Every day, South Africans generate more waste than our landfills can accommodate. Only about 10% of the waste we produce is recycled, and at this rate, landfills are filling up fast.
A lot of the waste piling up in these landfills could have been diverted to recycling plants, composted or converted into energy.
About 40% of landfill waste, like food scraps and garden waste, is organic and biodegradable, but instead of being composted, it decomposes, releasing methane — a powerful greenhouse gas.
SA’s goal is to reduce waste to landfill by 40% over five years by recycling more, encouraging households to sort their waste at home, and investing in alternative waste treatment solutions. This is laid out in the National Waste Management Strategy, which most municipalities are struggling to implement.
The problem is that municipalities are simply unable to increase recycling services, implement separation at source, or construct the systems required to reach national diversion targets due to financial strain, deteriorating infrastructure, and understaffed waste management departments.
Informal waste reclaimers are helping to carry the recycling load, but while they are delivering a critical public service, policy and practice are still catching up. Reclaimers continue to operate without formal recognition, income security, and adequate infrastructure.
It’s estimated that between 60,000 and 90,000 informal waste reclaimers collect, sort, and sell recyclable materials − often under harsh and unsafe conditions. They sell what they collect either to informal middlemen or directly to buy-back centres, after which the material moves on for processing. Reclaimers are responsible for up to 90% of all paper and packaging collected for recycling in SA − an extraordinary contribution.
That said, it’s important to note that they are one part of a larger system − private recyclers, various municipal programmes, and packaging producers who are required to take ownership of their products’ lifecycle all play major roles.
A policy approach, known as extended producer responsibility (EPR), shifts the obligation for waste management from the consumer to the maker of the packaging. Packaging producers pay fees to cover the cost of collecting, transporting, sorting, and recycling their materials. These funds are managed by producer responsibility organisations, industry bodies that help manufacturers meet their legal obligations.
The funds can be used to pay recyclers, support waste reclaimers and fund community recycling initiatives. However, in many cases, EPR schemes have yet to fully reach waste reclaimers and community recyclers, as much of the funding tends to go to large intermediaries that purchase and resell recyclables rather than community recyclers and micro-enterprises.
We must formally integrate waste reclaimers and recyclers into municipal and provincial waste strategies
As SA positions itself to switch to a circular economy, the question is not whether it needs informal waste reclaimers, but whether it can afford to sideline them any longer. We must formally integrate waste reclaimers and recyclers into municipal and provincial waste strategies. SA’s waste policies, specifically the Waste Picker Integration Guideline and EPR regulations, are intended to support reclaimers, but execution remains inadequate.
To unleash the environmental and economic value of the waste sector, reclaimers need infrastructure, market access, municipal support, and full recognition in policy and practice.
In addition, EPR schemes must benefit waste reclaimers. There are examples of this already happening, enabling cooperative recycling enterprises, youth-led waste reclaimers, and local buy-back centres to turn waste into income, dignity, and environmental action.
Informal waste reclaimers are not a short-term solution. They are a productive workforce that can help to improve our country’s dismal recycling rate and reduce landfill waste.
Peacock is an innovation manager at the DG Murray Trust, where he leads work on waste management and the environment.
