Full steam ahead for district waste management

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Fourteen years of planning and negotiations have paid off - the country's first regional waste management facility is underway in Mossel Bay, close to PetroSA.

Officials and councillors of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) were in high spirits last Friday, 13 December, at the council chambers, following Council's approval of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement between GRDM and Eden Waste Management.

Those who worked on the project for the past 14 years were given a standing ovation.

According to mayor Memory Booysen this is a first of its kind for the country. It is expected that building of the site will start next year in February, with the first truckloads of waste processed by September next year.

The total cumulative cost to the district municipality over the contract period of 10 years and eight months will be about R790 million. This includes all compulsory and selected services.

"We had a lot of problems, but today is the day that council has approved the agreement with the private partner and now we can start with the finalisation of the construction of the site," said District Waste Management manager Morton Hubbe after the meeting. "It is the first waste management PPP for South Africa. On national and provincial level they are already looking at this project to use it as a pilot for other areas."

The GRDM council has made a decision in 2007 to establish a regional waste management facility to receive household and hazardous waste from the local municipalities of Bitou, Knysna, George and Mossel Bay.

The facility will serve the municipalities of Bitou, George, Knysna and Mossel Bay and will have a lifetime of approximately 30 years. Provision was also made to accommodate waste from the municipalities of Hessequa and Oudtshoorn if the need arises.

Functions and footprints
The site will accommodate a domestic waste cell (Class B) and a separate hazardous waste cell (Class A) that will accommodate hazardous waste with low and medium hazard ratings. The services of a roaming chipper and crusher will also be made available to Mossel Bay, George and Knysna municipalities on a rotational basis.

Bulk waste transport services will be available to George to transport domestic waste from the Uniondale and George waste transfer stations to the regional facility.Other infrastructure includes roads, storm water pipelines, a leachate storage dam, a contaminated storm water dam, offices, a laboratory, a weighbridge and security infrastructure.

The waste site will cover an approximate area of 115 hectares and the landfill waste cells themselves will reach a maximum height of 12m.

Three individual domestic waste cells will be excavated to 6m below ground level and filled sequentially. The site will be fenced to prohibit unauthorised entry and to control windblown litter. Unpolluted storm water will be diverted away from the site through a storm water cutoff trench.

The Waste Management team, from left: Johan Gie (District Waste Management officer), Johan Compion (manager: Municipal Health and Environmental Management Services), Clive Africa (executive manager: Community Services) and Morton Hubbe (manager: District Waste Management).