Draft Waste Classification and Management Regulations

Type of practice Landfill

Name of practice Draft Waste Classification and Management Regulations

Name of main actor South African Government

Type of actor(s) Public authority

Location South Africa

Stage of implementation End-of-life

Year of implementation 2011

What was/is being done? The South Africa Waste Management Strategy 2011/2012 sets a number of ambitious goals that the national government is willing to meet in the short term, notably by 2016, including a 25 percent diversion of recyclables from landfills, with the ultimate aim of phasing out biodegradable waste landfilling.

Outcomes and impacts Among the laudable initiatives taken by the Department of Environmental Affairs, the project for the development of Draft Waste Classification and Management Regulations not only promotes composting as an effective means of diverting biodegradable (thus also food) waste from landfills, but importantly aims at eventually banning organic waste from landfills by setting criteria for a gradual restriction on waste disposal once alternative management solutions are established and largely available.