Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 2: Rubbish FiguresChapter 2: Rubbish figuresNo-one really knows how much waste is produced, recycled or dumped in SouthAfrica. Developing a waste information system has been consistently identified as apriority since the early 1990s and has as consistently been neglected. As discussed inChapter 3, a start is now being made on constructing a system but with little evidenceof coherence or purpose. This chapter briefly discusses the figures that have beenproduced to give a basic sense, however uncertain, of the quantities and proportionsof different waste streams. Table 1 shows the figures for the main waste streams fromdifferent sources.Table 1: Main waste streamsCSIR NSFD SAEO1992 mt/y 1997 mt/y Mt/y mt/y %Mining 378.0 468.2 450 470 87.7%Industrial 23.0 16.3 22 3.0%Power generation 20.0 20.6 30 33 3.9%Agriculture and forestry 20.0 20.6 3.8%General / MSW* 15.0 8.2 20 13.5-15 1.5%MSW disposed 8.8Sewage sludge 12.0 0.3 0.1%Total 468.0 533.6 100%Hazardous 1.89* Otherwise reported as ‘domestic and trade’ waste.Sources: CSIR figures given in Karani and Jewasikiewitz [2006]; National Framework for SustainableDevelopment [DEAT 2006b]; South Africa Environment Outlook [DEAT 2006a]The CSIR 1992 figures represent the first stab at an overall quantification of hazardouswaste from industrial sources and the authors issued several cautions on the data: theyrelied on information from corporations most of whom knew little about waste, hadno waste information, and would only speak on condition of confidentiality becausethey thought the information might involve “commercial risks” [CSIR 1992: 5]. 88 Wastes were calculated from “a simple mass balance of inputs and outputs”. In some sectors, all major wastegenerators were surveyed. In others, results were extrapolated from small samples.Wasting the Nation - groundWork - 23 -