Construction World December 2021

AFRISAM INNOVATION AWARD FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

WITZENBERG ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL PILOT PROJECT

J G Af rika and Ci rcular-Vi s ion were approached by the Wel l ington Associat ion Against the Incinerator (WAAI ) to ass i st in undertaking a Zero Waste to Landfi l l Strategy Pi lot Project (Project ) in Wi tzenberg Municipal i ty (WM) . The landfi l l s i te in the WM are in a cri t ical state due to high operat ing costs and l imi ted landfi l l capaci ty, therefore, the overarching aim of the Project was to reduce the amount of materials di sposed of at landfi l l . Households in Tulbagh were selected by the WM Waste Manager to part icipate in the Project which entai led the household source separat ion of waste into the four categories of food waste, garden waste, recyclables and landfi l l waste. The Project ran f rom 2 October to 4 December 2019. The aim of the Project was to test the source separat ion and col lect ion methods for future repl icat ion wi thin the WM. The Project was undertaken in response to the landfi l l s i tes in the WM being in a cri t ical state due to high operat ing costs and l imi ted landfi l l capaci ty. The Project Manager and project team engaged wi th the WM of ficials ( including the Waste Manager and Municipal Engineers) on the chal lenges experienced in the Municipal i ty, and poss ible solut ions .

Once WAAI obtained addi t ional funding, and part of conceptual i s ing the Project , included meet ings wi th the WM to obtain thei r input and consent into the methodology and programme. The WM selected the town for the pi lot and al located resources in terms of staf f and vehicles . The chal lenge was to develop a Zero Waste to Landfi l l model for WM due to the constraints on the current waste management faci l i t ies . The solution Phase 1 The intent ion of Phase 1 was to understand the character of the waste in the area to inform the development of a Zero Waste to Landfi l l model and divert as much waste as poss ible f rom landfi l l . Phase 1 compri sed the Waste Characteri sat ion and Brand Audi t for the fol lowing towns : Ceres , Tulbagh, Wolseley ( including Op die Berg) ,Ndul i , Prince Al f red Hamlet and Bel la Vi sta. Thi s was conducted over two weeks (25 March – 5 Apri l 2019) and included training of the local WAs to enable thei r ass i stance on the project . Phase 1 concluded that opportuni t ies that should be further assessed in the short to medium-term would be

90 20 th Best Project Awards 2021