Recycle rather than expand or build more landfills.
Most of South Africa’s landfill sites are operating beyond their intended lifespan and have severe capacity issues, while poor waste management practices, defective and non-compliant landfills, skills shortage and insufficient finances add to the crisis.
Leon Grobbelaar, the past president of the Institute for Waste Management Southern Africa, said: “Landfills are not in a good state, not properly managed, although everyone tries to implement [the regulations], it’s extremely difficult.
“Because of financial constraints, municipalities are really battling and if you look at the design costs and construction cost of landfill sites, it is extremely expensive.”
Shabeer Jhetam, chief executive of the Glass Recycling Company, said the country produces about 120 million tonnes of waste annually, most of which is still sent to landfills, but the lack of new sites, coupled with growing waste volumes, is putting immense pressure on them.
“Overfilled landfills pose several dangers to both human health and the environment. They can lead to groundwater contamination through leachate, a toxic liquid that seeps from waste,” he said.
“Air pollution from methane emissions, which can cause fires and explosions, is another significant risk. Additionally, poorly managed sites can lead to pest infestations and odour problems, affecting nearby communities’ quality of life.”
South Africa has 826 landfill sites,which are either licensed and operating legally, privately owned and commissioned, or are unlicensed.
A 2019 presentation by the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment showed that private facilities had a high level of compliance and were properly managed and monitored, while public facilities had a low level of compliance.
A 2024 audit on the state of landfills by lobby group AfriForum found that only 14.3% of sites met the minimum requirements for waste management, suggesting “serious shortcomings in municipalities with regards to the systems and the persons who are responsible for proper waste management”.
Gauteng and the Western Cape had the highest level of compliance, while the Northern Cape and the Free State were the worst performers.
“For the seventh consecutive year, not a single landfill site in the Free State has passed the audit, while for the second year in a row, the Northern Cape also had no sites that meet 80% of the audit requirements [for waste management],” AfriForum said.
Grobbelaar said that in the Free State, non-compliance with waste management regulations stemmed from the province’s failure to line the landfills with plastic to prevent leakages.
In 2020, the government developed a national waste management strategy setting out goals to manage the crisis, with a target of diverting 45% of the waste from landfills to recycling centres within five years, 55% within 10 years and at least 70% within 15 years, “leading to zero waste going to landfill”.
The strategy also seeks to ensure residents have effective and sustainable waste services that are well-managed and financially sustainable, while ensuring compliance and enforcement with waste management regulations including “zero tolerance of pollution, litter and illegal dumping”.
Peter Mbelengwa, a spokesperson for the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment, said a number of problems are exacerbating waste management in South Africa, including population growth, unfunded waste services, landfill airspace depletion, inadequate waste diversion and outdated infrastructure.
He said landfills are also struggling to meet compliance regulations in accordance with the waste management act because of a shortage of resources.
Grobbelaar said municipalities are not enforcing the regulations or the strategy, leading to the rapid deterioration of the landfills.
“The municipalities just do not have the skills and the know-how to run those facilities and to maintain them because of the skill set. It’s the plastic linings [the latest regulation] and there’s different methods of how to put in the protective layers on it. It becomes an extremely onerous process, and therefore they rather just ignore it,” he said.
The environment department said that although Gauteng has a high level of compliance, its landfills are reaching capacity faster than most. As reported previously by the M&G, some of the landfills have just three years left.
Mbelengwa said the national waste management strategy is being implemented, with some goals already achieved.
“We have recently imposed a restriction of a minimum of 50% recycled content as part of the product design measures for plastic carrier bags, as a way of encouraging the reuse of waste materials. This has resulted in the removal of 368 600 tonnes of plastic waste from the environment; they have supported between 60 000 to 90 000 waste reclaimers as well as creating 7 500 formal jobs,” he said.
“Many rural municipalities struggle to prioritise waste management, but the department has been offering free services to assist them in this area.
Waste pickers also play a crucial role in waste management in South Africa. “They often reclaim waste that should be disposed of in landfills, highlighting the importance of their work in the overall waste management system.”
In 2022, the department said organic waste was the largest contributor to the total quantity of general waste, comprising biomass from sugar mills, sawmills and the paper and pulp industry. This was followed by bottom ash, slag and municipal waste, construction and demolition waste and metals.
Mbelengwa said the disposal of nappies and other hygiene absorbent products into water was also a problem.
Grobbelaar said garden greens and building rubble are contributing to the high level of waste as well, but he noted that the Western Cape has a better system than Gauteng for handling waste, including having more recycling centres.
“The Western Cape is the only province that I know of that’s got deadlines and milestones to remove building rubble, garden greens and recyclables out of the landfills, and they’re quite strict about it,” he said.
“They aggressively implement recycling centres, composting farms, crushing the building rubbles, and they are strict about it. The rest of the country, Gauteng included, they really do not care.”
Jhetam said expanding landfills is not a solution, because it is a lengthy process and harms the environment in the long term. He called for a more entrenched culture of separating waste products and recycling them.
“Increasing public awareness, the implementation of mandatory waste separation at
source by government is critical to increase diversion of glass packaging from landfill, and investing in recycling infrastructure are crucial steps,” he said.
Grobbelaar said that instead of pouring billions of rands into developing new landfill sites, the government should use it to build more recycling centres.
“If we can take R12 billion to clean up illegal dumping … how many recycling centres can be built for that cost?” he said. “It’s the [lack of] willingness, the drive and the vision to implement that, and that’s where the problem is.”