The smart money says it is better to consider recycling components of a product before you build it, rather than wonder what to do with the product at the end of its life cycle

Many years ago, chicken breeders learnt to assess the profitability of a broiler at chick stage rather than spend much money growing it, only to find that it was unusable at the end of the process.

This same procedural thinking is becoming entrenched in all areas of waste management, where the components of products are assessed for their potential recyclability or biodegradability at the manufacturing stage rather than the scrapping stage.

Premised by the constitutional right of all South African citizens to a clean environment in which to live, work and seek recreation, waste management has become a very exact scientific process as opposed to simply creating yet another landfill.

We still have to deal with the landfills, which were well or not-so-well planned and positioned in the past – but with a new approach, the management of future landfill sites will be more environmentally intelligent and will comprise only material that cannot be gainfully used elsewhere.

In fact, according to Sally-Ann Engledow of Jeffares & Green Consulting, in a paper delivered at the WasteCon convention on 7 October, the archaeology of existing landfills serves as an economic history of our past.

A core drilled out of a site will reveal the economic cycles of the past based on the value of the refuse.

But intelligent waste management is not easily achieved. We have our unique problems, as South Africa’s demographic urbanisation over the past 15 to 20 years has been meteoric. We do not have a situation where services and facilities have developed to cater for gradual urban sprawl.

On the contrary, we have huge problems to deal with specifically because this urbanisation was characterised by little or no planning.

Communities live on or in very close proximity to dumps, and the process of cleaning up the environment or relocating the communities (many of whom rely on the dumps for their livelihood) is fraught with social and political tripwires.

WasteCon addressed numerous issues associated with the recycling and reuse of waste materials as well as the disposal of components that had reached a point of zero economic value.

One of the success stories related was that of Engen Oil, which had successfully managed to comply with the new regulations set by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) with regard to waste, through a process of proactive project management.

Engen’s Sandra Redelinghuys spoke of the procedures adopted by the energy producer and of the challenges that had to be addressed in order to meet the company’s objectives.

One word kept reverberating throughout her presentation – and that of many others – and that was “responsibility”.

One of the biggest breakthroughs that can be made in any waste management project is the achievement of a clear realisation on the part of ALL stakeholders that our waste is our responsibility. And achieving this was no easy task.

Three years into its waste management project, however, Engen is able to reflect a very well-managed and co-ordinated process that is not only ensuring the company’s Durban refinery is cleaner and healthier, but which is also beginning to show significant (R6 million to R9m per annum) earnings from more structured use of recyclable and saleable waste.

Both Engeldow and Redelinghuys emphasised the systems approach to the project management of waste in any environment. And both pointed to the importance of being able to identify the waste components of all materials used in order to manage it efficiently and effectively.

One of the key areas to be kept in mind, particularly when one considers that the onus for responsible waste management lies squarely on the shoulders of the waste producer, is the choice of suppliers of waste disposal.

The selection process at Engen used to be fairly lackadaisical until a few years ago. Once it had accepted responsibility for its waste, however, it realised it had to ensure that whoever was removing it was equally responsible.

This has led to the implementation of a comprehensive vetting system for suppliers of this service, and each such supplier has to enter into a contract with Engen on the understanding that any failure to comply will lead to the cancellation of the contract.

One of the major reasons we find ourselves in a sea of waste today dates back to the decision to build obsolescence into products as a means of recovering from the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s. This decision, although it did have the effect of helping in economic recovery, has had a profound psychological and environmental effect on the world in which we live today.

The ‘throw away’ society has produced the ‘landfill’ society, and the associated social, economic and environmental ills that we face as a result.

The words recycle, reuse and recover were once the sole preserve of green activists who were regarded as being fairly close to the lunatic fringe. It has taken a long time to ensure the entire concept of waste management is becoming acceptable – not only to the man in the street but also in the boardrooms of the land.

This battle is far from over, and in some instances has only just begun, but continued educational and awareness programmes do seem to be producing the desired results.

As ever, the quickest learners are the youngest, and school environmental projects of 20 years ago are yielding fruit, in that the language – words such as recycle, reuse and recover – is not alien to the generation that will be guiding public and private institutions into the future.

But perhaps the most compelling argument for a well-managed waste disposal process is the numerous advantages that accrue to both the company itself and the individuals working for it. This does not only apply to large corporates; smaller companies and individual households can benefit equally from well-organised waste management.

From a company’s point of view, however, one of the most obvious benefits is compliance with the law. The DEA has implemented (and will continue to implement) regulations governing the disposal of waste products in South Africa. Increasingly, companies that do not comply will find themselves in contravention of the law and will face stiffer and stiffer penalties or, at the very least, costly legal actions.

So it makes economic sense to address the issue even if the corporate conscience is not pricked by ignoring the health, safety and environmental benefits.

Another major benefit is that the implementation of intelligent waste management systems brings about individual mindset changes. Companies that have instituted such processes have noted that employees are far more environmentally aware as well as being conscious of the economic benefits of recycling and reusing, instead of simply dumping.

In addition, the companies that are making use of responsible disposal procedures have a healthier and safer environment in which their employees can do what they are paid to do.

Obviously, the more hazardous the components involved in the workplace, the more essential this policy becomes, but even the normal office environment benefits where waste is sorted and disposed of efficiently and quickly.

From an environmental point of view, awareness of the potential value of waste materials has a growing impact on landfills. The lower the volume of waste being transported to landfill sites, the more manageable these become and the lower the percentage of still-degradable products that need to be processed.

Economically, the benefits take some time to be realised.

Redelinghuys mentions that one of the areas that Engen is still struggling to address is that of cardboard and paper waste.

This is mainly because the sorting and storage process for this type of waste does not have a huge economic impact on the organisation. But, as the saying goes, even sardines are fish.

The point is that the responsible disposal of all waste products (even paper and cardboard) does not cost money.

Indications are that even if it does not earn large sums, it still reduces cost by up to 50%, as the vendors of waste disposal services are able to specialise in the waste products best suited to them.

Perhaps one of the subliminal benefits of waste management projects is a complete reassessment and reclassification of waste itself. What was once thought of as worthless rubbish is now being seen as a resource stream that, if managed properly, can and does have an impact on the economy, the environment and human health and safety.

Which brings us back to that constitutional right of ours, which is the right to live and work in a safe and healthy environment.

We are a long way from getting everything right, but there certainly are benchmarks against which progress in the right direction can now be measured.

The ongoing educational and awareness programmes – in tandem with an understanding of the economic benefits and plain logical sense behind waste management – will eventually produce the environment for which we are hoping. 

John Doolan