Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 3: The politics of wastelandfill and vehicles. “At Polokwane, incineration/waste-to-energy was promoted todeal with <strong>the</strong> balance of waste remaining and to ensure zero waste to landfill as per <strong>the</strong>US and European models” [3-32]. The IWMP points out two flaws in <strong>the</strong> reasoning:first, that incineration does not result in zero waste as <strong>the</strong> ash from incineration addsup to 15% of <strong>the</strong> original waste volume and must still be dumped 35 and second, thatSouth African waste streams might be less than ideal for incineration because <strong>the</strong>proportion of highly combustible materials such as plastic is less than in Nor<strong>the</strong>rncountries. It should be noted that eThekwini’s assumptions that waste reduction canprecede incineration and that incineration has been a success in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn countriesare <strong>the</strong>mselves flawed [see Box 8].Incineration is not in fact mentioned in <strong>the</strong> Polokwane Declaration and some observersthink eThekwini’s interpretation bizarre. eThekwini waste managers, however, thoughtit implied incineration because <strong>the</strong> European example was made a constant point ofreference at Polokwane. Ei<strong>the</strong>r way, it seems that <strong>the</strong> waste managers were redefining<strong>the</strong> concept of zero waste – toge<strong>the</strong>r with waste prevention and waste minimisation– to fit <strong>the</strong>ir situation. The concept was no longer about reducing waste at source in<strong>the</strong> production system. It was moved downstream to <strong>the</strong> end-of-pipe.It may be that <strong>the</strong> waste managers did not understand a concept imported from adifferent paradigm and so redefined it in more familiar terms. More likely, however,<strong>the</strong> redefinition was a necessity because <strong>the</strong> waste managers, and indeed <strong>the</strong> DEATitself, have zero influence on production. That is, <strong>the</strong>y are structurally positioned at<strong>the</strong> end-of-pipe so that <strong>the</strong> mandate for zero waste, and <strong>the</strong> legal requirement forminimisation, confronts <strong>the</strong>m with a contradiction.In <strong>the</strong> 2004 IWMP, eThekwini’s Department of Solid Waste (DSW) reflects thispositioning. It argues that zero waste is impossible while minimisation is “contrary”to a waste service provider’s “primary goal” of growing <strong>the</strong> business [2004: 3-30]. Itsupports waste reduction and recycling “because <strong>the</strong>se are national objectives” andconcludes that “recycling markets will drive <strong>the</strong> waste minimisation process to a largeextent” [3-15]. Thus, it reduces minimisation to recycling which, in turn, has beenplaced in <strong>the</strong> domain of private enterprise. The IWMP sees entering and controlling<strong>the</strong> recycling market through public-private-partnerships as <strong>the</strong> only way to off-set <strong>the</strong>contraction of its business but is reluctant to commit resources to recycling as long asmarkets and prices are unstable – which is as long as <strong>the</strong>y are unregulated.35 This is a conservative estimate of <strong>the</strong> volume of ash [see Box 8].- 54 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>