South Africa stands to benefit from the biggest soccer event in the world, thanks to the help of a load of rubbish.
Plans are afoot to mimic the trend in international event management for minimising negative environmental impacts. The 2000 Sydney Olympics reached a 90% waste recovery target. The 2006 World Cup in Germany adopted a ”green goal” strategy that promised measurable environmental protection standards,. And the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games has adopted a ”One Planet Olympics” vision that includes ensuring low carbon emissions, zero waste, biodiversity and environmental awareness promotion.
So just what does such a vision entail?
Imagine that you are attending an event. You arrive by public transport, fuelled by biodiesel produced by local communities. The hotel reminds you to turn off the lights and air conditioning in your room to conserve energy, you are urged to shower instead of bathing. The daily linen wash is an optional extra.
Programmes and informational booklets are printed on demand only, and then on double-sided, 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Your name tag is your own business card inserted in a reusable name tag holder, which is collected as you leave. Coffee is served in reusable mugs, bite-sized breakfast snacks and organic food are served on small reusable plates and you are asked to throw your discarded food items into a worm composting bin. Your take-away container is made by a community project, using reclaimed paper.
Drinking water is available at fountains throughout the venue, which are also used to top up your souvenir recycled glass bottle. And lest you think this scenario is utopian, this is how an American mayoral conference was conducted in 1992.
The 2006 World Cup Green Goal initiative, set up by the German Organising Committee and including the United Nations Environment Programme and the Oeko Institute, agrees that environmental messages contained in a short and witty film will be presented on giant screens as part of the pre-match warm up.
Most South African municipalities operate waste management techniques that concentrate on landfills and incineration, both of which are laden with environmental and social pitfalls, from toxic leaching into water and soil, to the encroachment of landfills on human habitat.
At the other extreme is the zero waste approach that has the ambitious aim of designing waste out of the system altogether, recovering all materials and multiplying skills as industries shift to a greener economy. This is both economically viable and profit-generating. It goes beyond mere recycling and encompasses the reduction of waste at the point of origin, encouraging industry to use biodegradable and recoverable product components.
In the Polokwane Declaration of September 2001 South Africa adopted zero waste as a national target to be achieved by 2022.
The zero-waste approach represents a radical departure from past practice and requires a redesign of existing systems. The key link between implementing such ambitious aims and ensuring compliance can be achieved with the provision of supplier guidelines that are attached to contracts.
An environmental procurement policy gives preference to products and services that have ”environmental superiority” — recognising the efficient use of energy and natural resources, potential for hazardous and solid waste reduction, and avoidance of disposal.
Guidelines can be provided to hotels so that electricity and water consumption is minimised, and on the basis of compliance, such hotels will be promoted to attendees. Bulk dispensers for milk, sugar and even shampoos can reduce wrappings.
Money-back deposit systems will encourage visitors to return tins and other containers and incentives, such as the profit share from the sale of recyclables, can be integrated into contracts.
Such changes bear the marks of a legacy in the making.
A Durban-based NGO, the Institute for Zero Waste in Africa (Izwa), has already begun training people to think of waste as a resource. Izwa’s goals extend beyond simply greening an event and emphasising waste prevention. It also focuses on job creation, skills development and poverty alleviation in its plan — a goal that has prompted the department of environment affairs and tourism to grant R2,9-million to the project from its poverty alleviation budget.
Independent environmental consultants are attempting to gather staff for consortiums with similar aims, but at this stage there is no clear plan from the South African Football Association (Safa).
”There does not appear to be a plan for greening 2010 yet, and when I approached Safa, I was told, ‘When the local organising committee is formed, approach them,”’ says Muna Lakhani, national coordinator for Izwa.
But the key to ensuring the success of such an environmentally aware event is to set environmental priorities early, and the environmental programme must be a high priority at the highest political and managerial levels. Senior managers should publicly commit to the greening process and make it clear to employees that the greening effort is an important part of their jobs.
So far, a few municipalities and the department of environment affairs are being proactive in this regard, and there are a few independent initiatives attempting to kick start the process.
With such efforts being pursued, one potential outcome of the World Cup is that there will be closer consensus on what the roles of government, municipalities, business and individuals are in pursuing a sustainable future.
Erika Schutze is a freelance journalist