Greencape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Waste

The Greencape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Waste examines the regulatory and economic landscape of the waste sector in South Africa, with a specific focus on the Western Cape. It details the transition from end-of-pipe to cradle-to-cradle waste management, the challenges of municipal procurement and licensing, and the development of waste-to-energy and recycling industries.

• The South African waste economy, comprising both public and private sectors, was estimated at R15.3 billion, which represents approximately 0.51% of the national GDP.
• The National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS), published in 2011, established targets to create 69,000 jobs and 2,600 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the waste sector by 2016.
• South Africa's average recycling rate is 19.6%, which is lower than the global average of 23.3%. The industry primarily recycles packaging wastes such as metals, paper, glass, and plastics, with approximately 80% of recyclers sourcing materials directly from landfills via waste pickers.
• The Tyre Industry Waste Management Plan (TIWMP), developed by REDISA, aims to establish a sustainable recycling industry by collecting a levy of R2.30/kg from dealers, importers, and manufacturers. This is necessary as 10 million tyres are sent to landfills annually in South Africa.
• Waste-to-energy projects face significant hurdles, including complex municipal procurement regulations (such as the MSyA and MFMA) and long payback periods of 10 to 15 years. Securing long-term feedstock agreements is difficult because municipalities are discouraged from issuing contracts longer than three to five years without public participation.
• In the Western Cape, landfill airspace is critically limited, with an average estimated lifespan of eight years across existing landfills; Stellenbosch Municipality has less than three years of airspace remaining.
• The Department of Energy (DoE) increased tariffs for renewable energy from waste: biogas rose from R0.60/kwh to R0.90/kwh, landfill gas from R0.80/kwh to R0.94/kwh, and biomass from R1.07/kwh to R1.40/kwh.

APA

GreenCape (2014). Greencape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Waste. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Waste-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Greencape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Waste. 2014. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Waste-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Greencape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Waste |date=2014 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Waste-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2014greencape, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Greencape Market Intelligence Report 2014: Waste}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2014}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MIR2014-Waste-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }