The responsible handling of the waste that our society produces is imperative for sustainable development. Waste minimisation and reuse are becoming increasingly important and the need to look at alternatives to landfilling is becoming greater everyday. Dealing with waste is a largely behind-the-scenes operation. Landfills are not just holes in the ground where we dump our waste, but are high-tech engineered sites. The same goes for the collection and transportation of waste which can be highly complex systems. SSI has extensive experience in solid waste management and has been involved in numerous projects over the years.
Our expertise incorporates:
Landfill planning and design
Solid waste systems and optimisation
Waste minimisation and recycling
Metsweding Integrated Waste Management Plan (Metsweding District Municipality)
The existing waste system of the Metsweding District Municipality was not operating optimally and the landfills being used did not conform to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s minimum requirements. In consultation with stakeholders, possible new landfill sites and transfer station sites were identified and the entire waste system was optimised over a 30 year planning horizon using a sophisticated computer programme, including the types and numbers of trucks, the positioning and selection of future landfills, transfer stations, garden waste depots and material recovery facilities. It was found that recycling and garden waste composting would cost only slightly more than landfilling all the waste and that there were many social advantages to recycling and composting through the creation of jobs.
