1. Introduction

1.1
In terms of environmental policy development, these are both exciting and challenging times. They are challenging in that the serious nature of threats to the integrity of environment as a result of human activities is becoming steadily clearer. They are exciting in that governments all over the world have begun to recognize the importance of environmental policy and planning in sustaining the societies they serve.

1.2
Waste Management is in many ways the lynch-pin of environmental planning. Successful management of its own waste products is fundamental to the sustainability of any society. As human societies have evolved in scale and complexity, so too have the management problems in terms of waste – in some ways, exponentially.

1.3
The National Environmental Management Act: Waste Act passed by the South African Parliament in 2007 (“the Waste Act”) requires the development of a National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) to achieve its objectives. The Waste Act is the result of an ongoing process of evolution of national legislation, policy, agreements and research on waste management. It has also been informed by the evolving international system of environmental governance. The NWMS will build on this process of policy development, and attempt to consolidate and advance in various areas.

1.4
In particular, the “new” NWMS will draw on the policy foundation and experience with implementing the existing NWMS, published by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) in 1999. This 1999 strategy set out an integrated approach to waste management, cradle-to-grave management of waste products, and the waste hierarchy approach, which focused in descending order of priority on waste reduction, reuse and recycling. The strategy included a detailed series of action plans for implementing various aspects of the strategy.

1.5
Some of the actions envisaged in the strategy were not implemented in their entirety, partly as a result of the lack of institutional capacity at different levels of government and industry, and partly due to the absence of enabling legislation. Compliance with many of the strategy’s action plans was on a voluntary basis.

1.6
One of the salient features of the Waste Act is that it creates a powerful regulatory framework for waste management, granting significant regulatory powers to the Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and in so doing addresses one of the obstacles encountered in the implementation of the existing NWMS.

1.7
In describing a framework for the NWMS, this draft document sets out the policy context that should inform the drafting of the NWMS. This includes a high-level overview of the evolution of the legislative and policy framework for environmental policy with respect to waste management, an overview of our obligations in terms of International and multi-lateral agreements, and an overview of the existing NWMS and its implementation.

1.8
The NWMS should establish the context in which the measures provided in the act should be applied. Accordingly the framework for the NWMS also draws on an analysis of the waste measures, institutional arrangements, and planning requirements of the Waste Act itself.