Pretoria - Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has gazetted the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS), which proposes ways to improve and address key issues experienced in waste management in the country.
The strategy aims to achieve the objectives of the Waste Act, which are to minimise the consumption of natural resources and general waste; prevent pollution; promote and ensure the effective delivery of waste services, and achieve integrated waste management reporting and planning.
The NWMS is structured around a framework of set goals, each with targets that must be met by 2016. The goals include:
* Promoting waste minimisation, re-using, recycling and recovery of waste
* Ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of waste services
* Growing the contribution of the waste sector to the green economy
* Ensuring that people are aware of the impact of waste on their health, well-being and the environment
* Ensuring sound budgeting and financial management for waste services
* Providing measures to remediate contaminated land
* Establishing effective compliance with and enforcement of the Waste Act.
Other targets include the creation of 69 000 new jobs in the waste sector and that all metropolitan municipalities, secondary cities and large towns initiate separation-at-source programmes.
The strategy will further see 95% of urban households and 75% of rural households having access to adequate levels of waste collection services and having 80% of schools implementing waste awareness programmes.
The department said the implementation of the NWMS would require coordinated action by many players, including households, businesses, community organisations, NGOs, parastatals and the three spheres of government.
It explained that in June 2010, the department published the draft NWMS for public comment for a period of 60 days.
"Comments received were reviewed, the draft NWMS was amended and on 9 November 2011, the NWMS was approved by Cabinet for implementation. The NWMS is a legislative requirement of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008)," said the department.
The minister published the strategy on 4 May 2012 for immediate implementation.
