PROPOSED INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION

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PROPOSED INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION
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Aim

• To provide background regarding the proposed
  waste management legislation

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Scope (1)

• Background
• Waste Management Bill, 2007
• Principles of Integrated Waste Management (IWM)
• What is Waste?
• Duty of State
• General Duty
• Waste Management Measures
• Storing of Waste
• Collection of Waste
• Treatment and Disposal

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Scope (2)

• Listed Activities and Licensing
• Contaminated Land
• Waste Management Plans
• Compliance and Enforcement
• Cost of Implementation
• Conclusion

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Background (1)
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Background (2)

• Local government responsible as
  regulating/regulated body in waste management in
  SA
• By 2004, only 28.5 of municipalities completed
  IWMP
• Nearly half of the 1321 waste landfill sites in
  SA are unauthorised, should be closed 60
  hazardous
• 2006 State of Environment Report as many as 15
  000 unrecorded communal waste sites in rural
  areas

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Background (3)

• Municipalities have little environmental
  management capacity - national average of less
  than one engineer per local authority in 2006
• No information available on expenditure by
  municipalities on environmental management
  functions of which waste is prominent part
• Since 2005, SA solid waste system managed the
  disposal of
• 20 billion kg of municipal solid waste
• 450 billion kg of mining related waste
• 20 billion kg of power station waste

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Background (4)

• Quantity of waste grow faster than economy in
  many cities eg Cape Town
• Growing minerals coal-based energy sector -
  increased industrial waste with limited
  productive recycling and re-use
• SA in the early days of e-waste management - by
  2006 amounted to more than 4000 tonnes per annum

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Constitution

• Everyone has the constitutional right to have an
  environment that is not harmful to his or her
  health and to have the environment protected for
  the benefit of present and future generations
  through reasonable legislative and other measures
  that
• (a) prevent pollution and ecological degradation
• (b) promote conservation and
• (c) secure ecologically sustainable development
  and use of natural resources, while promoting
  justifiable economic and social development

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Waste Management Bill (1)

• Environmental Management Waste Management Bill
  of 2007 published in January 2007
• Aspires to welcome transformation of the entire
  legal regime on waste management in SA
• Regulating waste management in order to protect
  health and the environment by providing
  reasonable measures for the prevention of
  pollution and ecological degradation and for
  securing ecologically sustainable development

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Waste Management Bill (2)

• To provide for institutional arrangements and
  planning matters to provide for national norms
  and standards for regulating the management of
  waste by all spheres of government
• To provide for specific waste management
  measures
• To provide for the licensing and control of waste
  management activities
• To provide for remediation of contaminated land

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Waste Management Bill (3)

• To provide for the national waste information
  system and
• To provide for compliance and enforcement
• Binds all 284 municipalities
• Emphasis on preventative waste management
• Embrace municipalities as part of waste law
  regime waste management compliance enforcement

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Waste Management Bill (4)

• National standards/limitations
• Waste minimisation, recovery, re-use recycling
  etc (must be set)
• Regionalisation of waste management services,
  producer responsibility, waste management data
  tariffs for waste services
• Surplus/profit, use of income generated by
  recovery of charges by municipalities
• Tariffs to be used to provide for specifically
  waste management infrastructure/facilities

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Waste Principles

• Waste Avoidance and Reduction
• Transboundary Movement
• Duty of Care
• Cradle to Grave Responsibility
• Precautionary Principle
• Polluter Pays

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Considerations (1)

• Waste management practices in many areas of the
  SA are not conducive to a healthy environment and
  the impact of improper waste management practices
  are often borne disproportionately by the poor
• Poor waste management practices can have an
  adverse impact both locally and globally
• Sustainable development requires that the
  generation of waste is avoided, or where it
  cannot be avoided, that it is reduced, re-used,
  recycled or recovered and only as a last resort
  treated and safely disposed of

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Considerations (2)

• Minimisation of pollution and the use of natural
  resources through vigorous control, cleaner
  technologies, cleaner production and consumption
  practices, and waste minimisation are key to
  ensuring that the environment is protected from
  the impact of waste
• Waste under certain circumstances is a resource
  and offers economic opportunities

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Considerations (3)

• Waste require essential national standards to be
  dealt with effectively, require uniform norms and
  standards that apply throughout the SA and in
  order to promote and give effect to the
  constitutional environmental right, require
  strategies, norms and standards seek to ensure
  best waste practices within co-operative
  governance

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What is Waste?
Any substance, whether or not that substance can
be reduced, re-used, recycled and recovered (a)
that is surplus, unwanted, rejected, discarded,
abandoned or disposed of (b) where the generator
has no further use of for the purposes of
production, reprocessing or consumption (c) that
must be treated or disposed of or (d) that is
identified as a waste by the Environmental
Affairs and Tourism Identify priority
wastescompile IWMP
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Duty of the State

• In fulfilling the rights contained in section 24
  of the Constitution, the State, through the
  organs of state must put in place uniform
  measures that seek to reduce the amount of waste
  that is generated and, where waste is generated,
  to ensure that waste is re-used, recycled and
  recovered in an environmentally sound manner
  before being safely treated and disposed of

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General Duty

• Holder of waste must take reasonable measures to
• (a) avoid the generation of waste where
  generation cannot be avoided, to minimise
  toxicity and amounts of waste generated
• (b) reduce, re-use, recycle and recover waste
• (c) where waste must be disposed of, ensure that
  waste is treated and disposed of in an
  environmentally sound manner
• (d) Manage waste in a manner that does not
  endanger health or the environment or cause a
  nuisance through noise, odour or visual impacts
• (e) Prevent employees or persons under
  supervision from contravening these provisions
  and
• (f) Prevent waste from being used for an
  unauthorised purpose

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Management Measures

• Reduce or Avoid
• If not, minimise through
• Re-use
• Recycle
• Recover
• Last resort
• Treatment/Process
• Disposal

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Storing of Waste (1)

• A person who stores waste must at least take
  steps to ensure that
• (a) the containers in which any waste is stored,
  are intact and not corroded or in any other way
  rendered unfit for the safe storage of waste
• (b) adequate measures are taken to prevent
  accidental spillage or leaking
• (c) the waste cannot be blown away
• (d) nuisances such as odour, visual impacts and
  breeding of vectors do not arise and
• (e) pollution of the environment and harm to
  health are prevented

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Storing of Waste (2)

• Person generating general waste collected by a
  municipality must place the waste in a container
  approved, designated or provided by the
  municipality for that purpose and in a location
  approved by municipality
• Waste that can be reused, recycled or recovered
  and intended to be reduced, re-used, recycled or
  recovered in accordance with this provisions or
  any applicable by-laws need not be placed in a
  container

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Collection of Waste

• No person may collect waste for removal from
  premises unless such person is
• (a) a municipality or municipal service provider
• (b) authorised by law to collect that waste,
  where authorisation is required or
• (c) not prohibited from collecting that waste.

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Treatment and Disposal

• No person may
• (a) dispose of waste, or knowingly or negligently
  cause or permit waste to be disposed of, in or on
  any land, waterbody or at any facility unless the
  disposal of that waste is authorised by law or
• (b) dispose of waste in a manner that is likely
  to cause pollution of the environment or harm to
  health and well-being.

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Listed Activities and Licensing

• Waste management activities that have, or are
  likely to have, a detrimental effect on the
  environment will be listed and require licensing
• Incineration prohibited in accordance with Air
  Quality Bill

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Contaminated Land

• This part applies to the contamination of land
  even if the contamination
• (a) occurred before the commencement of this Act
• (b) originated on land other than land referred
  to in section 38
• (c) arises or is likely to arise at a different
  time from the actual activity that caused the
  contamination or
• (d) arises through an act or activity of a person
  that results in a change to pre-existing
  contamination.

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Waste Management Plans

• Industry, national departments and organs of
  state may be required to prepare and implement
  waste management plans
• Provide annual reporting on these plans

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Compliance and Enforcement

• Framework environmental legislation provisions
  apply
• Environmental inspectors Green Scorpions
• Provision for severe penalties fine up to R10
  million or imprisonment up to 10 years

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Cost of Implementation
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Discussion