Waste Collection, Handling and Disposal Facilities Report 2021 – Bill Alexander

INTRODUCTION

I took over the oversight of the Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Facilities from Peter Gaylard in May of this year.  I wish to thank Peter for the sterling work he has done looking after this portfolio for several years.

The different aspects related to this portfolio are listed below and are discussed in this report:

1. Collection of domestic waste
2. Garden waste and drop-off sites
3. The waste transfer station
4. The disposal of the waste.
5. Waste recycling
6. Waste Minimisation
7. Rehabilitation of the Plettenberg Landfill site

COLLECTION OF DOMESTIC WASTE 

1. Waste is collected from homes and businesses throughout the Municipality area on a weekly basis.  The Municipality owns and operates 7 compacting collection trucks for this purpose.
2. The waste is delivered to the Transfer Station inKwanokuthula, just off the N2.
3. The system has operated well over the last year in spite of the challenges presented byCovid.

GARDEN WASTE AND DROP-OFF SITES

1. Garden waste is not collected by the Municipality but can be disposed of for free at either the transfer station or the newly established Old Nick drop-off facility.
2. The waste from the drop-off station is transported to the transfer station by the Municipality.
3. A new drop-off station known as the Green Valley Drop-off was planned but has been put on hold due to a lack of budget.

THE WASTE TRANSFER STATION 

The transfer station in Kwanokuthula serves as the collection point for the following material

1. Domestic waste
2. Garden waste
3. Bulky waste
4. E waste
5. Animal carcases

Domestic Waste 

1. The domestic waste collected is dumped onto the floor of a large building at the transfer station.  This waste currently contains large amounts of recyclable material and until recently this has been disposed of with the rest of the waste at significant cost.  A RFQ was put out for a service provider to hand sort the waste to remove the recyclables, but this was abandoned due to lack of budget, which makes very little financial sense considering the cost of disposing of it to landfill.  Use is now being made of Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) labour to sort the waste to considerable effect.
2. The waste is compacted in special compacting containers which are then loaded onto trucks for transport to thePetroSA land fill site in Mossel   These containers are essential to the efficient operation of the system and are reaching the end of their useful lives.  Money should be budgeted to start systematically replacing them.
3. Apart from periodic breakdowns the system has operated well over the last year.

Garden Waste 

1. The garden waste is all stockpiled at the transfer station.
2. It is chipped using a recently acquired chipper and the chips are available for free collection by the public, farmers and commercial composting companies.
3. A fully qualified chipper operator has not yet been employed and so a large backlog built up on the site.  This had to be cleared by a service provider at considerable cost.  Hopefully a qualified chipper operator will be employed soon so that this does not happen again.

Proposed Composting Plant 

1. It is proposed that a full-scale composting plant be developed on the site to turn all the garden waste chippings and organic kitchen wastes into compost.
2. This will require the separation of the organic kitchen wastes at source so an implementation plan will have to be developed for this.
3. It is proposed that a service provider be appointed to implement the service.  However it is unlikely to be financially self-sustaining and will have to be cross subsidised from the savings made in not having to cart all the kitchen wastes to Mossel Bay.

Bulky Waste 

1. Bulky waste comprises such things as timber, old electrical appliances, old furniture and generally anything that does not qualify as domestic, garden or E waste.
2. The waste is disposed of by truck to theKaasands quarry disposal site.
3. A large stockpile of unsorted waste built up on site and had to be cleared by a service provider at significant cost.
4. A system has now been implemented whereby the waste is sorted into separate classified bins on arrival on site so that the disposal can be properly controlled and managed.

E-Waste 

1. E-waste comprises old computer equipment, phones, batteries etc.
2. A container bin has been located at the transfer station so that the public can dispose of these items.

Animal Carcases 

An RFQ has been advertised to appoint a service provider for the disposal of animal carcases.

Building Rubble  

The municipality does not collect or dispose of building rubble.  Contractors and the public have to make their own arrangements to dispose of this waste at the Kaasands quarry site.

DISPOSAL OF DOMESTIC WASTE 

1. The Plettenberg Bay landfill site nearRobberg has been closed and is currently going through the process of being rehabilitated at a cost of R24 million.  The licenced height of the landfill was significantly exceeded before it was closed and major works have had to be undertaken to move the material to end up within the licenced limit.  The side slopes of the dump have been stabilised, a methane collection layer introduced and the whole dump covered with topsoil and grassed.  The contractor has done a good job and it is predicted that the contract will be completed within budget early next year.
2. An audit of the landfill by an independent consultant has been completed. Generally it was found to be compliant, although some outstanding issues remain.  The main shortfall at the moment is that no reference borehole is available for identifying possible groundwater contamination.  This is a serious issue and the Municipality is urged to ensure that a borehole be sunk as soon as possible for this purpose.
3. All the Bitou domestic waste is currently carted by road in compacting containers to thePetroSA landfill site near Mossel bay at significant cost.  The permit allowing Bitou to dump their waste there has been extended to 2023.
4. The Eden Region has started the process of constructing a new regional landfill site which should be ready to receive waste in February 2023.
5. This site is also located near Mossel Bay so it is imperative that Bitou minimise the amount of waste to control the costs.

WASTE RECYCLING 

1. A service provider,Masiqhami Trading 762 has been appointed to carry out the recycling of waste within the Municipality.
2. Yellow bags are available from the municipality for the disposal of the recyclable waste and these are collected weekly by the service provider. It has been suggested that the service provider provide a replacement bag at the contributing household when the full bag is collected which will significantly increase the efficiency.
3. Recycling bins are also situated in strategic locations round the town.
4. A newsletter setting out the location of these bins and spelling out how the system works and emphasising its importance is to be included with the monthly rates invoices in order to further educate the public.
5. Progress with optimising this very important initiative will be monitored.

MANAGEMENT PLANS 

1. The Integrated Waste Management Plan has been adopted by the Town Council and the Waste Management Department are compiling their goals and objectives associated with the implementation of the plan.  This will be monitored
2. Preparation of the Waste Minimisation Program by an external consultant has been completed and this is to be presented to the Town Council for their approval.  This is a very important aspect of the Department’s work if the costs are to be optimised and contained.  The plan makes several important and workable recommendations on how this can be achieved and the progress on implementing these will be monitored.

CONCLUSION 

Generally speaking the town is well served by its officials in maintaining an efficient waste collection and disposal service.  As with everything there is room for improvement and plans exist for how these services can be improved and optimised.  Progress in this regard will be monitored.

The biggest threat to the quality of the services provided is that sufficient funds have not been budgeted to allow the Department to maintain infrastructure and replace redundant equipment.  In this regard the list below has been drawn up of the most pressing needs not covered by the current budget proposals.