Abstract
Waste management is emerging as a key sector for sustainable development in South Africa with opportunities for enhancing investments in carbon credits that target reduction of methane from landfills and moveable assets in relation to environmentally sound equipment required for effective waste management. In the past, the waste management sector was dominated by private sector with selective operations in what makes business sense through recycling of saleable products. Materials mostly recycled included paper and hard board, plastics, glass, tinplate and aluminum. The rest of the waste materials estimated at 10.2 million tons of both general and hazardous end up in landfills. This trend is now getting reversed as development agencies such as Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit Gmbh (GTZ), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development (DANCED) and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) are identifying opportunities in the sector for sustainable development purposes. Two key areas for investments include capturing methane emissions from landfills for trading in carbon markets and financing both physical and moveable assets to enhance sustainable development. However, the challenges for cost-effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability in the sector prevail in relation to lack of sound knowledge to design and implement integrated programmes that incorporate environment, development and sustainability. Also, inadequate capacity at municipal levels to administer waste management programmes and inability to collect rates and taxes for effective management of landfills constraint effectiveness and efficiency of the sector. Overall, financial resources are imperative to waste management and sustainable development as the sector requires capital investments for necessary infrastructure.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- BPEO:
-
Best Practical Environmental Option
- CBO:
-
Community Based Organization
- CDM:
-
Clean Development Mechanism
- CER:
-
Certified Emissions Reduction
- CSIR:
-
centre for Scientific International Research
- DANIDA:
-
Danish International Development Agency
- DANCED:
-
Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development
- DBSA:
-
Development Bank of Southern Africa
- DEAT:
-
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
- DWAF:
-
Department of Water Affairs
- GHG:
-
Greenhouse Gas
- GNI:
-
Gross National Income
- GTZ:
-
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit Gmbh
- ICT:
-
Information Communication Technology
- IWMP:
-
Integrated Waste Management Programme
- LDV:
-
Light Delivery Vehicles
- LFG:
-
Liquid Fuel Gas
- NGO:
-
Non-governmental Organization
- NWMS:
-
National Waste Management Strategy
- PACSA:
-
Packaging Corporation of South Africa
- PPP:
-
Public-Private␣cPartnerships
- SADC:
-
Southern Africa Development Corporation
- SMMEs:
-
Small and Medium Enterprises
- UNFCCC:
-
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- WSSD:
-
World Summit on Sustainable Development
References
DBSA: 2004, Vision 2014: Strategic Guidance on Smart Partnerships (draft, July 2004), DBSA, Midrand, South Africa
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry: 2001, Situation Analysis based on Baseline Studies regarding Waste Management in South Africa (in preparation for the National Waste Management Strategy for South Africa), Number W.7.0: First Edition 2001
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry: 2001, Waste Generation in South Africa, Baseline Study in preparation for the National Waste Management Strategy. Number W.3.0: First Edition 2001
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry: 2001, Towards Formulation of a National Waste Management Strategy for South Africa, Number W.6.0: First Edition 2001
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry: 2001, Community Waste and Litter in South Africa, Baseline study in preparation for the National Waste Management Strategy. Number W.4.0: First Edition 2001
IWMP: 2004, 152R-DACEL IWMP Guideline Document, April 2004
Republic of South Africa: 2000, Local Government Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000. Government Gazette No. 21776, Government Printer, Pretoria. Republic of South Africa, 1998. National Environmental Management Act, Act 107 of 1998. Government Printer, Pretoria
World Bank: 2005, World Development Indicators Database, April 2005, The World Bank Group, Washington, DC, USA
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KARANI, P., JEWASIKIEWITZ, S.M. WASTE MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA. Environ Dev Sustain 9, 163–185 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-005-9010-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-005-9010-7