Waste management in Africa is characterised by uncontrolled dumping, open burning and limited access to proper landfills (Bello & Ismail, 2016). UNEP (2020) States that administration is one of the major weaknesses of municipal solid waste management system in Africa. The most common disposal method in Africa is open dumps and this method either is performed legally or illegally it generates various environmental and health hazards. Fires periodically break out in open dumps, generating smoke and contributing to air pollution. In rural areas the residents either dump their waste at the nearest vacant space, public places, rivers or they burn or burry it in their backyards.
Eighteen percent of households in Accra (Ghana) are rural and they have challenges with uncollected waste. Household store waste in open waste containers such as baskets and plastic bags and they dump their waste in open dumping sites for free. Only 10% of the waste generated in rural areas are properly disposed (Boateng, et al., 2016).
Research by Zayani (2010) in Egypt states that municipal solid waste collection is the responsibility of local government, but in big cities such as Cairo, solid waste is collected by subcontractors and Private local and multinational companies. The average rate of waste collection in urban areas is 30–77% and it is close to 90% in Private residential areas. Waste is transported to open dumpsites where waste pickers separate recyclable materials, and the remaining waste is burned or sometimes is left to decompose. There is no proper waste collection and disposal in rural areas of Egypt. Organic waste is used to feed livestock and the non-organic materials are dumped at the Roadside, open land or drainage canals. Only few rural municipalities use trucks and tractors to collect solid waste to open dumbs, (Ibrahim & Mohamed, 2016; Zayani, 2010).
Ethiopia like other developing countries is faced with diverse effects confronting municipal solid waste management. Rapid urbanization causes disturbances in the management of municipal solid waste collection, transportation and disposal in most Ethiopian cities. The biggest problem of waste management at community level is lack of manpower, equipment and financial constraints (Zebenay, 2010). Solid waste generation rate in Addis Ababa is approximately 0.45kg/day. The city generates 1.220 tonnes of solid waste per day which consists 64.8% organic waste and 21, 3% recyclables. There is a door to door collection of waste which is facilitated by private sectors and Micro and landfill. The system has improved over the years but, the remaining 8% of solid waste is left to be illegally dumped on the streets, rivers and secluded spots (Getahun et al. 2011). In South Africa solid waste is governed by different pieces of legislature emanating from the supreme law of the country which is the constitution.
2.1 South African legal framework on solid waste management
The constitution of South Africa states that Local government must provide waste management services which includes waste removal, storage and disposal services as per schedule 5B. Municipalities are encouraged to work with industries and other stakeholders to extend recycling at municipal level and they must also provide additional bins for separation of waste at source, deliver organic waste from landfills and compost it (DEFF, 2020). However, Polokwane Local Municipality does not provide any additional bins for the households (municipalities.co.za). With effect from 1 July 2009 the South African waste Act of 2008 requires the establishment National waste management strategy (NWMS) to promote cleaner environment, reduce generated waste volumes and invoking the culture of waste reuse, recycle and treatment while land fill disposal is considered as the last resort (NEMA,2008).
In South Africa waste is governed by various pieces of legislation including the following:
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The South African Constitution (Act108 of 1996)
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Environment Conversation Act (Act73 of 1989)
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The National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998)
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Air Quality Act (Act 59 of 2008)
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National Waste Management Strategy
The problem of waste management in South Africa relates to policy enforcement and monitoring the effectiveness caused by scarcity of suitable waste management experts, inefficient logistics and standard practices. Other problems facing the rural and semi-urban waste management in South Africa is the lack of accessible buy back centres to sell the recovered materials, lack of commercially viable and environmentally sustainable recycling projects, inadequate waste volumes generated to sustain recycling initiatives in small rural areas and poor municipal service delivery leading to waste not being collected and it end up being burned, illegally dumped in the rivers and causing degradation of wetland (Viljoen et al., 2021). There are limited number of buy back centres in gaMothapo and Seshego and it makes it difficult for the communities to recycle their waste.
2.2 Principal activities in solid waste management in South Africa
According to department of Environmental affairs, solid waste management should follow a waste hierarchy. The following Fig. 2.1 represent the waste hierarchy.
2.3 Solid waste Avoidance and Reduction
The first and preferable step in the waste hierarchy is to avoid and reduce waste generation. The hierarchy suggests that waste should be avoided in the first place and where it cannot be avoided then generation should be reduced (NEMWA, 2008). EPA (2002) defines waste reduction as the design, manufacture, purchase and use of material to reduce quantity or toxicity before reaching the waste stream. One way of achieving these is by increasing recyclability of packaging material that cannot be reduced and the consumer to actually recycle those materials (Hemmati, et al., 2019).
2.4 Solid Waste generation and Storage
DEAT (2020) stated that South Africa generated over 42 million tonnes of solid waste every year which is 0,7kg per person per day and these values increased remarkably, in 2017 was 55 million tonnes with 11% diverted to landfills. The rate of solid waste generation in society is increasing with the increase of population, technological development and changes in life styles. (Europe’s electronic waste, 2015).
South Africa has the largest Industrialised economy in Africa and thus it faces environmental challenges like those of many developed countries. Johannesburg is expected to grow to the status of mega city by 2030 and this implies a higher prospect for increase in waste generation and environmental pollution (municipalities.co.za). Waste generated in Polokwane local municipality is estimated at 0.4-2.5Kg per person per day. Generation of waste increases from rural to urban areas and it also increases with the level of income. Rapid population and economic growth together with the rise in community living standards have also proved to increase the rate of municipal solid waste generation in developing areas (City of Polokwane, 2020).
2.5 .Solid Waste collection and transportation
Waste collection is the basic element of any waste management system. Waste collection is an act of picking up waste at homes, businesses, institutions, commercial and industrial areas and other locations and transporting them to a facility for further processing or transfer to disposal site (Duru et al, 2019). In South Africa municipalities are tasked with the duty to collect waste in their jurisdictions while private involvement is encouraged in the areas where it is mandatory to pay for waste disposal (DEAT, 2020).
Studies found that waste from urban areas in Polokwane is not separated at source and it is mixed in plastic bags. Waste is collected weekly on specific day per area. The collection system in town is effective and there is no refuse bag left by the roadside to litter. Waste is transported to the landfill and 60% of the collected waste could be recycled should the municipality implement a formal recycling programme (Maluleke, 2014). There are informal waste pickers at the landfill and they recycled 10% of the collected waste in 2012 and value increased to 25% in 2020 (City of Polokwane, 2020).
2.6 Solid Waste disposal and recovery
The recovery of material from waste in this study refer to reduce, re-use and recycle. Recovery is important to minimize waste generation and disposal of valuable materials. Reduction of waste at the source is found to reduce pressure on the landfills (Darban et al., 2017). Study conducted by Wegedie (2018), concludes that the main reason for not recycling in the urban areas is the disposal of waste in the readily available bins and for rural and semi-urban areas is the lack of knowledge. These study holds the view that individuals with better information and awareness are more likely to participate in waste recycling than those without knowledge.
Municipalities throughout South Africa are facing solid waste management and disposal crisis, which is primarily due to lack of landfill capacity. Problems and issues of municipal solid waste management is of outmost importance in rapidly urbanizing areas of the developing countries, because rapid population growth overwhelm the capacity for municipalities to provide basic waste management services (Rasmeni and Madyira, 2019).
Waste disposal in south Africa is mostly in landfills, about 90% of an estimated 59 million tonnes of general waste produced in 2011 ended up in landfills and only 10% was recycled, the figures improved by 2017 where 34.5% of general waste was recovered. Only 5% of waste is disposed of in the designated sites, thus most of the waste in South Africa is disposed in environmentally unsafe sites (Afrika et al, 2016 ). Waste in urban areas of Polokwane Local Municipality is collected from the households and delivered to the waste disposal site (Viljoen et.al., 2021), there is no formal plan of waste collection in areas such as gaMothapo (City of Polokwane, 2015).