Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 3: The politics of wasteprocess was, as they say, ‘quick and dirty’. The country could not afford the time forthorough participation, said the DEAT, because municipalities were clamouring forpolicy direction and the means of implementation. The IP&WM and a first draft ofthe NWMS were brought out in short order in 1998. Then the process stalled. Twoyears later, and without further participation, the NWMS was finally published. Itcould add almost nothing to what was known about waste in 1990 and its statementof the problems echoed that of the CSIR reports:- Waste management legislation was fragmented and ineffective and governmenthad no capacity to enforce it;- Trade in hazardous and radioactive waste was not regulated or monitored;- Waste services were still discriminatory – inadequate in black urban areas andnon-existent in rural areas;- Minimisation and recycling were neglected, leaving disposal as the onlyresponse;- Waste disposal was anything but safe. Dumps and landfills were “poorly sited,designed and operated”, general waste sites were used for hazardous waste andillegal dumping was still widely practiced;- Workers and neighbours were exposed to safety, health and environmentalrisks;- Waste pickers disrupted landfill operations and were themselves exposed to avariety of hazards;- The management of people’s participation in decisions relating to pollutionand waste management was shambolic.In theory, the IP&WM and NWMS marked a paradigm shift in the approach to wastemanagement. Founded on the waste hierarchy, reducing waste generation is centralto the stated objective. The objective, however, faded from the practical strategies:Waste prevention was altogether lost; minimisation through ‘cleaner production’was flagged but with no real means of implementation; incineration, particularly forhazardous waste, was retained as a disposal option despite the fact that it contradictsreduction; recycling was reduced to a symbolic cipher without adequate funding orany requirement for producers to use recycled materials and so create a viable market.Further, while NWMS prioritised development of a waste information system, itdid not require industries to report on waste. It thus created no credible basis forwaste information but rather sustained the wilful ignorance that allows producers todisregard their own waste and the externalised costs.- 50 - groundWork - Wasting the Nation