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Newsletter / Blog


2009-03-17
National Environmental Management: Waste Management Act 59 of 2008


The new National Environmental Management: Waste Management Act has been promulgated but will only become active on a date to be pulished in the Government Gazette.

Below is a brief summary of the Act -
  • Important Definitions-
    • By product
    • Commence
    • Contaminated
    • Disposal
    • Recovery
    • Recycle
    • Reuse
    • Storage
    • Treatment
    • Waste
    • Waste disposal facility
    • Waste transfer facility
    • Waste treatment facility
  • The act excludes radioactive waste, residue deposits and stockpiles managed under the MPRDA, explosives waste managed under the Explosives Act and animal carcasses managed under the Animal Health Act of 2002  
  • A National Waste Management Strategy must be implemented within 2 years of the Act.
  • National, Provincial and Local norms and standards can be set as well as standards of service for local authorities.
  • National, Provincial and Local Waste Management officers must be appointed.
  • National, Provincial and Local Waste Management Plans must be drafted, implemented and reported on.
  • Priority wastes can be declared and managed in a prescribed way
  • General Duty regarding waste–
    • avoid the generation of waste and where such generation cannot be avoided,
    • to minimise the toxicity and amounts of waste that are generated;
    • reduce, re-use, recycle and recover waste;
    • where waste must be disposed of, ensure that the waste is treated and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner;
    • manage the waste in such a manner that it does not endanger health or the environment or cause a nuisance through noise, odour or visual impacts;
    • prevent any employee or any person under his or her supervision from contravening this Act; and
    • prevent the waste from being used for an unauthorised purpose.
    • Seller liability to inform public of generation of hazardous waste.  
  • Reduction, re-use, recycling or recovery of waste must, 
    • uses less natural resources than disposal of such waste; and
    • to the extent that it is possible, is less harmful to the environment than the disposal of such waste.
  • Provides for extended producer liability such as complying with certain waste minimization, packaging, recovery, labeling, life cycle assessment etc. 
  • Listed waste management activities must be licensed and there may be different lists for national and provincial. See Category A and B at end. Some activities do not need to be licensed but the conditions for conducting them may be prescribed.
  • General Requirements for waste regarding :
    • Storage
    • Collection 
    • Transportation
  • Prohibition on unlawful disposal, duty placed on transporters to prevent the illegal disposal and spillage during transport. Registration to operate may be required.
  • Littering: obligation on land owner and littering person
  • Industry waste management plans may be required to be drafted in consultation with the industry
  • Unauthorized disposal of waste is prohibited but it excludes disposal of household waste where no municipal service exists.
  • Contaminated Land Provisions:
    • Historic contamination included
    • Gov ID land as investigation area OR
    • Owner/party causing  significant contaminated land must notify when aware
    • Directed to undertake a site assessment to establish contamination and rehabilitation
    • May be declared a remediation site and make remediation order – register in deeds office
    • Register of contaminated land kept
  • Transfer of contaminated land
    • Must notify purchaser
    • If remediation site must also notify minister
  • Harmonization of licensing where dual applications, possible to integrate a license. 
  • Waste Information System
  • Exemptions and appeals possible
  • Minister and MEC delegated authorities for different situations.
  • Licensing applications and authorization process and content prescribed, includes public participation.
  • Holders of waste licenses may be required to appoint a waste management control officer.
  • Compliance and enforcement: DWAf may act under NWA if a water resource is threatened. EMI (green scorpion) may request waste impact report on reasonable suspicion of contravention of act or waste license 
  • Offences and penalties – R10mil/10 years and continuous offence R1000pd/20days 
  • Transitional arrangements:
    • Sec 20 ECA permitted sites continue untill requested to apply
    • Sites operated under Directions may also continue
    • All parties conducting other listed activities (existing and new) have to apply

Waste management activities in respect of which a waste management license is required

CATEGORY A

Storage and transfer of waste

1. The temporary storage of general waste at a facility, including a waste transfer facility and container yard, that has the capacity to receive in excess of 30 tonnes of general waste per day or that has a throughput capacity in excess of 20m3 per day, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such storage.

2. The temporary storage of hazardous waste at a facility, including a waste transfer facility and container yard, that has the capacity to receive in excess of three tonnes of hazardous waste per day, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such storage.

Recycling and recovery

3. The sorting and shredding of general waste at a facility that has the capacity to receive in excess of one ton of general waste per day, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such sorting or shredding.

4. The recovery of waste, excluding recovery that takes place as an integral part of an internal manufacturing process, at a facility that has the capacity to receive in excess of three tonnes of general waste or 100 kilograms of hazardous waste per day, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such recovery.

Treatment of waste

5. The biological, physical or physicochemical treatment of general waste or the autoclaving, drying or microwaving of general waste at a facility that has the capacity to receive in excess of 10 tonnes of general waste per day, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such treatment.

6. The biological or physicochemical treatment of hazardous waste or the autoclaving, drying or microwaving of hazardous waste, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such treatment.

7. The treatment of waste in sludge lagoons.

Disposal of waste on land

8. The disposal of inert waste, excluding the disposal of less than 25 tonnes of inert waste for the purposes of levelling and building that has been authorised by or under legislation, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such disposal.

9. The disposal of general waste to land covering an area of less than 100 m2 or 200 m3 air space, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such disposal.

Storage, treatment and processing of animal waste

10. The storage, treatment or processing of animal manure, including the composting of animal manure, at a facility that has a throughput capacity in excess of 10 tonnes per month, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such storage, treatment or processing. 

11. The processing of waste at biogas installations with a capacity for receiving five tonnes or more per day of animal waste, animal manure, abattoir waste or vegetable waste, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such processing animal manure and abattoir waste.

Expansion or decommissioning of facilities and associated structures and infrastructure

12. The expansion or decommissioning of facilities and associated structures and infrastructure for activities listed in this Schedule.

CATEGORY B

Treatment of waste

1. The treatment of general waste by a method other than biological, physical or physicochemical treatment at a facility with the capacity to receive in excess of 10 tonnes of general waste per day, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such treatment.

2. The treatment of hazardous waste by a method other than biological or physicochemical treatment, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such treatment.

3. The incineration of waste, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for the incineration of waste. 

Disposal of waste on land

4. The disposal of hazardous waste to land, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such disposal.

5. The disposal of general waste to land covering an area of more than 100 m2 or 200 m3 of air space, including the construction of a facility and associated structures and infrastructure for such disposal.



Comments
Add Your Comment 
Oliver
2010-04-22 00:25:59  		 i think this is wonderful. sumaries for all legal documents should become available like you have done with the NEMWA. well done and thank you  
 
Anna Ashmore
2010-05-06 16:31:09  		 Nice Reading. Thanks. LRQA helps bring integrity, independence and world-renowned recognition to your assurance claims. Quality-ISO 9001 Training Environmental-ISO 14001 Training Greenhouse Emission Management Training Food Safety Training Aerospace And Defense Management Training  
 
Anna Ashmore
2010-05-08 14:35:32  		 Nice Reading. Thanks. LRQA helps bring integrity, independence and world-renowned recognition to your assurance claims. Quality-ISO 9001 Training Environmental-ISO 14001 Training Greenhouse Emission Management Training Food Safety Training Aerospace And Defense Management Training  
 
   
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