South Africa: Call for comments on Draft Strategy for Hazardous Household Waste Management
On 31 January 2023 the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment published the draft Household Hazardous Waste Management Strategy (the draft strategy) for public comment.
The purpose of the draft strategy is to facilitate hazardous household waste collection and treatment in South Africa by providing guidelines to municipalities and waste producers. Some examples of hazardous household waste include paint, pesticides, electronic and electrical equipment, batteries, chemicals, cleaning agents and healthcare risk waste.
The draft strategy is focused on five principles, mainly:
- Sustainable partnerships;
- Waste minimisation and sustainable hazardous waste services;
- Sound institutional processes;
- Innovation and growth and;
- Financial sustainability.
The draft strategy recommends that municipalities designate collection points at which waste producers/members of the public can leave the hazardous household waste for treatment. It notes that due to the health risks and low market value associated with the informal sector, it is not considered a suitable option on which to base operations, and as such the draft does not include informal waste pickers in the proposed system.
With regards to financing the implementation of the draft strategy, it is proposed that citizen contributions to the general tariff for domestic waste services should contribute to financing implementation, in addition to external investments, increasing recycling fees, and producers increasing retail prices to finance the collection and disposal of waste.
- The call for comments and draft strategy can be accessed here.
- Comments should be emailed to Ms Sharlin Hemraj at [email protected] by 28 February 2023.
Please note: The information contained in this note is for general guidance on matters of interest and does not constitute legal advice. For any enquiries, please contact us at [email protected].
