A third of the food that is produced in South Africa is destined for landfill sites, which are fast reaching full capacity. According to statistics, South Africa produces 10 million tonnes of food waste every year and reportedly, has the largest proportion of food wastage in Africa. Yet, an average of 14 million people go to bed hungry every night and 2,5 million of these are children. The recent pandemic has fuelled the food crisis, by increasing the level of food insecurity in the country, placing an even larger emphasis on the management of such food waste, and making sure that – where it can’t be mitigated, it should be repurposed through useful innovation.

Current statistics highlight that South Africans generate 108 million tonnes of waste per annum, equating to about R25.2 billion worth of waste dumped with 90% disposed to landfill sites – this is a lot of waste and added to this challenge is the fact that much of our landfill sites are fast approaching full capacity. Luckily today, many households and companies have started their own recycling programmes and while this is sorely needed, more must be done. It is not merely the end products that must be recycled, but the entire supply chain of products, goods and services must be examined by South African businesses, if we want to thrive in this era of action against climate change. 

Q1: In your opinion, what is the status quo of the environmental sector in South Africa?

The environmental sector in South Africa is evolving daily and is an extremely exciting industry in which to work.There is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to education and changing mindsets as well as managing the array of environmental issues that affect our country

AS PUBLISHED ON SECHE ENVIRONMENT NEWSLETTER

Regulation requires that landfill storage cells be monitored for 30 years after they have been used, as such, the cells from the end of the 20th century will, in the coming years, be confronted with the question of their future. Should we keep them as they are? Or should we / could we reuse the space?

Preoccupied with anticipating this problem and providing long term and responsible solutions, Séché Environnement is investing in a promising solution: landfill mining.

South Africa is experiencing an energy crisis that requires the public and private sectors, along with households to work together. Fundamental to this is embracing innovative technology that provides more efficient ways of managing the country’s energy.

The exploration of alternative energy sources and projects has been all the ‘buzz’ again, particularly in response to challenges Eskom continues to face and the looming reality of further loadshedding across the country, as we head into the winter months.

Despite the large impact mines have on the environment, mining is a significant contributor to the local economy from both a financial and employment perspective - with an estimated worth of R20.3 trillion - and will therefore continue to play a critical role in the country’s future.