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CSIR Review of the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS)

Dr Linda Godfrey

Principal Researcher: Pollution & Waste

30 May 2012

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INTRODUCTION

• Recognize that NWMS was approved by Cabinet in 2011

• Acknowledge that NWMS has been through an extensive public participation process during its development

• CSIR’s presentation will focus on some key issues that consistently came up in the organizational review of the NWMS

• Refer the Committee to the detailed written submission made for a complete list of review comments

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KEY ISSUES

• The NWMS touches on what have been contentious (but policy-silent) issues within the waste sector over the past decade

• Regionalisation of waste facilities

• Landfill pickers / reclaimers

• Thermal waste treatment

• Addressing these issues within the NWMS are welcomed

• The intention of the NWMS is to provide step-by-step guidance on how to achieve the goals of the Act

• However, the NWMS is not written at a practical level that would assist, e.g. municipalities to achieve the objectives

• Does not provide short-, medium- and long-term objectives or timeframes for implementation, e.g. development of standards

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KEY ISSUES

• The NWMS has a 5-year time horizon based on the review cycle, but should provide objectives beyond 5-years

• Provide for required infrastructure, particularly large capital investment

• Ensure government commitment beyond terms of office

• Suggest the development of detailed Action Plans (more so than Appendix 1) to practically support each of the goals of the NWMS (as were developed for the 1999 NWMS)

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KEY ISSUES

• Measuring and monitoring of targets

• Waste pricing / cost

• Enforcement & compliance

• Awareness & behavioural change

• Role of the private sector & PPPs

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Measuring & monitoring of targets

• Many of the targets will be difficult to measure in the absence of formal monitoring programmes, e.g. StatsSA

• e.g. number of new jobs created in the waste sector, or waste SMMEs created (Goal 3)

• For many of the targets, the absence of a baseline makes monitoring (and achievement) difficult

• e.g. 25% of recyclables diverted from landfill sites for reuse/recycling (Goal 1)

• Some targets only require a yes/no which is insufficient

• e.g. 80% of municipalities running awareness campaign (Goal 4), without detail of its content, effectiveness or impact

• Some targets are counterintuitive

• e.g. 50% increase in enforcement actions, expect to see decline

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Waste pricing / cost

• Poor implementation of the waste hierarchy has been less about policy and more about pricing

• Support Gov’s move towards correct pricing of waste to address low cost of landfilling, lack of cost recovery, and its impact on –

• Equipment & infrastructure investment (municipalities)

• Establishing a viable reuse/recycling sector

• Hand-in-hand with compliance & enforcement

• i.e. naturally drives up the cost of landfilling to reflect true cost

• Careful thought on

• Who along the value chain bears what portion of the cost

• How we pass this increasing waste cost onto consumers (in the proposed short timeframe), given rising electricity, food, petrol costs

• Long-term move to include social & environmental costs

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Awareness & behavioural change

• Awareness campaigns

• Very important, but raised awareness (knowledge) alone does not lead to changed behaviour

• Parallel processes of changing attitudes and norms; infrastructure investment, etc.

• Awareness campaigns must be ongoing and consistent to maintain message

• Action plans to identify who will take ownership of awareness programmes

• Economic instruments

• Pricing, plus economic incentives & disincentives as alternate behavioural change instruments

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The role of the private sector

• In implementing the waste hierarchy the role of municipalities is to create an enabling environment for enterprise creation and job creation in the private sector

• Importance of public-private partnerships and outsourcing of waste operations

• Research in SA shows that utilizing the private sector

• Reduces costs to municipalities,

• Gives municipalities access to better infrastructure and specialist skills, and

• Improves levels of waste management and facility compliance

• Role for SMMEs, but we need an honest debate around shifting roles to the private sector © CSIR 2006

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CONCLUSIONS

• There remain some open-ended statements in the NWMS which would benefit from detailed, goal-specific, Action Plans

• Action plans must identify short-, medium-, long-term objectives (beyond 5 years)

• Action plans must provide clear & practical guidance to municipalities and private sector

• Some minor errors / inconsistencies to be addressed

• The Act and NWMS are welcomed as they move SA into a space of improved waste management

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CONTACT DETAILS

• Dr Linda Godfrey

• LGodfrey@csir.co.za

• Tel: (012) 841-3675

• www.csir.co.za

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