Cape Town

Waste generation

There has been a dramatic increase in waste generated between 2012 and 2016. The years 2009 to 2012 had an average total generated City managed waste of 1,85 million tonnes. In 2013, there was a significant increase to 2,28 million tonnes, increasing again in 2014 to 2,44 million tonnes, with a small decrease in 2015 to 2013 levels, and then again dramatically increasing in 2016 to 2,67 million tonnes. The total amount of waste disposed in 2016 at City landfill sites is equal to just over 400 kgs of waste disposed per person annually in Cape Town, increasing from just over 300 kgs per person annually in 2015.

It is necessary to note that waste generation does not equal total waste disposed. Not all waste generated goes to landfills; some is reused and recycled. Increasing waste diversion from landfills is a waste-management priori- ty. The estimated mid-point target of the CCT-IWMP for 2012/13 was for waste generation to be minimised by 20% as well as a 10% reduction in waste to landfill. This target was not achieved in the initial ideal timeframe of the policy, but was met in 2016.

There was significantly less waste disposed to City landfills in 2016, a total of 1,63 million tonnes, than there was in 2008 (1,83 million tonnes). Between 2009 and 2012 there were similar low trends of waste generated and disposed, while 2013 and 2014 had similar high trends of waste generated and disposed. The similar trends in the years 2009 to 2014 indicate that there were lower levels of waste diverted from City landfills, with only a maximum of 15% being diverted in 2012. In 2016, however, 22% of waste was diverted from City landfills, the most waste diverted in recent years.

Reasons for the changing trends in waste generation and disposal could be attributed to a number of local and global shocks. The low total of waste generated and disposed of between 2009 and 2012 could be a result of the global economic downturn that began in 2008 and continued into 2011. The global economic crisis may have encouraged households, companies and industries to reduce unnecessary and expensive spending, resulting in less waste generated and disposed of. Local efforts in education and awareness of the benefits in reusing, reducing and recycling could also have impacted the high waste-to-landfill diversion experienced in 2016. In addition, a reduction in waste collected and received by the City could be as a result of increased recycling programmes and successes in the private sector, prior to the waste reaching the City’s waste stream.

Waste collection

Domestic waste collected by the City is either diverted from landfill through one of the City’s waste-minimisation programmes, or disposed of at one of the three City landfills. This waste in some instances is initially taken to one of three different transfer stations in Athlone, Swartklip and Kraaifontein. Two of these transfer stations (Athlone and Kraaifontein) include Materials Recovery Facilities where recyclable waste is separated and diverted to the recycling industry. Currently, the remainder of the waste is compacted at the transfer stations and transported to landfills via train or truck.

The City currently has 24 public waste drop-off sites, developed for the free disposal of small loads of non-domestic waste. The waste types accepted at drop-off sites include garage waste (used batteries, oil paint and brushes), clean garden waste, clean builders’ rubble, and recyclable material.

Waste management facilities

The City has operating licenses for four landfill sites, Bellville South, Coastal Park, Visserhok North and Visserhok South. However, the City views Visserhok North and Visserhok South as one landfill site, called Visserhok. The City also operates a compost plant where a percentage of the household waste is composted and sold to the public. Coastal Park and Bellville South landfill sites are used for general waste. Hazardous waste is landfilled at either a low-risk (Hh) facility or a high-risk (HH) facility, depending on the nature of the waste. Visserhok is a low-risk hazardous waste facility operated by the City. Another privately managed facility is located almost adjacent to Visserhok and deals with high-risk hazardous waste.

Mitigation and adaptation

The CCT IWMP (2013/14) lists the following waste minimisation initiatives:

• The City of Cape Town aims to procure 5 000 compost containers each financial year starting 2015-2016 until 2017-2018. These containers are issued free of charge each year on a first come first serve basis to the first 5 000 home owners. The program launched in April 2016.
• There are 21 public waste drop-off facilities for recyclable materials, green waste and construction rubble (at no cost). Entrepreneurs are appointed to sort and sell the recyclables at the drop-off facilities, and a contractor has been appointed to chip and beneficiate garden greens at the sites.
• Garden waste chipped at drop-off facilities, landfills or transfer stations is composted off-site, facilitated through a tender managed by the city's Solid Waste Department. In addition, the composting facility in Bellville still composts municipal solid waste mixed
  with garden greens.
• A contract-based pilot programme introduced in 2006 in the Marina De Gama area, named the “Yellow bag” programme is still active. The programme entails separation at source of co-mingled recyclable waste, which is separately removed by the City of Cape Town and sorted at the Athlone MRF.
• In 2007, the City of Cape Town introduced the “Think Twice” separation at source programme in the Atlantic Management Area, the Southern Suburbs and the Helderberg basin. It is a pilot household recycling collection system for dry-recyclables (paper, tins and glass) collected by an appointed contractor and delivered to a MRF for sorting and baling.
• A pilot Combined Bag Collection Study was conducted from August 2008 to November 2008 to investigate the viability of collecting and transporting bags with recyclables together with other waste in the same vehicle. However, the outcome was negative.
• A waste minimisation project in City of Cape Town offices was introduced in the first quarter of 2009, focussing on the collection and sale of waste paper and cardboard.
• The Integrated Waste Exchange Programme is a free online system for businesses, individuals, institutions, schools, Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and community groups to facilitate the free exchange of waste materials.
• The City of Cape Town developed and maintains a recyclers’ database to facilitate more aggressive marketing of waste minimisation related services. The updated database, launched in June 2016, aims to inform residents/business of their closest recycling drop off point or recycling collection agents.

The 2018 State of the Environment Report provides the following insights:

The City is in the process of improving transfer stations and transforming them into key integrated waste management nodes. These sites are identified to be key spaces to separate waste streams, diverting waste from landfill into various recycling initiatives.

Currently, the City has transformed the Kraaifontein transfer station into an  Integrated Waste Management Facility. The station has a drop-off facility, materials recovery facility, a refuse- transfer station and a green-waste chipping area, thereby diverting waste from landfills and alleviating the pressure on already over-stretched landfill sites. Similar facilities are planned for other existing and future transfer stations in the upcoming years.

To create more opportunity out of waste, the City is also concentrating on waste-to-energy projects and opportunities. Existing landfills have energy-generating potential through the capture of the biogas already being generated which can be used as a fuel to generate electricity. Certain waste streams have energy or gas- generating potential if treated by various technologies. The City is working to further develop and roll-out drop-off facilities to divert waste from being landfilled, thereby achieving landfill airspace savings.

GreenCape has a number of projects and activities around waste:

GreenCape's Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) is a multiple award-winning free facilitation service to businesses that is fully funded by the City of Cape Town. WISP facilitators provide our business members with dedicated time and technical expertise, connecting companies with unused or residual resources such as materials, energy, water, assets, logistics and expertise.

The cumulative impact of WISP over the last five years has been the following:

• 27 436 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill
• 73 831 fossil GHG emissions saved (equivalent to nine 2.2MW wind turbines installed in SA)
• R43.08 million generated in financial benefits (additional revenue, cost savings and private investments)
• 143 jobs created in the economy (25 directly in member companies)

GreenCape’s Waste Sector Desk's Market Intelligence Report is aimed at investors and businesses with an interest in alternative waste treatment technologies and services in the Western Cape and South Africa. The report outlines the changes in the waste management landscape and presents opportunities for businesses and investors in an expanded waste management sector.

Policies and regulations

To guide better delivery of waste management services to residents, the City has developed an Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) to implement the Integrated Waste Management Policy (CCT-IWMP) within the overarching Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for Cape Town. This ensures that integrated waste management is a priority on the local government agenda. This policy and plan make provisions for key actions to be taken to ensure waste minimisation. The CCT-IWMP prioritises a variety of methods to achieve waste minimisation and sets ambitious waste-minimisation targets for the city, such as developing a plan for Zero Waste by 2022. Methods are as follows:

• Provision of new infrastructure
• Educational programmes
• Public and private sector participation
• Facilitation of a working recycling market, job creation and implementation of waste minimisation legislation

The City enforces the sustainable waste management principles outlined in the IWMP and the CCT-IWMP through the Integrated Waste Management By-law that was implemented in 2009. The by-law sets out a process that regulates and controls waste to ensure that environmental resources are not adversely affected by waste. It was amended in 2010 to include further control of waste management by specifying that littering, dumping, spilling, and leaking hazardous waste is an offence and provides for impounding vehicles involved in illegal waste management activities and defining the ownership of waste.

Related Organizations

The list below provides an overview of organisations related to waste in Cape Town.

• GreenCape - NGO
• Solid Waste Management Department - City of Cape Town - City Government