COMBATING HAZARDOUS WASTE GreenSolution’s on-site waste management programme ensures that waste is disposed of responsibly and in a manner that can be recorded and traced
Recycling, waste and pest management company GreenSolution in September partnered with a sludge removal company to coordinate on-site sludge removal and filtration processes as part of its aim to mitigate the challenges of inefficient waste management, while trying to comply with waste disposal laws and new governmental regulations.
GreenSolution falls under the banner of parent company Pandae Storage Systems and is currently operational on 81 sites in South Africa in an effort to address the incorrect disposal of hazardous waste.
Meanwhile, as part of its objective to provide companies with a range of credible solutions to dispose of its waste in a responsible manner, GreenSolution is in the process of getting its Lite model accredited by the applicable sector education and training authority.
The Lite model is a three-day training programme that teaches companies’ staff members the correct ways in which to dispose of waste, as well as the basics of different waste streams and the model’s various applications.
GreenSolution says its Lite model has been running at a Toyota dealership in Hillcrest, Durban, since November last year and that the solution has been working well.
“We want to be able to pass on the training so that the waste is recorded and reported on in a reliable, professional and accurate manner, with supporting documentation and the correct data for companies to remain compliant with waste disposal laws and governmental regulations,” explains GreenSolution GM Ryan Bidgood.
He highlights this as a challenge as companies are unaware of which materials are considered waste and they therefore dispose of it incorrectly, which becomes hazardous to the environment and the staff who sort through the waste. “Our business is about recording all waste streams, which includes anything from sludge, to fluorescent tubes and plastic, to paper and cardboard,” Bidgood adds.
By way of example, he highlights the recycling of fluorescent tubes and chlorofluorocarbon globes, noting that most of it is currently dumped in landfills. This is challenging from a landfill perspective as mercury from the globes could leak into landfills and enter the environment.
“With these types of challenges in mind, GreenSolution’s on-site waste management programme ensures that waste is disposed of responsibly and in a manner that can be recorded and traced,” says Bidgood.
He tells Engineering News that trained personnel collect and sort all waste into various categories to be collected and disposed of by approved recyclers and waste removal companies.
GreenSolution aims to make the best use of the waste it produces, and it chooses waste management practices that reduce the risks of immediate and potential harm to human health and the environment.
Bidgood highlights that the company is growing fast and that the number of collections it handles on a monthly basis is approaching the 1 000 mark. “From a growth perspective, we’ve created 100 or more jobs in the year that we have been operating and we are continuously training sorters and aligning our customers to start measuring and managing their waste better and improving their methods of dealing with contaminated waste,” he concludes.