South Africans have enjoyed some relief from power cuts in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the last quarter of 2023, but the harsh reality is that we still have an energy challenge that need to be solved.
Further to this, South Africa also has a waste problem - with the country generating roughly 122 million tonnes of waste a year. However, these two challenges can actually work in tandem to each other to provide sustainable solutions to both problems, in the form of waste-to-energy plants.
Waste to energy plants, in simple terms are facilities that convert waste into electricity, heat or gas. These plants use various technologies, such as incineration, gasification, landfill gas recovery and generation or anaerobic digestion, to break down waste materials and generate energy. The benefit though, is that the process does not only reduce the volume of waste, but it also decreases the need for landfill space, while providing a renewable source of energy.
While there are a variety of small scale plants already operating around the country, we still have a long way to go, if we want to address the power deficit we currently face, which is about 4000 - 6000 MW daily. This means of course, that currently, our demand exceeds supply.
However, the good news is that waste can provide us with a number of different solutions to help minimise our energy usage gap. Today, there are solutions like anaerobic digestion, which biogas producers use to convert organic wastes, as well as agricultural residues and wastewater into biogas, which can be used for transportation and heating or even electricity generation. The reason for this is that anaerobic digestion creates methane gas from the naturally occurring bacterial processes and this combustible gas can then be used to generate electricity. Landfill gas recovery is another process wherein methane produced from the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfill is captured by a gas pipe network built into waste body of the landfill, collected and processed to generate electricity or heat.
Interwaste itself owns South Africa’s first Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant – which converts various types of waste into alternative fuels, reducing dependence on coal and other carbon-intensive fossil fuels in general, industrial, and municipal sectors. So again, you can see the potential, not merely for investors and stakeholders, but of the benefit of the whole community as we examine ways in which to combat waste, but importantly, find solutions to our energy challenges – solutions that are sustainable.
As the market for waste-to-energy solutions grows, we believe that further relevant legislation and standards will be implemented, which will encourage the private sector, as well as municipalities, to make the necessary adjustments in order to ensure compliance – through their waste usage and drive more responsible energy sources for our country.
We can see the start of the evolution already. In fact, in 2022, the Western Cape imposed 50% organic waste to landfill bans, with a plan to impose a 100% ban by 2027. In the same vein , the City of Joburg has also invested more than R200-million in developing the Landfill Gas to Energy Clean Development Mechanism Project which uses gas turbines to drill out methane gas - caused by the degradation of bio-organic compounds at its landfill sites – all to generate renewable energy for the municipal grid.
So, how do we continue to build on this great work?
A complete shift is now required towards creating a circular economy which designs waste out of the value chain and prioritises the re-use and recycling of waste generated as a secondary resource. It may be a tough ask, but with collaboration, planning, and accountability from both the public and private sectors, it can be done. There is an urgent need for increased collaboration between industry and government. If we want to maximise the potential of waste to energy at a local level, we must prioritise education, awareness, investment in waste innovation, and the development of supportive policies and infrastructure.
Further to this, we also need behavioural changes in our own, households. For example, instead of throwing food away, use it to make compost. However, if this does not appeal to you, then look to food waste solution providers who can collect your food waste – at households, schools, and even shipping centres - and they will compost this food waste in a safe and reliable manner. We all have to start being responsible and adopting a ‘nothing wasted’ mindset, if we truly want to impact the health of our planet.