The South African Cabinet approved a National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) in December that spells out the overarching methods to implement the Waste Act (2008) and its Waste Management Strategy, says Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa.

Government has, through the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, developed and amended legislation to address the general waste management problem in the country and the NWMS is the master plan for the implementation of the legislation, she says.

“The implementation of various pieces of legislation in collaboration with provinces, municipalities and the private sector over the past few years is starting to produce results,” she avers.

Government responded to the waste manage- ment crisis in the country by introducing legis- lation centred on the need to provide, at the start of the product life cycle, for the cost of proper management of the product as waste.

Plans developed from this legislation must give consideration to waste hierarchy, as the cornerstone of waste legislation, inclusion and development of previously disadvantaged communities and social responsibility efforts, as well as sites, processes and networks.

The NWMS is also aimed at creating sustainable jobs through small, medium- sized and microenterprises, in line with government’s mandate, says Molewa.

To subscribe to Engineering News's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.