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3 Overall Strategy - Implementing the Waste Hierarchy

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Submitted by admin on Thu, 2009-10-01 12:33

The Polokwane Declaration at the National Waste Management Summit in 2002 set targets for waste generation to decrease by 50% by 2012, and waste disposal to decrease by 25% by 2012, with the ultimate aim of developing a plan for zero waste by 2022. These ambitious targets not only draw attention to government’s commitment to integrated waste management, but also emphasize waste minimisation as an environmental policy priority.

The waste hierarchy is a conceptual model that looks at the progression of waste from the production or generation stage to its ultimate disposal. Inherent in the waste hierarchy approach is the notion of waste minimisation, primarily at the production or generation stage, but also at other stages of the hierarchy. There is general consensus regarding the waste hierarchy as a policy framework, which informs the overall approach adopted for waste management in South Africa. The waste hierarchy model is the strategic foundation for the NWMS.

The waste industry plays an instrumental role in the progression of waste through each stage of the hierarchy. The main components of the waste industry include collection, transportation, disposal and recycling (including both formal and informal components). Waste minimisation will inevitably impact on the volume of waste that enters the waste industry, as well as affect the flow of waste once it enters the industry. This in turn will have an impact on environmental objectives, sustainable development, socio-economic factors and broader macro-economic goals. Given the economic significance of the waste industry, it is important to understand the consequences which stem from the implementation of the waste hierarchy.

This section outlines how the NWMS will go about implementing the waste hierarchy, by outlining the overall approach which will be used in the implementation of the NWMS, and the tools and strategies to be applied to the management of waste.

Comments

Concept of Zero Waste

Submitted by antgweb on Tue, 2009-10-20 21:05.

It could be argued that the laws of thermodynamics and conservation of matter dictate that the vision of zero waste will never be realised. Waste is is an inevitability. It is easy to set a target such as this knowing that the principle of continual improvement will always require us to push for this. For example the the vision of Zero waste directly to landfill?

Why 2022?

While the waste industry plays in important role, in my experience it is the waste producers and owners who decide on the application of the waste hierarchy in consultation with the waste industry.

Surely it is the strategy that is to be implemented, which is the purpose of this document? Therefore this section describes the strategy to be followed to achieve the vision of Zero Waste by 2022.