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.

Today, 22 August 2019, local legislation bans all liquid waste from landfill – signalling a massive shift in South African waste legislation and placing significant importance on the effective management of such waste by waste producers and the waste industry alike. The question is – is South Africa ready to manage this and what is it going to take to do so?

In line with increasingly stringent global standards, South African industry is faced with a challenge of improving upon and changing its waste disposal practices. Arguably, one of the greatest obstacles within the waste economy is the current dependence on landfills. According to the 2018 Africa Waste Management Outlook Report (authored by the UN Environment and CSIR), more than 90% of waste generated in Africa is disposed of at uncontrolled dumpsites and landfills, often with associated open burning. Moreover, 19 of the world’s 50 biggest dumpsites are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.