STATE
OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

" A Women mentioned that her father was a road sweeper. Some people describe his work as lowly, but she rates the person who picks up the rubbish, far higher than the one who drops it!"

CURRENT STATUS OF SOLID WASTE IN GJ

• The main population group affected in terms of solid waste was identified as the portion of population without access to regular refuse removal services. To the west of Orange Farm, including the Kapok and Hopefield settlements, in excess of 71% of the population do not have access to waste removal services. Illegal dumping takes place at the intersection of the R553 and R551 near Palm Springs, and litter and refuse poses health problems to residents in the area.
• East of Ennerdale in the Weilers Farm area, no refuse removal exists and illegal dumping takes place here.
• Although regular refuse removal takes place in Orange Farm, Ennerdale, Poortjie and Lenasia, illegal dumping still takes place in all open spaces and informal settlements in the area. Refuse is collected on a daily / weekly basis in the residential areas by means of wheeled bins, bin liners or bin bags, and it is the responsibility of the contractors to also remove any litter and illegal dumping in their area.
• South of Lenasia at the Lawley settlement, irregular refuse removal to up to 100% of the population, together with illegal dumping causes solid waste problems.
• Southeast of Soweto at the Freedom Park/Goldev, and Bushkoppie /Slovo Park settlements, illegal dumping, irregular refuse removal, litter and the poor location of rubbish bins in relation to waste sources, cause solid waste problems. In the rest of Soweto, the levels of service varies, and some problems exist in terms of illegal dumping in most open spaces, combined with irregular refuse removal services in areas like Naledi. To the northeast of Soweto illegal dumping and littering takes place in the Orlando and Diepkloof areas.
• In the far southeast of Greater Johannesburg, at the Eikenhof settlements and to the east, illegal dumping takes place along the Klip River system, mainly from illegal settlements. Littering and lack of refuse removal services causes solid waste pollution.
• In Johannesburg, refuse is collected on a daily / weekly basis using 240 litre wheeled bins. Insufficient infrastructure to deal with solid waste from the densely populated Inner City, informal traders and businesses, contributes to solid waste pollution.

Waste (in tonnes) collected in the Inner City per month.

Solid waste (in tonnes) collected by contractors in the Inner City (January – December 1997).

*Average tons for the year and **Approximate values based on daily collection figures

Waste collected by the Council within the Inner City (May – July 1998).

Waste containers situated in the Inner City.

Types of waste from the Inner City of Johannesburg for 1994.

• To the west of Roodepoort at the Davidsonville, Goudrand and Matoliville settlements, solid waste problems are a result of the population not having access to refuse removal. Littering and illegal dumping cause additional problems in the area.
• Estimates show that approximately 18 600 tons of refuse is collected monthly in the EMLC. The situation is quite good with 55% of paper, 65% of cans and 10% of all plastic being recycled. To the east of Illovo no refuse removal exists, and litter can be found in this area.
• North of Alexandra, irregular refuse removal exists in areas including the Sejwetla, Dunusa and Far East Bank settlements. Litter and illegal dumping cause solid waste problems to the west of the Linbro Park Landfill Site.
• Very little or no refuse removal services exist, with high levels of littering and dumping of waste taking place, in the vicinity of Zevenfontein.

WHAT HAPPENS TO DISCARDED WASTE

Each day tons of waste is tipped into landfills, crushed into layers and buried. Some of the waste rots away while some stays in the landfill for hundreds of years. Even organic waste can remain in the soil for a long period of time before it decomposes. This is mainly due to the fact that compacted waste is not exposed to air and light. The natural decaying of waste will depend on the material and availability of oxygen (Keep South Africa Beautiful, 1998).

Plastic - Most plastics, once buried under ground, do not compose at all. Ultraviolet light however can break plastic down to some extent.
After 1 year - The plastic bottloe looks very much the same as it did when it was discarded.
After 5 years - The bottle is still intact, but has been partially decomposed by sunlight.
After 10 years - The bottle will remain intact almost indefinitely once buried.

Aluminium - Cans are protected from decomposing by a layer of oxide, which forms when the aluminium reacts with oxygen in the atmosphere.
After 1 year - The can is still whole, only the paint has dissolved.
After 5 years - The can begins to sink into the soil, and is flatter.
After 10 years - The can slowly begins to decompose through its contact with the soil.

Glass - Glass does decompose, although once buried this process stops.
After 1 year - A glass bottle remains unchanged on the surface.
After 5 years - The glass breaks up into large pieces.
After 10 years - The glass has now broken up into small segments and lies harmlessly, buried in the soil.

Paper - Paper is biodegradable, which means that it is broken down by tiny creatures such as bacteria and mould.
Paper decomposes over a period ranging from one to five years.
Decomposition of paper depends on the type of paper and the atmospheric conditions, for example the higher the humidity level, the more rapid the decomposition of the paper.

Organic Waste - Organic waste, such as food scraps and garden cuttings are biodegradable. Vegetable and garden waste rots into a rich muck called compost.
The cycle from plant to decomposition and back to plant takes place over a period of about two years (Keep South Africa Beautiful, 1998)..

REFERENCES

EMLC, SMLC, WMLC, NMLC 1997: Land Development Objective.

Inner City Committee 1998: Investigation into the delivery of municipal waste collection and disposal services and the identification of possible alternative delivery options for the Inner City. GJMC: Jhb.

Keep South Africa Beautiful 1998: Clean and Green Poster. KSB: Randburg.

SMSS 1997: Inner City Project Final Report.

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