The National Environmental Management Act No 107 of 1998 (NEMA) in Section 2 (4) (a) Sustainable development requires the consideration of all relevant factors including the following…
(iv) that waste is avoided, or where it cannot be altogether avoided, minimised and re-used or recycled where possible and otherwise disposed of in a responsible manner;
And in Section 2 (4) (p)
(p) The costs of remedying pollution, environmental degradation and consequent adverse health effects and of preventing, controlling or minimising further pollution, environmental damage or adverse health effects must be paid for by those responsible for harming the environment.
The National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008 falls under NEMA and in Section 16 requires the holder of waste to manage waste in the following manner
16. General duty in respect of waste management
(1) A holder of waste must, within the holder’s power, take all reasonable measures to-
(a) avoid the generation of waste and where such generation cannot be avoided, to minimise the toxicity and amounts of waste that are generated;
(b) reduce, re-use, recycle and recover waste;
(c) where waste must be disposed of, ensure that the waste is treated and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner;
(d) manage the waste in such a manner that it does not endanger health or the environment or cause a nuisance through noise, odour or visual impacts;
(e) prevent any employee or any person under his or her supervision from contravening this Act; and
(f) prevent the waste from being used for an unauthorised purpose.
The National Norms and Standards for disposal of waste to landfill R 636 Government Gazette 36784 published in 2013 gives time frames for restrictions of landfilling certain waste streams.
These restrictions affect certain organic waste types including food waste, fat trap waste, sewage sludge, garden waste and infectious animal carcasses. The relevant section of the regulations has been referenced below:
Section 5 Waste Disposal Restrictions
(1) The following prohibitions and restrictions on the disposal of waste to landfill comes into effect after the time frames indicated for each waste from the date of the regulations coming into operation (2013)
10.
(1) An integrated waste management plan must be submitted by the waste generators listed in subsection (10) in writing to the waste management officer for approval prior to the generation of the waste to be dealt with in terms of the said plan.
(2) An integrated waste management plan must include —
(a) an assessment of the quantity and type of waste that will be generated;
(b) a description of the services required to store, collect, transport and dispose of such waste;
(c) a description of how they intend separating recyclable and non-recyclable material at the point of source;
(d) the waste minimisation and pollution prevention plans of such waste generator;
(e) the impact or potential impact on the environment of the waste created by them;
(f) the type or characteristics of waste produced of an environmentally sensitive nature or the amount of natural resources that are consumed in the manufacturing or production process that result in waste; and
(g) targets for waste production through waste minimisation, re-use, recycling and recovery measures or programmes that can minimise the consumption of natural resources and the method of disposal of waste.
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