By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town all have less than ten years of useful landfill life left, as waste management is the least prioritised municipal service in most South African municipalities.
It lags significantly behind housing, water, electricity and road infrastructure.
The recent fire at the New England Road landfill in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal raised awareness about the myriad issues facing the proper management of such sites throughout South Africa.
In terms of landfill assessments, infrastructure consulting firm AECOM’s integrated approach allows it to assist clients throughout the landfill lifecycle, from site identification and landfill design through to rehabilitation and closure planning.
“We like to engage with the client as opposed to just adopting an off-the-shelf approach. We adopt a needs analysis as opposed to a tick-box approach. Viability is critical, as we need to consider the actual budget and capability of the client so as to determine the best phased approach possible,” explains Elisabeth Nortje (Pri.Sci.Nat.), Market Sector Lead – Environment, Africa.
The regulatory aspect is critical, especially due to the large number of unlicensed landfill sites in South Africa. It takes at least nine to 12 months to obtain environmental approval, in addition to all of the supporting specialist technical studies are required. Therefore, the critical pathway of any landfill project is quite often the authorisation component.
“Many municipalities are really struggling to get this right. In addition, we also have so many unlicensed landfill sites. This is a historic problem, given that many are quite old and started operating well before the latest environmental legislation came into effect,” highlights Nortje.
Landfills may need to be closed for various reasons, including unacceptable environmental impacts such as groundwater pollution, and/or unmanageable air pollution such as dust or odours.
Geological issues include dolomitic ground conditions, which can result in water ingress and sinkhole formation. In many instances, improving landfill management and operations is a necessary first step, but if this proves unsuccessful, closure becomes necessary.
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