Addressing South Africa’s waste challenge needs joint effort from all of us, including everyday consumers, big producers, policymakers, municipalities and waste treatment facilities.
Consumers that sort their household waste can only recycle if the infrastructure for collecting and processing their waste exists. Similarly, recycling larger volumes of waste relies on more and more households to participate in sorting.
Waste in South Africa is growing at a faster pace than the systems meant to stop and manage it. Landfills are filling up fast, while recycling struggles to keep up. The problem is not a lack of activity but lack of alignment. South Africa already has clear regulatory...
Zelda lives in a middle class suburb outside Pretoria. “For those of us who want to separate our waste and put out different bags, the garbage collectors don’t care – they just put everything into the garbage truck. So, I don’t know where to begin even.” Even in...