The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa will open the 5th Annual Waste Management Summit hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs in Umhlanga, north Durban, from 31 May to 2 June 2016.
The theme of the Summit, which replaces the 5th Waste Management Officers Khoro, is Promoting Innovation and Upscaling Enterprise Development.
The Waste Khoro 2016 is the first Khoro to be open to all stakeholders, instead of just government officials only. This is in recognition of the need to streamline the coordination of waste management initiatives within the country and bring together all the role players. These includes other government departments, provinces, municipalities, private sector, civil society and the general public in order to ensure that the plight of waste management is elevated as part of government’s service delivery agenda.
The waste sector has been globally identified as one of the critical sectors with the potential to contribute substantially to the generation of jobs within the green economy. While the total estimated value of the waste sector is R25 billion, the sector has an ability to grow.
The Waste Information baseline study that the DEA conducted in 2011, revealed that approximately 108 million tons of waste was generated, of which 97 million tons were disposed to landfill. Only 10% of the generated waste in South Africa was recycled in 2011.
The development of the recycling economy is promoted through the Waste Management Act and the National Environmental Management: Waste Amendment Act (NEMWAA). The NEMWAA provides for a National Pricing Strategy for waste management charges, the creating of a Waste Management Bureau to oversee the implementation of Industry Waste Management Plans (IndWMPs), including the management and the disbursement of revenue collected from waste management charges.
This year we aim to approve and begin the implementation of the three prioritised Industry Waste Management Plans (IWMPs), namely for the Paper and Packaging, Electrical and Electronic and Lighting Industries respectively. The Paper and Packaging Industry Plan will follow the Waste Tyre Management Plan which has seen 31% of waste tyres are being diverted from landfill for re-use, recycling and recovery purposes, while approximately 3 000 jobs and 200 Small Medium and Micro Enterprises and Cooperatives have been established through the implementation of the waste tyre management plan.
“The implementation of an industry plan for the paper and packaging waste stream will put value to this waste stream and facilitate the establishment and operation of businesses within this sector. In doing so we hope we will in future not see all this waste in our streets as it will move from being “waste” to being a “resource,” Minister Edna Molewa said.
In 2011, Cabinet approved the National Waste Management Strategy which requires of all South Africans to play a role towards the achievement of the eight goals contained in this strategy. Goal 1 and 3 of the strategy requires the diversion of 25% of recyclables from landfill site and to create 69 000 new jobs and 2 600 additional SMMEs and cooperatives in the waste sector in 2016.
More than 500 delegates are expected to attend the 2nd Annual Waste Management Summit.
Media are invited to attend.
Details:
Date: 31 May to 2 June 2016
Time: 09h00 – 16h30
Venue: Coastlands Convention Centre, 329 Umhlanga Rocks Dr Umhlanga, Durban, KwaZulu–Natal
Media Briefing by Minister Molewa
Date: 31 May 2016
Time: 11h00 – 11h30
Venue: Coastlands Convention Centre, Umhlanga
To RSVP contact:
Sithokozile Banele Mabena
Cell: 073 297 9409
E-mail: SMabena@environment.gov.za
Daniel Boya
Cell: 074 380 0764
E-mail: DBoya@environment.gov.za
