Fighting waste in Joburg: What you can do to reduce or recycle

Every month, 10,000 people arrive in Joburg, says the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Jack Sekwaila. The city’s growing population and industries mean more waste.

People moving to Johannesburg is not new. In 2018, 1.45-million tonnes of domestic waste was produced. About 85% of that ended up in Joburg’s landfills. Pikitup, the city’s waste management service, estimated that if things did not change, its four landfills would be full in five years.

In an attempt to decrease the amount of waste thrown away, the city decided to expand its recycling programme and made ‘separating at source’ compulsory for residents in some areas. [Check which areas these are here]

This (legally) requires homeowners to:

• Put recyclable materials such as paper as well as washed plastic, metal and glass into clear bags supplied by Pikitup. These are collected weekly on your usual bin day.
• Drop-off their garden waste at one of these Pikitup sites for compositing or further processing.

Implementation and take-up have been patchy, and the city does not fine residents if they don’t comply.

Pikitup says that by 2022:

• 460,000 households were participating in the programme. All of these residents are part of the mandatory recycling programme.
• Waste generated in the city had decreased by 27%, but the majority of it was still ending up in landfills.

What Joburg is doing about its waste problem

The city is:

• Sending rubbish to privately owned landfills. Joburg is using sites at Chloorkop in Edenvale and Mooiplaats in Centurion.
• Extending landfills. The city has plans to buy land in Ennerdale to develop a new landfill and expand current sites.

What can I do about Joburg’s waste problem?

Join Joburg’s recycling programme. But you can only do this if you live in one of the mandatory separation-at-source areas. If you do, call your local Pikitup depot to share your address, and they will collect your recycling at no extra fee. Place your recycling in a clear plastic bag next to your Pikitup bin. The compactor truck will collect your refuse, and a secondary truck will collect your recycling.

What if I don’t live in a mandatory recycling area? 

You can:

• Engage a private company to collect your recycling. They’ll process it and on-sell materials.
• Drop off your recyclables at collection and buy-back centres. Find the centre nearest to you in The Outlier Treevolution’s list of recycling centres.
• Drop off your garden waste, building rubble and recycling at a Pikitup collection centre.
• Don’t dump illegally. Pikitup will collect unwanted bulky items, such as fridges and mattresses. There is no charge for this service.

If recycling, garden waste and rubble are diverted for recycling or composting the lifespan of some of Joburg’s landfills could be extended by years. The lifespan of Goudkoppies, for example, could be extended by six years. Other landfills which are nearing capacity could be extended by two or more years.

If you don’t know where to start, download Treevolution’s Beginner’s Guide to Recycling or take a look for a recycling centre on Treevolution’s recycling map.

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