Joburg gets recycling laws
SIPHILISELWE MAKHANYA | 01 August, 2011 00:29
Johannesburg residents will have to do their own waste separation or risk being fined if proposed new waste-management bylaws are put in place.
The spokesman for the City of Johannesburg, Gugu Mathibela, said the new bylaws, which are being drafted and will be available for public comment in four months' time, will be part of a "carrot-and-stick" approach to help the city meet its obligations in terms of the domestic waste collection standards set by the National Waste Act, which was launched in January.
"National legislation has set targets for waste minimisation and this has implications for local governments. It forces the city to meet its legislative mandate and the bylaw will facilitate that," said Mathibela.
The bylaws will be introduced following the findings of a pilot project by Johannesburg waste management's Pikitup.
The pilot project, which started in 2009 and involved 35000 households, had achieved varying degrees of success, said Pikitup spokes-man Pansy Oyedele.
Residents were asked to sort their recyclable waste, putting paper into orange bags and glass and other recyclable items in clear bags.
Durban and Cape Town have similar waste management projects.
Environmental Affairs spokesman Albi Modise said the department was encouraging the adoption of a new regime in which less waste was produced and cities across South Africa were required to have recycling systems in place.
"There is still a lot of work to be done - in other democracies waste recycling is an integral part of the economy," he said.
Cape Town waste management spokesman Leander van Oordt said the city had similar bylaws effective from March 2009 and was planning to launch a new bin system as part of a three-year pilot programme.
Durban waste management spokesman Robert Abbu said Durban Solid Waste had introduced an "orange bag" system for 800000 households in eThekwini.
"Each household is supplied with one pack of 15 orange bags, strictly for paper and plastic recyclable materials, to last for 13 weeks. The orange bags are put out on the same day as your domestic refuse collection," he said.
Abbu said the recycling programme helped reduce pressure on the city's three landfill sites, one of which had almost reached its capacity of about 5000 tons waste a day.
Joburg Advocacy Group spokesman Lee Cahill said the organisation was "definitely in favour" of a mandatory urban recycling programme.
"Many consumers ... don't realise what a huge effect waste has on the environment. The need for a collective effort to address this issue can't be overemphasised," she said.
"An ordinary cold drink bottle can, for instance, take hundreds of years to degrade, and organic waste in landfills is a major source of greenhouse gases."
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/08/01/joburg-gets-recycling-laws
