Media Release: Accurate Waste Data – The Key to Managing Our Region’s Waste Effectively

28 November 2024

The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) is committed to improving waste management in the region by constructing a Regional Waste Management Facility (RWMF). The facility will be operational by March 2025. This will, amongst others, ensure the accurate collection of data, better reporting practices, and infrastructure that supports sustainable waste practices.

Registered Waste Facilities in the Region

Currently, all waste disposal, recycling, and export facilities in the region are required to register with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment’s (DFFE) Waste Information System. Local municipalities submit monthly reports to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP)’s Integrated Pollutant and Waste Information System, feeding into the national South African Waste Information System (SAWIS). From data collected over the past few years, it is clear that accurate and consistent reporting remains a challenge, particularly due to the lack of weighbridges in most municipalities (this is noted countrywide).

According to Johan Gie, the GRDM Manager: Waste Management: “The RWMF will have two weighbridges installed for the weighing of incoming and outgoing waste collection and transport vehicles”.

GRDM’s strategic planning is committed to the regionalisation of integrated waste management and minimisation services as advocated by the Western Cape Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs & Development Planning (DEA&DP) and the National Waste Management Strategy, 2020. The DEA&DP, who is the licensing authority for domestic waste facilities, is committed to only licensing regional landfill sites and will therefore not issue waste management licenses to individual local municipalities going forward. “This is largely due to the economies of scale which reduces the capital and operational costs and improved overall compliance,” says Gie.

Regionalisation of landfill sites reduce potential detrimental environmental impacts because they avoid the spread of sources of pollution and reduce the socio-economic risks associated with local municipal landfills. A regional site is required, also because there is an exponential influx of people to the Garden Route District and subsequently increases the demand for refuse disposal services. The RWMF will allow the participating municipalities to meet this increased demand associated with the envisaged population growth in a cost-effective manner.

Regional Waste Statistics

The GRDM has access to waste disposal data for each town in the region. This data is critical for understanding waste generation patterns and for publishing statistics that help inform future waste management strategies and future planning. Although the compilation of detailed data, including recycling rates by material type, is ongoing, the GRDM is committed to improving data accuracy and availability.

The information currently reported by municipalities is mainly an estimate due to a shortage of weighbridges. These estimates are calculated by tools developed by DEA&DP and private industry to determine waste tonnages based on the type of vehicle (load capacity); type of waste e.g. builders’ rubble, garden waste, mixed waste etc., which each have an average uncompacted weight per cubic metre, and the percentage of load capacity filled with waste, amongst other things.

The RWMF weighbridges will be calibrated, and accurate waste disposal data will be available for the municipalities utilising the regional site which will be reported on the required information systems accordingly.

In the past, the GRDM assisted the seven local municipalities in the district by facilitating waste characterisation studies. “The aim of the waste characterisation exercise was to address an information gap in terms of the composition of waste stream in the local municipalities,” said Gie.  

The following were noted from the results of the waste characterisation exercises:

• 3% of the waste stream by mass is composed of mainstream recyclables (paper, plastic, cardboard, glass and metal)
• 6% of the waste stream by mass is organics, the majority of the organics (73.5%) is kitchen waste
• Nappies composed 7.8% of the waste stream by mass.

The results of the waste characterisation exercise indicate that a reduction in domestic waste to landfill of 75.9% is achievable if all the recyclable material and organic waste were separated at source by households. In practice a 100% diversion rate is not possible as not all households will participate in a separation at the source. However, there still remains potential to significantly reduce domestic waste that goes landfill.

Recycling Figures and Future Reporting

GRDM is currently updating its data on the types and volumes of recycled materials, which will provide valuable insights into the region’s recycling efforts. These figures, once finalized, will help demonstrate the impact of recycling initiatives and identify areas for improvement.

The GRDM urges the public to make use of the at-source recycling programmes and facilities throughout the region. Households can further reduce their waste by composting organic wastes where possible. The following recycling facilities are registered with GRDM:

GRDM recognises that waste management is a collective responsibility and calls on businesses and residents to ensure a cleaner, healthier environment for the region.

For any inquiries relating to District Waste Management, please contact Johan Gie on 084 404 3515, or e-mail johang@gardenroute.gov.za

Feature image caption: Weigh bridges form part of the critical path of the RWMF and they are currently being installed.

ENDS

Media Release: Mayors and Municipal Managers Visit Regional Waste Management Facility Site

20 November 2024

Earlier today, 20 November, Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Executive Mayor Andrew Stroebel led a delegation of Mayors and Municipal Managers from local municipalities on an oversight visit to the Regional Waste Management Facility (RWMF), located next to PetroSA in Mossel Bay.

“During my previous District Coordinating Forum I promised to arrange a site visit for Mayors and Municipal Managers to witness to progress of this collective mega-project,” said Mayor Stroebel.

During the visit, GRDM Waste Manager Johan Gie explained the minimum requirements for initiating waste disposal operations at the facility. These requirements include the completion of Cell 1A, the access road, weighbridge, leachate and contaminated water dams, drainage pipes, guardhouse, weighbridge buildings, and permanent fencing.

Gie previously at the DCF detailed some of the challenges faced with completing the project according to its planned schedule. The main issue has been been rain and wind damage, which caused delays in preparing the surface of Cell 1A. Cell 1A is part of the critical path of the project and needs to be completed for municipalities to start disposing waste. “In some cases, work had to be restarted multiple times due to the extent of the damage,” said Gie.

On a positive note, PetroSA has agreed to a month-to-month extension for the disposal of waste at its site adjacent to the RWMF, provided it complies with the prescribed licence conditions. GRDM will also be responsible for operating the temporary site, while also supplying the required cover material.

Overall the stakeholders were impressed with the progress made to date.

In his closing remarks, Mayor Stroebel said: “I want to thank GRDM Community Services Head of Department, Nthabeleng Raisa-Mlandu, the Mayoral Committee Chairperson for Community Services Jobieth Hoogbaard, Johan Gie – our Waste Management Manager and other personnel for their collective efforts to getting this project to where it is today”.

The works are still ongoing at the RWMF.

ENDS