-
tronic works, together with the mechanical
plant for the operation of the facility. The
works comprise, but is not limited to:
the refuse transfer station, a compaction
hall, container-handling operations, offic-
es, weighbridge infrastructure, mechanical
equipment and plant. It also contains wash
bays, security facilities, entrance building
and weighbridges.
Unique technologyThe design also includes the maximisation
of use of natural lighting and ventilation,
stormwater treatment, pollution control by
means of litter traps, silt traps and oil traps.
Specific stormwater treatment processes
were designed to control pollution and
allow discharge of an acceptable effluent
from the site. One item in the stormwater
treatment portfolio that has been carefully
designed is the bioswale, which is a careful-
ly landscaped and shaped open stormwater
system (channel) to enhance the removal of
solids, metals and the like. Another element
is the stormwater inlets designed to effec-
tively remove litter and sediment before
these reach other systems.
A unique waste management feature –
highlighted by both Jeffares & Green and
by Wright – is the compaction process
that will be used for
the first time in South
Africa. The system
– the Husmann com-
paction system – was
accepted as an alterna-
tive design proposed
by the successful bid-
der, Aveng-Grinaker LTA
Construction. Imported
from Germany, the system is patented to
use side rams, explains Wright. In this case,
dual side rams are utilised to compact
the waste and then move it into the hop-
per, therefore eliminating the sometimes
“messy” use of conveyors.
“This process is a lot cleaner, quicker,
simpler and hopefully more effective, and
is definitely new and innovative in the
landfill and waste management industry,”
says Wright.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS Aerial photographs of the site progress as of 5 April 2013
A unique waste management feature is the compaction process that will be used for the first time in South Africa
20 – RéSource May 2013
Solid waste
Sustainable approachMariannhill Landfill
C o n s e r v a n c y
Site, just outside
Durban, is con-
sidered a best-
practice ecosystem
restoration project
and DSW will apply
the same award-
winning environ-
mental approach at
Electron Road. The
successful process
is driven by PRUNIT
(Plant Rescue and
Relocation Unit),
headed up by Richard Winn, a horticultural-
ist and rehabilitation specialist. This unit
applied the philosophy of moving plant
species once only and uses a rehabilitation
nursery as a backup when direct relocation
is not possible. The basic principles are:
• tr y and relocate species to their
original aspect
• import no foreign soils
• relocate grasslands with original topsoil
• relocate original watercourse species to
wetland nurseries for future utilisation
• create a similar habitat to what
originally occurred
• only relocate species within 50 km as per
international biodiversity protocol, prefer-
ably closer.
This ecosystem restoration project has cre-
ated a large holding nursery for storage of
indigenous vegetation that has been ‘hard-
ened-off’ to withstand rigorous conditions
with little or no maintenance. For example,
a nursery of wetland plants has been grown
for the future establishment of ‘leachate
through wetland’ processes of water back
into the environment and these plants have
been specifically hardened off for contami-
nants found in the waste industry.
Very little plant
material could be
salvaged from the
Electron Road site
and DSW, PRUNIT
and Jef fares &
Green worked closely
together to develop a
design of what could
be provided by the
holding nursery. The
engineered stormwa-
ter swales, rainwa-
ter harvesting and
stormwater ponds
have been designed
to interlink and are to
be planted with indig-
enous vegetation selected to help provide
functional solutions to issues identified
on-site.
Wait and seeWright is understandably excited about the
project as the construction stages near com-
pletion and commissioning draws closer. Cold
commissioning of the facility is scheduled to
take place in approximately June 2013.
“Everything is cleaner, simpler and hope-
fully a lot more effective; however, the proof
of this will really be evidenced when the facil-
ity is up and running,” concludes Wright.
Waste to energy
22 – RéSource May 2013
INCINERATION
A changing landscapeShould the focus rather be on waste to energy than incineration?
A lthough incineration is not synony-
mous with waste-to-energy, of late
it has become more appropriate to
replace the word
incineration with
waste-to-energy,
in par t because
of a prevalent negative connotation associ-
ated with the word, but also because waste-
to-energy is more progressive and more in
line with where the industry is heading, finds
Chantelle van Schalkwyk as she speaks
to Golder Associates Waste Management
consultant, Natalie Kohler. In essence, our
current legislation requires a waste manage-
ment and air emissions licence by an EIA in
order to undertake an incineration of waste
activity. “These are the main regulations
applying to a waste-to-energy facility; how-
ever, every facility is different depending on
the environmental landscape and, as such,
would be required to be assessed on
a specific basis in terms of what activ-
ities are triggered and authorisations
required” says Kohler.
In South Africa, medical waste
incinerators are the most common
type of incinerators, but there are
More support from funders and authorities to back such technologies for a greener future will also help us.” Natalie Kohler,
Waste Management consultant at Golder Associates
2. PC and tablets1. PRINT 3. Smartphones
Promoting integrated resources management
OilKolLook out for the frog!
Sustainability megaforces
A complex, unpredictable system
Waste streams
Population increases and high waste costs
Shale gasEnvironmental and economic
risks
AsbestosAsbestiform
and the
“There is a major paradigm shift towards providing a sustainable one-stop solution for e-waste recycling.”
Malcolm Whitehouse, sales manager at Desco Electronic Recyclers
To receive your digital copy of RêSource every quarter go to
www.3smags.co.za
WAYS TO RECEIVE
To receive your digital copy of RêSource every quarter go to
www.3smags.co.za
RéSource May 2013 – 23
RéSource May 2013 – 23
TOWARDS FUTURE-PROOFING WASTE MANAGEMENT
Senior decision-makers in all government spheres, especially municipalities, in mining, oil and gas, energy, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries, agriculture, forestry and alike.
SA waste legislationContaminated landBeneficial downstream use of waste residuesWaste-to-energy initiativesWaste management strategies in the mining, oil & gas industriesIntegrated waste management plans
SHOULD ATTEND?
FACILITATING CRITICAL THINKING
in South Africa
For more information, contact Lucinda Scholtz at +27 11 313 1151; [email protected] visit www.golder.com/waste-workshop
TWO INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERSfrom Canada and Europe
EXCITING OPPORTUNITY an
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who
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also some industrial waste incinerators
for hazardous wastes. There are currently
very few incinerators for household waste
in South Africa.
“However, the landscape for household
waste incinerators is changing in South
Africa due to the changes in how waste
is managed so as to provide more sus-
tainable solutions to dealing with waste,
par ticularly in terms of social (health, job
creation) and environmental (air quality,
greenhouse gas emissions, leachate con-
trol) advantages of incinerators compared
to landfills,” she explains.
The basicsAccording to Kohler, incineration is one
of many tools in waste management.
Established waste treatment technologies
include composting, landfill, recycling,
windrow composting and incineration,
while alternative waste treatment tech-
nologies include anaerobic digestion (AD),
gasification, pyrolysis, gasplasma, plas-
ma-arc, in-vessel
composting, tun-
nel composing,
mechanical bio-
logical treatment,
mechanical heat
treatment, sew-
age treatment
and autoclaving.
Currently, the
biggest challeng-
es for waste-to-
energy mass burn
incineration in South Africa lie in the
high capital and operat-
ing costs, and air emis-
sion control requirements,
warns Kohler. The lack
of general environmental
and waste education of
the public to dispel myths
and the negative connota-
tions of incineration also
serve as a challenge for
us to overcome. However,
public awareness about
the advantages of waste-
to-energy technologies
and the benefits of more
sustainable alternative
waste treatment technolo-
gies over the traditional
waste treatment methods
like landfilling is an easier
challenge to overcome.
According to Kohler, this
can be achieved through
education about sustain-
able and alterna-
tive waste treatment
methods. “More sup-
por t from funders and
authorities to back
such technologies for
a greener future will
also help us overcome
these challenges,”
adds Kohler.
Putting in to practiceGolder Associates
has an international team of experts in
alternative waste treatment technologies,
having worked on mixed solid waste pro-
cess technologies for the City of Toronto,
Canada; waste studies for a waste-to-ener-
gy plant for the Ministry for the Environment,
Roads and Utilities in Gibraltar; bio-digest-
er studies for Energy Allied Egypt and the
US Trade Development Agency in Egypt,
and many others. Kohler’s most recent
waste-to-energy projects in South Africa
A current challenge for waste-to-energy mass burn incineration in South Africa is air emission control requirement
Waste to energy
The biggest challenges for waste-to-energy
mass burn incineration in South Africa lie in the high capital
Howden’s track record includes: Incineratorswith emission controlto international standards•Calcining ovens for automotive catalysts• Industrial furnaces• Process air heaters •Heavy duty ovens formould drying•Retrofits of furnaces and ovens.
Our customer-focused approach provides a comprehensive servicefrom initial proposal to long-term support. Howdenmakes furnaceand incinerator ownership and operation a viable investment.
Howden can convert furnaces and driers to give decades ofenvironmentally-friendly, efficient operation. Drawing on a vastreservoir of engineering experience, and considerable expertisein flue gas conditioning technology, EC&I and SCADA, we offerseamless design and development of turnkey systems.
Find out more:
howden.co.za
24 – RéSource May 2013
Waste to energy
include: a cellulosic ethanol bio-refinery
prefeasibility and feasibility study funded
by the National Empowerment Fund; a
study for assessing the municipal wastes
in of Gauteng and the potential for recy-
cling and waste-to-energy conversion for
the Gauteng Growth Development Agency;
and a due diligence study for landfill
gas resource assessments, environmental
authorisations and technical commission
and per formance testing of nine landfills
in South Africa for landfill gas to energy
conversion for EnerG Systems.
According to Kohler, the studies on
waste-to-energy projects in South Africa to
date focus on the principles of sustainable
development. From a social perspective,
the advantages of waste-to-energy projects
are as follows:
• direct and indirect employment
opportunities, as well as benefit for
local residents
• human health benefits in terms of controlled
emissions from waste-to-energy facilities
• health and safety risks, and health haz-
ards at waste-to-energy facilities are far
more controlled and manageable and
hence safer for humans than uncon-
trolled pickers that frequent landfills.
“From an environmental perspective, a
waste-to-energy facility has a positive
environmental impact saving when com-
pared to a landfill, which is a burden on
the environment in terms of water pol-
lution and methane gas emissions. The
impact of polluted water entering the envi-
ronment from landfills is diverse, including
human health issues such as cholera
and gastro enteritis, and environmental
impacts, relating to the reduced avail-
ability of oxygen in the water for aquatic
species as a result of the natural oxidation
of the polluted water entering the environ-
ment,” she says.
Golder’s waste and resource assess-
ment tool for the environment (WRATE
model), which is a leading life cycle
analysis specifically designed to evalu-
ate impacts of waste management sys-
tems, demonstrates the six environmental
benefits of waste-to-energy facilities over
landfills. WRATE can calculate the emis-
sion savings of carbon dioxide equivalents
for a waste-to-energy facility compared
to the same sized landfill, which emits
methane gas, agreenhouse gas (GHG). The
carbon dioxide equivalents from WRATE
can be used to calculate the carbon emis-
sion reduction credits under the Cean
Development Mechanism.
As a result of these substantial advantag-
es, the waste-to-energy landscape of tomor-
row looks optimistic, according to Kohler.
“It looks very positive if we can only over-
come our hurdles through financial support
and public awareness for a greener, more
sustainable waste management future in
South Africa,” she concludes.
INCINERATION DEFINED
ACCORDING TO THE NEMWA (Waste Act of 2008): “Incineration means any method, technique or process to convert waste to flue gases and residues by means of oxidation.” There are different names for different types of incinerators such as: plasma arc, waste-to-energy, cement kilns, and rotary kilns.
Pelleting of Municipal and Industrial Sewage SludgePelleting of Municipal and Industrial Sewage Sludge
Prebin
Possible design of a plant for pelleting of sewage sludge
Water
Mixer
Pelleting press
Countercurrent cooler
Screen
The final products are pellets which are appropriate for a variety of applications.
Reviewing recyclingThe process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown
away as waste – landing up on space constrained landfi lls – and turning them into new
products is not a new concept, but more now than ever the drive to recycle is gaining
momentum both in the personal and public spheres.
BEYOND RECYCLING
Let’s not waste our earth’s scarce resources. When you recycle with Mpact Recycling, your waste paper is used to make paper and other products, saving many of these resources and contributing to a sustainable future not only for you but for the next generation. Not only is Mpact Recycling the largest collector of paper for recycling in South Africa, Mpact is the largest producer of paper made from recycled materials in the country. Mpact is involved in the entire process from collecting discarded paper all the way through to making the paper from it and converting it into boxes. What’s more, by recycling, you are helping to employ over 30,000 people involved in the industry. Having empow-ered over 170 small businesses to facilitate their own recycling collections, Mpact is also actively leading change in the industry through smarter, sustainable thinking.
Blac
kAfr
ica
Gro
up _
254
1
2541_MPACT recycling final advert.ai 1 2013/03/18 5:02 PM
RéSource May 2013 – 27
Why is recycling key to sustainable, green working environments? Recycling plays
a vital role in ensuring offices
throughout South Africa are able
to contribute to sustainable
development in South Africa.
What role does Mpact play in the recycling arena? Mpact
Recycling, formerly Mondi
Recycling, is South Africa’s
largest paper recycler, with seven
of its own operations in major
centres around the country and
42 buy-back centres. It also
supports 90 independent dealers
throughout the country.
Mpact Recycling is by far
the biggest paper recycler in
South Africa and we recover
approximately 457 000 t of
paper each year nationally.
While largest of the portion of
the paper we collect is from
industrial and commercial
operations, recycling that comes
directly from office buildings is
important and a growing source
of raw material for paper mills.
Why is recycling a necessity for corporate South Africa?Recycling paper is a simple
process that everyone can
help with by collecting unused
items such as cardboard, old
newspapers, magazines or used
printer paper.
I would encourage companies
to get involved in a recycling
programme and employees
to support such initiatives as
a way to prevent recyclable
materials – particularly paper –
ending up in landfill sites.
How can recycling in offices most easily be implemented? Here are some useful “dos
John Hunt, MD
and don’ts” to remember when
separating office recycling
products, to facilitate Mpact
Recycling’s processes and
to contribute effectively to a
sustainable office environment:
DO separate the following to
be collected for paper recycling
in your office:
• old memos/letters
• computer paper
• used photocopy paper
• windowless envelopes
• old books
• pale coloured paper
(invoices, etc.)
• newspapers
• magazines
• cardboard (flattened).
DON’T include these items in
your recycling bins at work:
• polystyrene or paper cups
and plates
• yoghurt cartons
• sweet/chip wrappers
• blueprint paper
• organic material (such as old
food and vegetables)
• cigarette ends
• tissues and paper towels
• plastic wrapping
• carbon paper
• post-it notes (these are not recyclable because of the
glues used to make them)
• staples, plastic or
steel paperclips
• waxed cartons (such as
frozen fish boxes).
Office collection points are
per fect sources of recycled
paper for our business because
large groups of employees can
contribute to the process and
we are able to recover a lot of
paper from central collection
points, which is ideal.
Where to from here for recycling in general and Mpact specifically? Mpact,
which Mpact Recycling is par t
of, demerged from the Mondi
Group and listed separately
on the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange in July last year.
We have a long heritage of
recycling, having been in the
business since 1975. Recycling
is integral to our business model
because the raw materials
for Mpact’s paper packaging
business originate from the
nation’s recycled paper.
Not only does recycling have
long-term implications for the
environment by reducing the
impact on landfill sites as well
as decreasing the need to
import raw materials, it also
creates jobs in the industry.
Sustainability is key to
our business; this includes
contributing to the economy
of the country through job
creation. Through a social
entrepreneurship empowerment
model, we partner with local
entrepreneurs to help collect
recycled paper for us.
Mpact Recycling is by far the biggest paper
recycler in South Africa and we recover
approximately 457 000 t of paper each
year nationally
Panel discussion
BELOW LEFT Recovered paper is shredded before being baled for use as raw material at paper mills BELOW RIGHT Recovered paper is sorted into grades before use
MPACT RECYCLING (MPACT GROUP)
RéSource May 2013 – 29
Panel discussion
How important do you think recycling initiatives are?Recycling is key to the goals
of minimising the waste going
to landfills and extracting
maximum value from the waste
stream. Separating recyclable
materials – glass, paper, metals
and certain plastics – out of
the waste stream reduces
the bulk of waste going to
landfills, eases the strain on
our natural resources and
helps to create employment in
informal and formalised waste
reclamation sectors.
In the City of Johannesburg,
however, recycling has not
historically been a routine
followed by residents. Both
because of a lack of supporting
and accessible infrastructure
that enables residents to
separate waste, and due to a
lack of knowledge of how to
recycle. Acknowledging this and
responding with the Separation
at Source programme has been
the critical first step for the
city in establishing a recycling
economy for Johannesburg.
Our goals are as follows:
• establishing a recycling
economy in the City
of Johannesburg
– behavioural change
• separation of recyclable waste
at source
• focus on domestic
customers (households)
• use of new receptacle systems
Amanda Nair, MD
• no one-size-fits-all
• enforcing separation at source
(Waste Management By-laws)
• involve reclaimers and/or
waste pickers in solutions.
What recycling initiatives is Pikitup involved in? We are
currently involved in a project
called Separation at Source.
This initiative is operational in
the Waterval, Zondi, Diepsloot
and Orange Farm areas. The
idea is to get residents to
start turning trash to treasure,
thereby evoking a change in
mindset where value can still
be extracted from what was
previously viewed as useless.
Essentially, it requires residents
to use separate receptacles to
collect their waste – a black bin
for non-recyclable household
waste, a clear durable plastic
bag for glass, cans, plastics,
etc., and a reusable white bag
for all paper materials. The
recyclables that are collected are
taken to local buy-back centres
for further sorting and sale to
the end buyers, e.g. Nampak.
These buy-back centres operate
as cooperatives, with
community members
as stakeholders. The
programme piloted in
the Waterval area in
September 2012, with
a roll-out to the Zondi,
Diepsloot and Orange
Farm areas in October
2012, November
2012 and February
2013, respectively.
The change in
waste management
behaviour and an
uptake of related small business
development has seen the
Mayor of Johannesburg prioritise
Separation at Source as a key
city programme. The initiative
has been well received by the
communities and we continue
to see an increase monthly on
tonnages at the various buy-back
centres. Over a 160 jobs have
been created since the beginning
of the campaign.
What lessons have been learnt to date? It has started the ball
rolling in the establishment of
a recycling economy for the city
through setting up Separation
at Source points within these
communities and, critically,
it has taught residents how
to reduce, reuse, recycle and
rethink when it comes to waste
management.
The city’s commitment to
transforming Johannesburg
into a recycling economy is a
viable goal.
How much of a role does communication and education play? It plays a very integral role
in ensuring that proper training
is facilitated and residents are
taught to recycle the correct way.
The success of this initiative was
through impactful communication
and education awareness, which
got the community interested in
partaking in this project.
Pikitup embarked on a door-to-
door education drive. In Soweto,
81 community education field
workers made up the door-to-
door education team, with 30
being recruited from Wards 95,
96 and 113 in the Diepsloot
area. These teams engaged
with residents, explaining what
Separation at Source is and
the benefits that this way of
living could have for them.
To support the door-to-door
campaign, mall activations were
held at Maponya Mall, Jabulani
Mall, Diepsloot Mall as well as
at Cresta.
Pikitup works closely with its
depots across the city to identify
new areas and communities to
include in the four-year roll-out
programme. Our education team
gathers valuable information
on the recycling climate
in each area, to ensure a
targeted approach.
What is the organisation’s recycling focus for the future?Pikitup has massive targets
to reach that can only be
attained if residents lead the
change. It aims to reduce
waste to landfill 20% by 2016
through waste minimisation and
recycling. Its four-year target
is for 950 000 households
to separate at source the
160 000 t of recyclable waste
that is generated in the city
per annum.
[The programme] has started the ball rolling
in the establishment of a recycling
economy for the city
ABOVE Pikitup provides recycling bags to the residents in the targeted areas
PIKITUP
30 – RéSource May 2013
Recycling
We provide a comprehensive materi-
als recycling facility or trash room
odour solution that combines ad-
vanced technologies and proven all-natural
odour neutralisers, making it possible to
eliminate odours at their source,” says De
Bruyn, adding that the two-step system uses
a combined approach, neutralising airborne
odours from accumulated waste using Odor-
Cure’s Advanced Misting Systems with power-
ful all-natural reactants, and eliminating odour
sources in, around and under trash bins using
“ BioStreme Micronutrients to promote benefi-
cial bacterial processes.
OdorCure has been providing effective
odour elimination solutions in Gauteng and
the Eastern Cape since 1999 and is repre-
sentative of HLS Ecolo in Southern Africa.
What sets Ecolo apart is its unique odour
eliminating formulations of essential oils
called AirSolution. Ecolo AirSolutions are
formulated from custom-blended essential
oils and plant extracts to neutralise specific
odours. “Each installation is customised
to meet the unique needs of each space
– requiring no modifications to base-build-
ing structures or mechanical equipment,”
says De Bruyn, adding that a self-suffi-
cient pump/controller unit and stand-alone
Misting Odour Neutraliser reservoir delivers
years of trouble-free operation.
“We make it simple to maintain odour-free
conditions. We not only install your system,
but we design a complete, easy-to-live-with
odour control programme, requiring minimal
maintenance for maximum results.”
“There is a defi nite need for odour and emission control systems, especially to
improve sorters’ working conditions,” says OdorCure’s Johan de Bruyn.
Recycling triggers demand
ODOUR/EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEMS
Odour Control Specialists for Today’s EnvironmentWelcome to the most extensive array of odour control systems and solutions for Commercial, Municipal and Industrial applications. At OdorCure we strive to provide products and quality services that meet the individual needs of our customers.
• Solutions• Odour Neutralizers• Hydrogen Sulphide Removal• Complete VOC Removal• Microbial Treatments - Water and Wastewater• Aeration Systems - Water and Wastewater• Various other specialised solutions
• Garbage/Recycling Rooms• Restaurants, Hotels & Shopping Centers• Public Washrooms• Hospitals• Compactor Sites• Manufacturing Facilities• Wastewater Treatment Works• Land ll Sites• Waste Transfer Stations
Tel: +27 (0)860 666 367 | Fax: +27 (0)860 367 287
www.odorcure.co.za
32 – RéSource May 2013
Recycling
The one-day conference, entitled ‘Plas-
tics: The Future for Growth’, was hosted
by Plastics|SA, the umbrella body for
the local plastics industry, and attracted more
than 300 delegates.
Audience representationAccording to Plastics|SA’s executive director,
Anton Hanekom, the event drew participants
from various sectors of the local plastics
industry (see Figure 1). “Although the major-
ity of the audience were involved in the supply
of raw materials (36%), we had good repre-
sentation from plastics converters (22%),
recyclers (10%), machine suppliers (2%) and
other interested sectors such as government,
the media and the general public who were
eager to learn more and participate in the
discussions,” Hanekom said.
Learning from international best practice Dr Wilfried Haensel, executive director of
Plastics Europe, delivered the keynote
address. His speech, ‘Plastics and the world
we live in: lessons learnt’, focused on the
plastics industry from a European perspec-
tive, although he pointed out that “plastics
is a global affair and there are sure to be
similarities in the different regions”.
CONFERENCE
Plastics industry has its sayRole players and decision-makers in the South African plastics industry made use of
the opportunity to air their views on matters relating to the growth of the industry,
sustainability and recycling during the fi rst ever industry-specifi c conference, which was
held at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg on 22 March 2013.
Debating the issues at handThe rest of the day’s discussions were
focused around three topical debates, which
were moderated by celebrity investigative jour-
nalists Freek Robinson, Jeremy Maggs and
Ruda Landman. “These journalists excelled
in guiding the discussions and ensuring that
everybody’s point of view was heard.”
According to Hanekom, the panellists who
were invited to participate in the debates
were considered experts in their respec-
tive fields and didn’t necessarily share the
same point of view on topics relating to
exports and imports, marketing the indus-
try, sustainability and recycling, training and
skills development.
Hanekom stated: “We tried to take a brutal
look at the issues that mostly affect our
industry and the direction we are heading in
by encouraging audience members to com-
ment and vote in real time on the issues that
were being debated by the panel members
on stage.
Debate 1: Growing the South African plastics industryThe audience was quick to rise to the occasion
and did not hold back when asked to send in
their views or suggestions. When asked what
they felt would most grow the local plastics
industry, 38% felt that innovation, developing
1. Raw Material Suppliers
2. Converters
3. Importers
4. Machine Suppliers
5. Recyclers
6. Other
36%
22%
2%
2%
10%
28%
45%1. Packaging
2. Engineering, Building and Construction
3. Agriculture
4. Transport and Automotive
5. Houseware, Toys, Leisure and Sport
6. Clothing and Footwear
7. Furniture
8. Medical and Health
24%
2%
2%
11%
5%
11%
0%
ABOVE Annabe Pretorius (SAPRO), Suzanne Dittke (Envirosense); Prof Walter Focke (University of Pretoria); Casper Durandt (Coca Cola), Chandru Wadhani (Extrupet)FIGURE 1 BELOW Plastics sectors represented at the Plastics: The Future for Growth ConferenceFIGURE 2 BELOW RIGHT Response to: In which sector do you see the highest potential for growth?
Recognising industry starsThe day’s discussions ended with a cocktail
function during which Plastics|SA awarded
three awards for local players for their excep-
tional contribution to the industry.
The Chairman’s Award was given to Bernard
Mahl, commercial director of Safripol, for the
critical role he has and continues to play at
Plastics|SA. He has been on the Plastics|SA
board and the executive committee for many
years serving as chairperson and deputy
chairperson. Mahl played a momentous role
in the new vision and direction of Plastics|SA.
The Sustainability Award was given to
Jeremy Mackintosh, managing director of the
Polyoak Packaging Group. Mackintosh has
played a crucial role in the promotion and
expansion of the recycling initiatives of the
then Plastics Federation since 2000. He was
also instrumental in the establishment of
the Sustainability Council and redirecting the
strategy from being more recycling focused to
a more inclusive sustainability drive.
The Training Award was given to REHAU
Polymers. REHAU identified the need for train-
ing and development of its
staff and also recognised
the eagerness and enthu-
siasm of the learners to be
part of the learnerships. It
has shown commitment,
dedication and enthusiasm
throughout the programme
and made it possible for its staff members
to develop.
Conclusion“We feel that the first industry conference
was a success,” Hanekom stated. “The del-
egates and panellists attending made it clear
that it was a timely and much-needed event.
They appreciated being given the opportunity
to participate in the discussions and voting
on topics that directly affect them.”
RéSource May 2013 – 33
Recycling
new products and technology would offer the
most opportunities. Natural gas utilisation
and becoming competitive followed closely,
along with the local industry and government
supporting a culture of exports.
The areas that the audience felt offered
the most growth potential in the local plas-
tics industry (see figures 2 and 3) was
packaging (45%), followed by engineering,
building and construction
(24%) and transport and
automotive (11%).
“The audience members
agreed that the South
African plastics industry as
a whole needs to become
more original and innova-
tive. There are a host of small companies
making the same product. Industry should be
thinking about how it can diversify and enter
a more niche market with an original product.
This will decrease competition and increase
innovation,” Hanekom stated.
Debate 2: What impacts plastics packaging?The second debate of the day took a closer
look at the issue of food packaging and what
impacts it in the South African context.
Hanekom explained: “Packaging has come
to symbolise the issue of waste in our
modern day society. Looking at the issue of
plastic packaging specifically, we know that
it ensures hygiene and reduces the risk of
product wastage due to contamination, pro-
viding a physical barrier between a product
and the external environment. Unfortunately,
such convenience has come at an environ-
mental price and the rise in environmen-
tal consciousness in recent decades has
brought the issue of packaging firmly under
the spotlight.
When asked what role brand owners
should play in plastic packaging, 51% of the
FIGURE 5 BELOW Response to: Do you think bio-plastics are an option?FIGURE 6 BOTTOM Response to: Where should we look for an answer to better plastic disposal?
1. Yes
2. No22%
78%
1. Better waste management
2. More recycling
3. Replace with other products like paper
4. Bio-plastics
61%
36%
1%
2%
audience members felt they had a responsi-
bility to design the packaging with effective
recycling in mind, 32% felt the brand owner
also had a responsibility to educate consum-
ers about the recyclability and recycled con-
tent of its products (see Figure 4). “It is clear
that there is a great need to raise the profile
of the plastics industry and the work that is
being done by brand owners and converters
to ensure that plastics are manufactured in a
way that is sustainable and environmentally
responsible,” Hanekom said.
Another hot topic that was discussed by
the panel was the issue of bioplastics and
whether or not it had a real role to play as an
alternative in the plastics packaging indus-
try (see Figure 5). The vast majority of the
audience members felt that bioplastics are
not an option due to the high costs and the
negative impact that bioplastics have on the
recycling stream.
Debate 3: Are plastics sustainable?The third and final debate of the day took
an in-depth look at the issue of plastics
and sustainability (see Figure 6). “Meeting
the needs of tomorrow is the foundation of
the concept of sustainable development,”
Hanekom explained.
“Plastics represent one of the fastest
growing categories of materials used and
disposed of in our society. They play a major
role in delivering and sustaining the quality,
comfort and safety of modern lifestyles. The
impressive ratio of cost to performance also
means that people of all income groups can
enjoy these benefits. However, meeting the
needs of society is not just about ‘‘today’.
Future generations also have the right to
material and other benefits.”
Discussing the problems surrounding the
issue of plastic waste disposal, 61% of the
audience members responded that they felt
the answer should lie with improved waste
m a n a g e m e n t
and 36% felt
that there should
be more recy-
cling initiatives
by local munici-
palities.
Douw Steyn (Plastics|SA) handing Sustainability Award
to Jeremy Mackintosh (Polyoak) acknowledging
his contribution to the Sustainability Division of
Plastics|SA
We tried to take a brutal look at the issues that mostly affect our industry and the direction we are heading in”
34 – RéSource May 2013
PLASTICS
2012 marked a period of continued achievement for the PET Plastic Recycling Company
(PETCO) and its 28 signatories, contributing to the increased recovery and recycling of
PET plastic beverage bottles and the diversion of material from landfi ll.
The organisation recently announced that
post-consumer plastic beverage bottle
recycling volumes in South Africa grew
by 18% year on year in 2012. The recycling
rate rose from 42% in 2011 to 45% in 2012,
while the local market consumption of PET
grew from 145 000 to 166 000 t.
“By recycling 45% of post-consumer bever-
age PET, we achieved a full 1% more than
what was targeted for 2012,” says Cheri
Scholtz, CEO of PETCO. Recycling volumes
increased from 42 562 t in 2011 to 50 280 t
of post-consumer PET bottles in 2012 – a
7 718 t increase.
Simply speakingWith approximately 39 bottles in a kilo-
gramme, this means that PETCO facilitated
the recycling of over 1.9 billion PET plastic
beverage bottles in 2012 – that’s 5.3 mil-
lion bottles every day. Additionally, close to
R193 million was paid for sorted baled bot-
tles delivered to recyclers and approximately
R422 million was injected into the local
economy through the sale of recycled PET for
downstream products.
According to a statement released by
PETCO, from an environmental perspective,
recycling 50 280 t of PET plastic beverage
bottles, saves 75 420 t of carbon was
saved. “This is the equivalent of the amount
of carbon sequestered in a year by cultivating
17 957 ha of spekboom. By recycling this
amount and reducing the volume of post-
consumer PET plastic in the waste stream,
311 736 m3 of landfill space was saved – the
same volume of just under 125 Olympic-
sized swimming pools.”
According to Scholtz, the 2012 results
serve as an affirma-
tion of the efforts
of the PETCO
members and as
a benchmark for
improvement in
2013. “There is
still much work to
do to capture the
remaining percentage of bottles that were
not collected and with the post-consumer
PET recycling targets set to rise to 58% in
2017 and a growing market size, increasing
the volume of bottles collected for recycling
is thought to be the best method of achieving
this,” says Scholtz.
PETCO sets recycling targets for five-year
window periods, knowing what they are
looking to achieve, growing the industry by
an additional 5 000 to 6 000 t per annum.
With PET recycling targets set at 50%, which
is half of all post-consumer beverage PET in
the market, 2015 will be a milestone year.
“A step change is required to meet our tar-
gets in years to come,” continues Scholtz.
“As the Bottle 2 Fibre market is reaching
saturation, additional investment is required
in Bottle 2 Bottle capacity, which involves
the specialised recycling of clean bottles to
produce recycled PET
pellets that can be
used in the manufac-
ture of new bottles.
We would need to up
collection rates to get
feedstock for this new
end use and that’s
where the challenge
lies for PETCO; this would involve seeking
opportunities to improve collaboration across
the supply chain as well as with municipali-
ties, collectors, industry and consumers.”
Sustainable solutionsAccording to the statement, PETCO is of the
opinion that creative South African solutions
are required and opportunities lie in various
arenas and growth needs to be economically
Recycling
Beverage bottle recycling grows 18%
By recycling 45% of post-consumer beverage PET, we achieved a full 1% more than what was targeted for 2012”
RéSource May 2013 – 35
Recycling
COOKED FOOD COMPOSTING
SA retailer first to adoptFood Lovers Market in Noordhoek, Cape Town, is the fi rst retailer in South Africa to invest in a zero-waste solution composting method that breaks down cooked food waste, helping to minimise the strain on landfi lls.
Husband and wife team Christo and
Suzette Viljoen have set high waste
management standards at their Food
Lovers Market by aiming for zero waste out-
put. As cooked and raw food forms 50% of
waste in landfills, the Viljoens were eager to
adopt a composting method that would re-
duce the store’s contribution to landfill waste,
making it the first retailer in South Africa to
install the Green Genie JK 5100 industrial
composting machine.
Green Genie’s JK 5100 is the first indus-
trial composter of its kind in South Africa
that allows cooked food (as well as raw food)
to be processed into compost, eliminating
strong odours left by traditional composting
methods. Organic pellets are added to the
food waste to break it down and the pro-
cess is aerobic, so no harmful gases are
released, making the system far more envi-
ronmentally friendly. During composting, food
waste heats up to 70°C, killing harmful
bacteria including E. coli and salmonella. The
two-chamber system works on a four-week
cycle and can hold up to 2.5 t of waste,
producing up to 400 kg of compost every
two weeks.
Viljoen comments: “A great company starts
at the back door, and we intend to maintain
the high standards of cleanliness in a waste-
free environment. We are training our staff to
be more environmentally conscious and have
implemented waste management techniques
to reduce our carbon footprint. The Green
Genie industrial composter was a must-have
to achieve our environmental objectives and
we are thrilled with the results.”
TOP Joraform industrial composterABOVE (from left) Stuart Lindley, Green Genie’s MD, and Christo and Suzette Viljoen from Food Lovers Market, Noordhoek, admiring the first compost produce from their new Joraform industrial composter from Green Genie
Buhle Waste (Pty) Ltd. is a 100% Black owned company that was established in 1997, by Dr P. D. Sekete, to focus on integrated waste management. Combining the medical expertise of the founding Doctor, with his passion for public and environmental cleanliness and safety, Buhle Waste has come to specialise in the management of Health Care Risk Waste (HCRW). Since its inception Buhle Waste has become an industry leader in the management of HCRW.
Vision
Buhle Waste is striving to become the leading waste management company in Africa offering excellent and efficient services to its clients.
Mission Statement
Buhle Waste’s mission is to provide high qual-ity and reliable waste management services in a flexible and cost effective manner to its clients.
People and the Environment
Our strategy is to educate our people about the importance of a healthier and cleaner environment. Through education people will come to understand the role they play in the environment, and in par-ticular their role within the context of waste management. Buhle Waste has also set out to research and developof more innovative ways to treat and dispose of waste through investing in non-burn
technology that contributes to the reduction in carbon emissions. By reduc-ing the carbon emissions when treating and disposing of waste, Buhle Waste (Pty) Ltd. will take a step towards a greener and cleaner South Africa.
RéSource May 2013 – 43
that this has not been
resolved would indi-
cate to some that the
authorities are not
capable of success-
fully prosecuting cases
such as these, indicat-
ing that it is perhaps
easier to hit the small-
er private companies,”
states Jewaskiewitz.
He believes cases
such as these allow individuals to continue
operating with impunity and in some cases,
as directors of companies who have licences
to operate waste management facilities.
Changing the face of HCRWThere is, however, much being done to com-
bat this. Some private health-care facilities
are trying to improve on their HCRW han-
dling practices as they realise that proper
management of HCRW leads to lower cost
of disposal, says Jewaskiewitz, adding that
they also tend to take more care in selecting
suitable service providers.
Additionally, he adds that some of the ser-
vice providers are endeavouring to improve the
training of their staff and to implement quality
management systems in order to achieve ISO
accreditation (9001 or 14001). “This should
stand them in good stead once the legislation
and various regulations are enforced.”
This is also in light of a rapidly changing
environment. “In terms of practices, there
has been a significant move away from incin-
eration to non-burn technologies for the treat-
ment of HCRW,” continues Jewaskiewitz.
Fundamentally, HCRW can be separated
into two fractions, i.e. infectious wastes
(swabs, bandages, needles, etc.) and path-
ological wastes (limbs, placentas, etc.).
Infectious wastes can be treated using non-
burn technologies rendering the wastes as
sterile, which can then be disposed
of in a landfill. Pathological wastes
are better suited to treatment by
thermal means and here the technol-
ogy must be capable of meeting strict
emission standards.
Jewaskiewitz explains that in terms of
legislation, the Waste Act and various
regulations and standards have already
been put in place. “However, there is still
a lot of legislation evolving and it may still
take some time to put it all in place.” Some
of the legislation in place are:
• National Environmental Management:
Waste Act No.59 of 2008
• Norms and Standards for Storage of
Wastes (draft)
• Western Cape – draft regulations 2011
(Health Care Waste Management
Act, 2007)
• Gauteng (GDARD) regulations
• KwaZulu-Natal HCRW Policy
• Department of Environment Affairs (DEA) –
draft regulations 1/06/2012
• SANS 10248-1: 2008 Management of
HCW Ed.1
• SANS 10248-2: 2009 Management of
HCW Ed.1 (rural and remote settings).
Facing forwardThe changes in treatment technology, espe-
cially as regards improved emission stand-
ards, can only be beneficial to the environ-
ment, says Jewaskiewitz, adding that once
legislation, regulations and standards are
put in place and enforced, a level playing
field will be created and much of the frustra-
tions experienced by service providers will be
eliminated. “So, one can safely assume that
proper training, adequate treatment capacity
and enforcement will lead to a better con-
trolled industry and a minimised impact on
the environment.”
The IWMSA is playing a pivotal role in this
as it endeavours to promote the science and
practice of good waste management. In order
to achieve this, the IWMSA has set education
and training as one of its main objectives. “In
this regard, we have an ongoing development
programme of developing appropriate train-
ing courses and facilitating the presentation
of these courses, both non-accredited and
accredited,” says Jewaskiewitz.
In addition, the IWMSA originally set up
an interest group, under its auspices, to
identify the needs of the industry and
to look at ways of improving standards,
including having input in the development
of legislation and standards. “This interest
group ultimately evolved into the Health
Care Waste Forum as we now know it,” con-
cludes Jewaskiewitz.
the disposal and/or treatment of HCRW.
“There is still significant overloading of
existing facilities due to the “mixing” of
wastes,” warns Jewaskiewitz. In addition,
when investigating the storage of HCRW,
challenges include the use of inadequate
facilities that are not compliant with current
regulations. “Storage periods are also a
problem, especially for small quantities and
rural locations.”
The challenge with regards to transport
is quite simple: appropriate, purpose-
built vehicles with the necessary licences
are required.
According to Jewaskiewitz, this has result-
ed in the industry being fuelled with specula-
tion and allegations of impropriety relating
to, among others:
• tender abuse –
• “tenderpreneurs” manipulating tenders
• tender adjudication irregularities
• fraud and corruption
• compliance issues – license/
permit conditions
• court cases – between service providers
and with government departments.
Compliance takes centre stageJewaskiewitz says the Green Scorpions
are currently dealing with many reported
cases of directives/prosecutions. “There
are very few reports, if any, on the out-
comes of these actions. These need to be
published as a deterrent to others, also
to ‘name and shame’ the transgressors,”
says Jewaskiewitz.
In addition, he highlights the Welkom medi-
cal waste case that came to light towards
the end of 2009, which, according to him,
still appears
to be in
l i m b o .
“The fact
Medical waste
44 – RéSource May 2013
Hazardous waste
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT
Keeping ahead of SA’s wave of hazardous wasteBringing South Africa in line with global standards to manage hazardous waste from
industry, mining and other sources will require signifi cant training and capacity building,
not to mention substantial fi nancial commitment.
Hazardous waste has, by definition, the
potential to damage the environment
and undermine human health – even
at low concentrations – due to its inherent tox-
icological, chemical and physical characteris-
tics. Managing hazardous waste is a growing
priority as South Africa’s economy consumes
and discards at an ever-increasing rate, ac-
cording to the senior environmental scientist
in the KwaZulu-Natal office of SRK Consulting,
Philippa Emanuel.
The good news, though, is that laws and
regulations are starting to kick in to meet
the challenge, and the country is gathering
more data on its hazardous waste while roll-
ing out plans to reduce the amount headed
for landfill sites.
In line with the requirement of the National
Environmental Management: Waste Act 59
of 2008, the National Waste Management
Strategy has been developed. This strat-
egy sets out goals, targets and actions
to address a number of the gaps in both
general and hazardous waste management.
Weighing up the problemPart of addressing the prob-
lem of hazardous waste
is the need to fully under-
stand its extent.
“One of the main chal-
lenges in planning for
hazardous waste man-
agement is the lack of
quantifiable data on how
much of this waste the coun-
try is generating,” says Emanuel.
“This information is currently captured in
terms of the South African Waste Information
System (SAWIS). Submission of information
to SAWIS is currently voluntary, but the
National Waste Information Regulations,
promulgated in August last year became
effective on 1 January 2013 and requires
all waste treatment and disposal facilities
to supply quantitative information. This is a
really big step.”
Within 90 days from 1 January, any person
conducting an activity listed in Annexure 1
of these regulations is required to regis-
ter on the SAWIS. Subject to the thresh-
old amounts listed in the annexure, this
will cover:
• generators of hazardous waste
• anyone recycling or recovering waste
• anyone treating waste
• anyone disposing of waste.
“In addition, all registered waste facili-
ties (excluding generators)
are required, in terms
of the regulations, to
report information as required in
Annexure 2 within 90 days of reg-
istration,” she continues. “This
includes categories and quanti-
ties of waste and the source of
the waste.
“This is a great stride as it makes
it a legal requirement to provide information.
This information will help government to
police illegal disposal, monitor compliance
and make more informed decisions.”
Regulating for better controlThere are other important elements of the
national framework that are being final-
ised, which together will help government
to better regulate both the generation and
disposal phases of this sector.
The Draft National Standard for Disposal
of Waste to Landfill (GN 615 of 2012) will
change the way landfills are classified,
and the Draft Standard for Assessment
of Waste for Landfill Disposal (GN 613
of 2012) will align the type of waste to a
suitable disposal facility, depending on its
environmental risk.
Also in the pipeline is the Draft Waste
Classification and Management Regulations
(GN 614 of 2012), which
will change how
waste streams
are classified.
“Some wastes pre-
viously classified as
hazardous may no
longer fall into this
category but, at the
same time, wastes
previously classified as
general waste may now
be classified as hazard-
ous,” she explains. “The
regulations are based on
the SANS 10234 Globally
One of the main challenges in planning for hazardous waste management is the lack of quantifiable data on how much of this waste the country is generating.” Philippa Emanuel, Senior
environmental scientist in KwaZulu-Natal at SRK Consulting
RéSource May 2013 – 45
Hazardous waste
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Harmonised System for the classification
and labelling of hazardous substances and
mixtures, including waste.”
The approval process for hazardous waste
management facilities is time consuming,
but necessarily so. “The monitoring and
approval requirements are in place to pro-
tect the environment and the South African
public, especially as the risks associated
with the storage, transport, disposal and
treatment of hazardous waste are so high,”
says Emanuel.
“The costs of establishing hazardous
waste management facilities are equally
high, not just in the establishment and
operating costs but also in the ongo-
ing monitoring – even beyond the life of
the facility. Again, however, this expendi-
ture is necessary to protect the South
African public.”
Pulling togetherWhile the new framework is moving in the
right direction, the regulations also need
to be dynamic – as technology and waste
management processes evolve so quickly
that policy and legislation sometimes strug-
gle to keep up. “For instance, the legal
environment is being modified to allow for
the utilisation of hazardous waste as a raw
material,” she points out.
The regulations are applicable nationally,
but various spheres of government are
actively involved in hazardous waste man-
agement at different levels.
“While not specifically the mandate of
provincial government, we see provinces
taking the initiative in
this field,” Emanuel con-
tinues. “The KwaZulu-
Natal Depar tment
of Agriculture and
Environmental Affairs,
for instance, identified
hazardous waste man-
agement as a critical
issue that the province
needs to address.
“The depar tment
appointed SRK
Consulting to prepare
a Hazardous Waste
Management Plan for the province, to con-
solidate information and develop an integrat-
ed plan that included hazardous waste mini-
misation and reduction, recycling, reuse,
treatment and disposal capacity.”
Local authorities are also key players
in this sector and in cities like eThek-
wini, the municipality actively encourages
industry to become more efficient and
to look for opportunities for reuse within
their processes.
46 – RéSource May 2013
Wastewater management
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
A realistic perspective of energy optimisation considerations: Part II
This study seeks to contextualise and illustrate current application and trends in the
South African municipal wastewater industry as pertaining to treatment technologies,
plant capacity, electricity consumption trends and good practices applied in electricity
supply and demand management.
The paper also intends to raise discus-
sion and awareness among the sector
players regarding the following:
• viewing and planning for wastewater treat-
ment plants (WWTPs) as energy produc-
ers and cost conservers as opposed to
a facility to ‘treat sewage’ without any
further benefit
• initiating opportunities to have the first
full-scale self-sufficient WWTP in Africa in
the near future
• municipal wastewater practitioners, pro-
cess controllers and scientists are scarce
professions and critical enablers in realis-
ing any opportunity associated with ener-
gy optimisation, cost recovery and sus-
tainable management and compliance.
MethodologyThe methodology followed in the study
is presented via specific subject areas
as follows:
Situation analysis of existing technology types The Green Drop 2009 and 2011 assess-
ments were used to evaluate the various
technologies (treatment processes) applied
by municipalities across the nine provinces
in South Africa (DWA 2009, DWA 2011).
A framework was developed to categorise
the various technologies, consisting of 16
technology types. Further simplification of
the technology types was
done by reducing the
various types into three
generic groups:
i) activated sludge
processes and
variations thereof
ii) trickling biofilters
iii) pond and lagoon
systems.
The approach was fol-
lowed to use updated
(2010/11) information
where available and only
revert to 2009 informa-
tion where data was
lacking. Where a plant comprises of two
or more technology types, each type would
count for one technology. Only munici-
pal plants with a verification track record
were processed.
Trend analysis in technology applicationsA total of 18 plants was selected (DWA
licensing database, 2010) to determine
the best spread of plants across the nine
provinces for technology trends assessment
against the assessment framework shown
in Table 1. The data results were processed
to determine the movement in technol-
ogy trends from recent/current process-
es employed to current/future processes
planned or employed, in terms of the three
broad technology types investigated. This
study was conducted in cooperation with
the Water Research Commission and SALGA
(Bhagwan et al., 2011).
Energy consumption per technology type and capacityThe data in the Green Drop report (DWA
2011) was used to confirm the plant capac-
ity and actual flow received at plants. These
design capacities were used to determine
the number of plants in micro, small, medi-
um, large and macro size categories. The
energy usage per unit process was derived
from work done by the US’s Electric Power
Research Institute (EPRI) energy audits
TABLE 1 Trend analysis in technology applicationsAssessment criteria Reference framework
Legislative requirements Water use licence, general authorisation, previous exemptions (general/special standards)
Environment landscape Present ecological state and condition (PESC)
Technology levels employed (existing and new)
Low-, medium- and high-end technologies as available in market place
Municipal environment and technology impact
CoGTA spatial analysis framework (municipal size, social-economic vulnerability, National Treasury classification, audit outcomes and the extent to which the municipality is undertaking all of its possible local government functions (as a precentage))
by Rudi Scheepers*, Marlene vd Merwe-Botha**
48 – RéSource May 2013
The above questions are raised as par t of a full length submission, which will be featured over subsequent editions as par t of a series. In the next edition are the results and discussions raised from the study. For more information regarding the paper, please contact [email protected].
Wastewater management
(1994) and used to evaluate the energy
consumption (kWh/d) on two levels:
• plant capacity (size) category
• activated sludge and biofilters technology
groupings as per Table 1.
The energy consumption (kWh) per volume
was evaluated according to the treatment
processes of the plant. Only medium-size
plants (2 to 10 Mℓ/d) to macro-size plants
were evaluated from published energy
consumption data.
Energy as a running cost in municipalitiesFinancial ring-fencing of water services
provision is a legal requirement (Water
Services Act of 1997) where it is stated
that: “When performing the functions of a
water services provider, a water services
authority must manage and account for
those functions separately” (Sect 20.(1)).
The above, however, leads to two problem
statements; which are:
• Definitive information as to the extent
of ring fencing is not readily available,
although the Green Drop initiative is
focusing more attention on this compli-
ance parameter. Energy is a real and
comprehensive element of the cost of the
wastewater treatment service and should
be recovered via responsible tariff set-
ting, offsetting, etc.
• Section 10 of same Act need to be
complied with when formulating tariffs.
This would require financial sustainability
(adequate budget for O&M), recovery of
cost reasonable associated with provid-
ing the service, the need for return on
capital investment for the provision of the
service, etc (Moshidi et al., 2011)
As a first step to ensure cost reflective
recovery of services cost as part of munici-
pal financial sustainability, it is necessary
to establish broad comparative and costing
comparisons as pertaining to different treat-
ment technologies in the municipal sector.
To present such first order material as part
of this study, linkage is made to studies
undertaken with the Department of Water
Affairs’ Water Services Regulation in extract-
ing actual figures from treatment plants that
reported ring-fenced costs for the respective
treatment plants during the 2011 Green
Drop assessments.
The baseline costing reported in Municipal
Wastewater Treatment: First Order Costing
of Capital and Additional Operations and
Maintenance Funding Requirements Based
on Risk-Based Indices (DWA, 2009) were
used to expand and escalate on the cost
configurations, which were based on actual
tender prices in 2008 to provide for a 2011
baseline estimate.
Improved application: Energy efficiency Opportunities for improved efficiency are
Ready to rollInternationally recognised truck manufacturer Autocar is confi dent of expanding its
geographical footprint after offi cially launching its range of Xpeditor waste disposal and
refuse collection vehicles to the South African market in October 2012.
US-based Autocar designed its first Af-
rican product at its design centre and
South African headquarters in Cape
Town after identifying a gap in the local mar-
ket, notes Autocar's vice president for inter-
national business development, Ryan Billet.
“We have employed more than 40 South
African engineers in order to ensure that
we are able to custom build the Xpeditor to
handle unique local operating conditions,
without compromising on the tradi-
tional strength and reliability of the
range,” he explains.
The Autocar Xpeditor range of
severe duty trucks for South Africa
is exclusively powered by ISM model
diesel engines that are manufactured by
Cummins – a global leader in the manufac-
ture, sales and servicing of diesel engines
and related technology.
“The Cummins ISM has one of the high-
est power-to-weight ratios of any engine of
comparable displacement. This, combined
with an advanced fuel-injection system and
the patented variable geometry turbo (VGT),
results in superior performance over South
Africa’s unique terrain and weather condi-
tions,” says Janean Davies, Cummins SA
Heavy-Duty OEM relationship manager.
Davies highlights the fact that the VGT con-
stantly adjusts air flow based on engine load,
fuel quality, ambient pressure and tempera-
ture conditions, thereby ensuring reduced
turbo lag, improved transient response and
increased vehicle performance.
“The ISM also offers several engine fea-
tures to help improve fuel efficiency, includ-
ing load-based speed control, gear-down
protection and idle management that deliver
up to 100 lb-ft of extra torque in the top two
gears,” she adds.
According to Billet, the vast amount of
‘sticky dust’ is a challenge that is unique to
South Africa. “This was noted and addressed
during the design phase, as the dust has the
potential to cause engine damage, which
ultimately results in more vehicle downtime
and related costs. To overcome this chal-
lenge, we installed the highest quality air
filtration systems and moved the air intake
up to the top of the vehicle, where the dust
is less dense.”
Billet points out that manual labour is
another factor that Autocar SA has to take
into consideration when modifying the
Xpeditor for the local waste collection vehi-
cle market. “In some countries, only one
person mans the truck, while all other func-
tions are carried out via automated arms. In
South Africa, however, there are as many as
six people on the truck at any given time,
which results in the centre of gravity being
shifted back to allow for the crew cabs that
are prevalent on many South African waste
collection vehicles. As a result, we have
unique configurations for each application
and truck body to ensure that each truck has
the correct weight distribution.”
In order to cater to the unique local
demands, the Xpeditor range is available
with vertical and horizontal exhaust posi-
tions, flexible component placement and siz-
ing, medium- or heavy-duty Allison automatic
transmissions, rear axle ratings from 10.4
to 32.7 t and a variety of options to ensure
that the vehicle is custom-suited to
its application.
Davies points out that all Autocar
Xpeditor trucks come standard with
a 2-year/402 338 km (whichever
comes first) warranty from Cummins
SA. Billet notes that the Autocar Xpeditor
range has been well received by the local
market to date. “A number of orders have
already been placed, particularly in the
Gauteng region, and currently we are in the
process of working with municipalities and
private contractors to develop purpose-built
solutions, based upon their unique needs, to
improve the performance of their fleets.”
A number of orders have already been placed, particularly in the
Gauteng region
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