Waste Market Intelligence Report 2021

The report identifies significant economic potential in South Africa's waste sector, particularly through the transition toward a circular economy. It highlights the City of Cape Town as a primary hub for waste beneficiation due to its high landfill gate fees and substantial investments in material recovery facilities. Key growth drivers include the 2020 National Waste Management Strategy, new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, and provincial landfill restrictions on organic waste. While the plastics and e-waste sectors show strong potential for virgin material replacement and national processing, challenges such as inadequate source separation, data gaps, and the volatility of virgin plastic prices persist.

• The waste economy contributed approximately R24.3 billion to South Africa's GDP in 2016, supporting 36,000 formal jobs and roughly 80,000 informal livelihoods.
• South Africa generated an estimated 108 million tonnes (Mt) of waste in 2017, but only 19% was recovered for beneficiation.
• The City of Cape Town (CCT) has the highest metropolitan landfill gate fees in South Africa, which is expected to increase above inflation, strengthening the business case for landfill alternatives.
• Landfill airspace is critical in the Western Cape, where 22 out of 25 municipalities have less than five years of airspace remaining as of 2020.
• The Western Cape's Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) aims to divert 50% of organic waste from landfills by 2022 and 100% by 2027.
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations taking effect on 05 May 2021 mandate that producers of paper, packaging, lighting, and electrical/electronic equipment implement recovery schemes.
• New regulations for plastic carrier and flat bags require a minimum of 50% post-consumer recyclate by 01 January 2023, increasing to 75% by 2025 and 100% by 2027.
• South Africa lacks significant e-waste processing capacity; only two local processors exist in Gauteng, meaning most pre-processed materials are exported or sent to Gauteng.
• The City of Cape Town is investing in large-scale infrastructure, including a R320 million Coastal Park material recovery facility (MRF) and the upgrade of the Athlone refuse transfer station into a clean MRF and Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facility.
• The CCT plans to establish three regional biosolids beneficiation facilities (BBF) to treat approximately 199 tonnes of wastewater sludge per day, with the first (Cape Flats) expected in 2024/25.

APA

Smout, S. (2021). Waste Market Intelligence Report 2021. GreenCape. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2021_DIGITAL_WASTE-MIR-3.pdf

Chicago

Smout, Sam. Waste Market Intelligence Report 2021. GreenCape, 2021. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2021_DIGITAL_WASTE-MIR-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Smout |first1=Sam |title=Waste Market Intelligence Report 2021 |publisher=GreenCape |date=2021 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2021_DIGITAL_WASTE-MIR-3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{smout2021waste, author = {Smout, Sam}, title = {{Waste Market Intelligence Report 2021}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2021}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2021_DIGITAL_WASTE-MIR-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }