Four of the seven landfill sites in and around Tshwane are not up to par.
AfriForum released its annual landfill audit report on July 30 at the Bethal municipal landfill site and found that few municipalities comply with the relevant waste management legislation intended to protect communities’ health and the environment from pollution.
To pass the audit, a landfill has to meet at least 80% of the audit requirements.
Tshwane landfill sites included in the audit are Mooiplaats in Centurion (Raslouw), Hatherley in Nellmapius, Bon Accord in Pretoria North, Bronkhorstspruit, Ga-Rankuwa, Onderstepoort and Soshanguve.
The landfill sites at Mooiplaats and Bon Accord are privately managed, while the other five are managed by the metro.
According to Marais de Vaal, AfriForum’s advisor for Environmental Affairs, Bon Accord on the Old Warmbaths Road and Mooiplaats in Centurion (between Laudium and Nandi) are the only landfill sites in Tshwane that comply with more than 80%.
These landfill sites are managed privately by The Waste Group.
De Vaal said privately managed sites are profit-driven and therefore often better managed.
“Privately managed sites are also often more carefully scrutinised by authorities and work hard to get their compliance notices to keep their permits,” said De Vaal.
Scores were compiled according to answers on an audit questionnaire.
These answers were used to determine the performance of the sites on the most important aspects of good waste management, such as access control and security, infrastructure, personnel, equipment, recycling, monitoring and record keeping.
Points were awarded for each category that met the audit requirements and processed into a final compliance score out of 100.
The landfill site 2024 compliance score of the seven sites in and around Tshwane are as follows:
– Hatherley (Nellmapius): 68%
– Mooiplaats (Centurion): 98%
– Bon Accord (Pretoria North): 94%
– Bronkhorstspruit: 74%
– Ga-Rankuwa: 66%
– Onderstepoort (Pretoria North): Closed between 2020 to 2022 and now in rehabilitation status
– Soshanguve: 66%
Of real concern to De Vaal is the fact that even though the report has been delivered over the past five years to the metro, nothing much has been done by municipalities.
AfriForum has been reporting on the country’s landfill sites since 2014 to determine whether they meet the necessary environmental, health and safety requirements for responsible waste management.
“Some of the metro’s sites will have to close down in the next few years according to their licence conditions. To get a new site ready and to get all the regulatory procedures in place, in itself takes five years. There are huge questions hanging over what the metro is going to do when this happens as it will be costly using another municipality’s landfill site like for instance Brits,” explained De Vaal.
He is also concerned about landfill sites like that of Soshanguve on which informal recyclers are not only doing recycling but living on the landfill sites as this is unhygienic and poses a real health risk to these individuals.
According to the report, the decline of landfill sites countrywide is increasing and is so extensive that, although AfriForum audited 28 more sites than last year, even fewer landfills countrywide were able to pass the independent audit this year.
The civil rights organisation’s nationwide network of 160 branches audited 185 municipal landfill sites and four private landfills in February.
“Considering that the audit pass rate determines whether only the minimum requirements for waste management are met, and how few landfill sites have passed, it is clear that there are major shortcomings in terms of municipal waste management,” said De Vaal.
“It is also worrying that fewer landfill sites passed the audit than in 2023.”
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said in the past five years, only one landfill site, Onderstepoort, was closed as it had reached its operating capacity. “However, there are still five more landfill sites that were decommissioned dating back to 2013,” confirmed Mashigo.
For 2024 the budget for the management and operation of disposal facilities (landfills and transfer stations) is R57-million.
He added that the current operational landfill sites have a remaining useful life ranging between six to 15 years.
“The city has started a process of identifying alternative waste treatment options to help address issues of landfill airspace when the current operational landfill sites close,” explained Mashigo.
According to him, the city is considering all avenues with possible solutions to help improve their landfill operations, management and compliance.
“Several engagements have been initiated with other landfill site operators in Gauteng, including privately run landfill sites, with the intention to benchmark and learn more about the best practices and new technology adopted at their landfill sites.”
Click here to see a video on the report: https://www.facebook.com/AfriForumNasionaal/videos/412258905203008
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