Adequate management of waste and chemicals has emerged as a serious challenge confronting South Africa in recent years. The third national waste baseline shows that South Africa generated approximately 108 million tonnes of waste in 2011, of which 98 million tonnes was disposed of at landfill. In the order of 59 million tonnes is general waste, 43 million tonnes is currently unclassified waste and the remaining 6 million tonnes hazardous waste. In the order of 10 of all waste generated in South Africa was recycled in 2011.
To tackle this growing environmental threat, South Africa has taken a number of important steps, including ratification of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions, as well as key measures like banning liquid waste from being dumped in landfills. These actions are beginning to have a measurable impact, but more work is needed to truly resolve the issue. Read more…
