Waste minimisation and diversion from landfill sites may have become buzz words for urban environments and management plans, but few municipalities are actually getting this right because it essentially remains a transport issue.

Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, however, is proving to be something of a success story. The city had a population of 323 000 in 2011, a growth rate of some 4% a year. Waste management has already become a priority for Windhoek and has led to aggressive recycling initiatives, driven largely by private waste management firm Rent-A-Drum.

While the volumes are nowhere near those generated by cities such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, Windhoek is water-stressed and the diversion of waste to landfill sites is central to the maintenance and protection of groundwater reserves.

During November last year, the United Nations Environment Programme declared a ‘global waste crisis’.

The organisation reported: “With about 1.3-billion tons of municipal waste generated each year, and volumes expected to increase to 2.2-billion tons by 2025, according to World Bank figures, urgent action is needed to head off the threat to the environment and human health posed by this global waste crisis. There is no end in sight to this trend – by 2030, the global middle class would have grown from two-billion to 4.9-billion people, each of these new affluent consumers longing for greater quantities of more sophisticated and resource-intensive goods.”

In 2010, Rent-A-Drum launched an ambitious recycling programme. A state-of-the-art material recovery facility (MRF) was completed – the second-largest in the Southern African Development Community region – and a household clear bag collection system was launched. A 6 m weighbridge was also installed at the company’s premises, west of Windhoek.

Volumes of recyclables collected have continued to grow. According to Gys Louw, owner of Rent-A-Drum, the public’s support has been overwhelming. “We find that most of Windhoek’s citizens are keen to recycle and, of course, we have to make it as easy as possible for them because the diversion of waste to landfill sites is a core focus for us.”

In January 2012, around 22 000 bags were collected from households and 600 from body corporates monthly, totalling around 99 000 kg. By January 2013, a total of 26 000 clear bags were being collected from households and 2 000 from body corporates monthly, totalling 118 500 kg. The MRF currently processes 60 t of recyclables every 24 hours.

Further, a schools recycling competition has delivered almost 129 000 kg of recyclables. The company’s File 13 system of paper boxes at Windhoek-based companies has delivered a minimum of 40 t of paper monthly, while the City of Windhoek’s ward contractors that collect other recyclables deliver around 20 000 kg monthly.

Says Louw: “When you recycle, you are diverting between 60% and 80% of waste from Windhoek’s landfills. ‘Reduce, reuse and recycle’ is clearly more than just a slogan for the people of Windhoek. We are rolling out two MRF projects – one in Swakopmund and one in Oshakati – and we are aiming for the same success there.”