A zero waste model for the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

• Main Author: Snyman, Jacques.
• Other Authors: Prof K. Vorster.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://encore.tut.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1000870

Thesis (DTech. degree in Civil Engineering)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2009. === Landfills, once the panacea of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal, is now the pariah of MSW management strategies in developed countries. These countries, affluent and technologically well developed, have realised that MSW disposal in landfills is converting their scarce open spaces into unusable, unattractive areas, which threaten public health through environmental pollution. Alternative mechanisms are being developed and implemented to deal with the MSW once considered to be an inevitable by-product of civilization. As new technologies become available the populations of developing countries have increased rapidly, large cities have mushroomed and the nature of the MSW being generated has changed to such an extent, that nature is no longer able to assimilate it. Population density constitutes the chief motivation to oppose landfills. In this respect, South Africa, with 39 people/km2, comparable with the USA (31 people/km2) but much lower than Austria (98 people/km2) and the UK (246 people/km2) appears to have sufficient space for more landfills. However, Gauteng, as the smallest of the country's nine provinces, has a population density of 432 people/km2, therefore for Gauteng cities such as the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM) landfilling is no longer a viable option. South Africa, as a developing country, consists of first world islands scattered in a third world environment. South Africa's per capita GDP of $5 380, places it at vi number 88 (2008) in the world ranking, together with countries such as Argentina and Turkey (both at around $5 500). However, Gauteng, as the smallest of the country's nine provinces, has a per capita GDP of $13 000, which is comparable to countries such as Hungary ($11 200) and the Czech Republic ($13 900). Although still far short of countries such as the Netherlands ($40 200) and the USA ($44 200), it is clear that Gauteng cities should have the financial capability to move away from landfilling to more sophisticated MSW management strategies such as mechanical biological treatment methods. Presently the CTMM is still landfilling all its MSW, including garden waste, with no pre-processing or minimisation efforts. This is a result of the available capacity in its existing landfill sites, thought to be able to satisfy the city's needs for the next 10 years. It is probable that the authorities will not wake up to the problem before it is too late, as is the case in the adjacent CoJ, where there is virtually no landfill space left and no future strategy in place. This study first identified and evaluated technologies available in developed countries for processing the various components of the MSW stream, appropriate to local conditions, as an alternative to landfilling, to ensure that these components will be either reused, recycled or rendered harmless to the environment before disposal. Then most appropriate technologies for the CTMM were selected and assembled into an optimal configuration to achieve a Zero Waste situation in the CTMM within a decade or two. This represents a significant change in MSW management in the CTMM: from total landfill to zero waste. The level of insight and the degree of change, proposed in the study, will avert a MSW crisis in a few vii years’ time by the implementation of an affordable and sustainable MSW management model.