By Annalise Kempen
Images courtesy of Unsplash and Pexels
Few South Africans have a culture of recycling resulting in the generation of millions of tonnes of waste annually of which large parts are suitable for recycling. In as much as the “lack of recycling” is not beneficial to the environment, the waste problem is exacerbated because far too many people disregard any rules about waste management and dump their excess waste wherever they find an open veld.
A large part of the community know that they should only throw away their household waste in their municipal wastebin, while hazardous and medical waste must be discarded separately because of the dangers the latter two types of waste hold for humans, animals and the environment. Others, including individuals and businesses, know full well how hazardous, medical or industrial waste should be discarded but contravene the various statutes that govern waste management in South Africa, including municipal by-laws. It might be an unusual topic to discuss in our Community Safety Tips column, but waste management has an impact on communities’ well-being and the protection of our environment.
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[This is only an extract of an article that is published in Servamus: March 2025. This article is available for purchase.]