National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008)NoticesNational Domestic Waste Collection Standards4. Collection |
Equitable waste collection services must be provided to all households within the jurisdiction of the municipality. In areas where travelling distances and the resulting costs may render regular waste collection services impractical, the municipality, through by-laws, must allow for more feasible alternative ways of waste handling, such as on-site disposal (refer to level of service in paragraph 3 above).
| 4.1 | Separation at source |
Separation at source must be encouraged and supported in line with the relevant industry waste management plans. In addition:
| (a) | All domestic waste must be sorted at source (i.e. the households) in all Metropolitan and secondary cities; |
| (b) | The service provider/municipality must provide clear guidelines to households regarding types of waste, the sorting of the waste, appropriate containers, and removal schedules for each type of waste; and |
| (c) | Community involvement in recycling must be encouraged. |
| 4.2 | Collection of recyclable waste |
The municipality must provide an enabling environment for households to recycle domestic waste. An enabling environment could include kerbside collection and/or well-kept drop-off centres within easy reach. Where the municipality does not provide for kerbside collection of the recyclable component of source separated waste, it must co-operate with the recycling sector to ensure the provision of facilities where recyclables can be dropped-off for collection by service providers.
| (a) | Mainstream recyclables (paper, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, plastic, glass, metal cans and tins) must therefore, according to the level of service provided (see section 3 above), be either collected at households or from communal collection points by the municipality or service providers. |
| (b) | Non-mainstream recyclables (electronic waste, scrap metal, batteries, fluorescent lights, used oil etc) must be routed to clearly marked drop-off centres at well advertised locations for collection by service providers in the relevant recycling sector. |
Guideline for collection of recyclables
The viability of recycling relies heavily on economies of scale. It is therefore important that enough clean recyclables (from separation at source including households) must be accumulated to justify the cost of transport associated with the collection of recyclables.
The following issues must be considered:
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| 4.3 | Receptacles |
The following specifications and procedures are applicable to all receptacles for domestic waste collection (refer to the guideline box below when selecting suitable receptacles):
| (a) | Receptacles for the storage of non-reusable and non-recyclable waste must be easily distinguishable from those for the storage of recyclable waste; |
| (b) | Receptacles for the storage of non-recyclable waste at households must be: |
| (i) | fit for the safe storage of waste; |
| (ii) | such that pollution of the environment and harm to health are prevented; |
| (iii) | rigid and durable to within reason prevent accidental tipping, accidental spillage and leaking; |
| (iv) | intact and not corroded or worn out; |
| (v) | covered to ensure that animals and insects cannot enter and that the waste cannot be blown away; and |
| (vi) | not bigger than 240L; |
| (c) | Each household supplied with a bin or wheelie bin takes responsibility for the hygiene as well as safekeeping of the bin, and must not purposely damage it or use it for any other purpose than for keeping waste until collection day; |
| (d) | The service provider/municipality must take care to return the emptied receptacle to the same household from where it was collected for emptying; |
| (e) | Where returnable receptacles are in use, household members must mark his or her receptacle to assist the service provider/municipality in returning the receptacle to the same household from where it was collected; and |
| (f) | Elderly and disabled persons' households must have the choice to use smaller receptacles or bins that handle more easily than the standard bins provided by the municipality. |
Guideline for selecting receptacle type.
The following must be taken into account:
Cost - Bins/wheelie bins are more costly than plastic bags, but have a longer lifespan.
Size - The size of the receptacle will be determined by the bulk (volume) of non-recyclable and recyclable waste generated by an average household in a certain area. The frequency of collection must be considered, as frequencies of less than once a week become a health hazard in South African climatic conditions. The maximum size of receptacles for a household is therefore set at 240L.
Pollution - Plastic bags create an additional source of pollution if not re-used and/or recycled.
Compatibility - The receptacles must be compatible with the type of collection vehicles in use. Where applicable, and in areas where the use of wheelie bins will be feasible, wheelie bins must be phased in as and when transport vehicles that are not currently compatible with wheelie bins are replaced. However, compactor trucks may not be the best method of collection for mixed recyclables, nor for the collection of non-recyclable waste with low compaction potential.
Handling - The receptacles must be easy to handle by the household and the service provider/ municipality and must be easy to clean and have no sharp edges. However some high density areas on steep slopes (although there are proper roads for trucks), might need other types of receptacles than areas on flat ground.
Vermin and vector control - The receptacles must be impermeable to vermin and flies. This implies that receptacles must not allow moisture or rain water to enter and must not discharge any leachate.
Durability - the receptacles must be fairly resistant to mechanical damage as well as be 'animal proof'. Various domestic and other animals may damage receptacles in search of food.
Availability - The receptacles must be freely available in the market at competitive prices (to both municipalities and consumers as the case may be).
Number of receptacles - The size of the household will determine the number of receptacles required. A fixed number can be provided per household and additional receptacles on request and possibly at a cost to the household. |
| 4.4 | Bulk Containers |
Where bulk containers are the most appropriate receptacles, the same standards apply as for receptacles as stipulated above (section 4.3). In addition, bulk containers must be fitted with reflectors and where appropriate be placed next to a platform for ease of access.
A formalised domestic waste collection system must be provided to transfer the waste from individual households to the bulk containers in cases where such containers are used for domestic waste. The job creation potential (i.e. involvement of community contractors) of such a domestic waste collection systems must be optimised in favour of the local community.
Skips
It must be noted that skips are designed for collection of bulky waste such as building rubble or 'hard' garden waste which will not become windblown during transportation. Skips are therefore not appropriate for domestic waste collection unless appropriate measures are put in place to prevent windblown litter from the skips.
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| 4.5 | Communal collection points |
Communal collection points must be clearly demarcated areas with appropriate receptacles where household waste can be deposited for collection by the service provider/municipality. The municipality must ensure that communal collection points are kept tidy at all times.
The receptacles must be:
| (a) | Covered so as to prevent windblown litter; and |
| (b) | User friendly to allow even children and disabled persons to safely deposit waste into the receptacles. |
The collection points must:
| (a) | Be easily accessible for waste collection vehicles; and |
| (b) | Encourage waste separation at source. |
| 4.6 | Frequency of collection. |
Acknowledging that waste minimisation is encouraged, the frequency of waste collection must not encourage illegal dumping or cause a nuisance in terms of odours and volumes of waste being stored.
Non-recyclable waste must be removed at least once a week. [Also see health issues hereunder.]
Recyclable waste must be removed at least once every two weeks and removal must be coordinated with industry (the users of the recyclables) to minimise costs and the clogging of space at transfer stations and depots.
Waste deposited at communal collection points must be collected within 24 hours of receptacles being reported as full or at regular intervals so as not to attract vermin and increase health risks.
Bulk containers must be collected once filled up or within 24 hours of being reported as full, but not less than once a week.
Frequency of collection of recyclable and non-recyclable waste may differ depending on:
| (a) | The size of the bins provided and the volumes of waste generated; |
| (b) | The area of collection in terms of: |
| (i) | type of service provided including types of vehicles and equipment used and |
| (ii) | distances between collection points and disposal sites to minimise transport costs; |
| (c) | Climatic conditions - In South Africa's hot weather conditions, the collection of non-recyclable waste less than once a week is a health hazard. |