The real problems in our waste system are systemic and have four root causes:

Under apartheid, Black people only had temporary access to cities, as labourers. Otherwise, they were ‘removed’ (like waste), to Reserves or Homelands, located far away from cities.

By the 1980s, however, the apartheid government was struggling to control rural-urban migration. The growing informal settlements or ‘townships’ outside cities messed with apartheid planners’ ideas for how space should be ordered. After 1994, rural-urban migration sped up as people from the former homelands moved closer to the cities they were once excluded from in search of work and opportunity. Existing townships have grown in size and new ones have been created. But public services for these communities have not kept up with demand, and informal settlements continue to be poorly served.

People living in such circumstances might come to view themselves as “throw-away people” – abandoned and disposable to the authorities.

Places like these become easy targets for outsiders to dump trash because they are treated as forgotten.

To make matters worse, although informal waste reclaimers contribute 90% of South Africa’s recycling output, they are often harassed, or stigmatised as criminal and dirty, especially in affluent areas.

Despite the challenges, there are also stories of hope and change. Under-resourced areas have given rise to innovation to address their own litter and waste problems. Individual and community initiatives demonstrate how in these settlements, residents care for and take action on their environment. These types of environmentally focused actions create new social ties and social solidarity, along with a strong sense of ownership and belonging. Within these activist networks there is a strong notion of protecting the environment, and common spaces, for future generations, and strong notions of responsibility and hope for the future.

Companies making cheap, fast-moving consumer products – like bottles, food packaging and nappies – are responsible for huge amounts of non-recyclable waste.

There is no ‘away’ to send our waste to. If it’s not biodegradable and it’s not being recycled (and most of it isn’t), then it goes to landfill. It becomes litter. That is a problem of waste generation, not waste removal. If we want less litter, we need less waste. Big companies must shoulder this responsibility. Consumers can help too by buying products that have less packaging or come in biodegradable containers.

Since May 2021, it has been the law that paper and packaging manufacturers must ensure that their waste is recycled, re-used or converted through processes like Waste-to-energy, Plastic-to-oil, roadmaking and industrial-composting.

But, the government still needs to go further to make sure that packaging producers limit the amount of non-recyclable material they are creating, especially polystyrene, which is clogging up rivers and landfills at an alarming rate.

Even in wealthy areas, waste is often not sorted before it lands at the dumpsite.

Informal waste reclaimers, volunteers and innovative businesses provide essential services, but are not well supported. Instead, many people, especially in wealthy neighbourhoods, discriminate against waste reclaimers, viewing them as dirty, as scavengers or as criminals.

Even with the hard work of informal waste reclaimers, large amounts of waste that could be recycled, composted, or converted into energy are still going to landfills. Many landfill sites have closed down because of the amount of waste being put into them. A lot of waste ends up in illegal dumpsites or in rivers, or is burnt by residents who have few other choices for getting rid of their waste. This pollutes the air and is a risk to human health.

South Africa’s informal settlements often have little or no waste removal services. This is in large part because of the history of apartheid spatial planning, but also because of rapid urbanisation, poor planning, a lack of funds and capacity in municipalities, and the inability of garbage trucks to reach some areas in informal settlements. Some informal settlements get no services at all because they are not recognised.

Telling people ‘don’t dump’ won’t work. In the township they will tell you that you are talking shit – give us bins!”
– Johannes Dube, Saulsville resident

Because many informal areas are not serviced, and many formal areas are under-serviced because of back-yarding and high-density, residents often do not have access to wheelie bins. Instead, they must buy plastic bags and leave them outside their homes for collection. Plastic bags not only cost money, but left outside, they can also be torn up by dogs and attract rodents and bad smells.

“Many informal settlements have come up in the last few years and these have no services. So, people living in the ‘squatter camps’ have no choice but to dump their rubbish there. We must also ask the municipality to make a central point where people can put their rubbish. Like rubbish stations where they will come and collect from. And they must give each household black bags. Because they are illegal, they don’t get serviced.”
– Joseph Twala, Soulbent Project clean-up team, Saulsville

To add to this, informal settlements often become dumping grounds for waste from other places.