Hazardous material disposal suffers from that familiar South African malady of being brilliant on paper but often lacking in execution. Not all the time but sufficiently to be a concern. Hazardous waste means any waste that contains organic or inorganic elements or compounds that may, owing to the inherent physical, chemical or taxological characteristics of
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The industrywide march to sustainable practices is having an impact on waste reporting. Clients are becoming more demanding in the scope and depth of their reports and we are having to adapt, something we are happy to do. Reporting on the volume of waste being sent to landfill has long been a feature of professional
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We are – without doubt – seeing new recycling trends. Notwithstanding a sluggish economy we are being inundated with clients looking to change their waste management service provider. Waste management, like many other services, has become inefficient over time and clients have become accustomed to accepting mediocre service. Previously clients were prepared to wait until
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Which industry costs US$ 500 billion in value per annum and produces more greenhouse gas in its production than all international flights and maritime trade combined? The answer is the textile industry. We shouldn’t be surprised – but most people are. The clothes we wear do not seem to be such bad polluters and besides
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Billed as the biggest one-day civic action in human history the organizers expect millions of people in 180 countries to participate each year. 19 September was 2020’s World Clean Up Day. It certainly draws attention to our environment and clears mountains of refuse. But is it enough? To be effective in cleaning up the world
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At the end of June the Minister of Environment Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), Ms Barbara Creecy published, for comment, draft regulations for extended producer responsibility. After a long delay and some government mis-steps are we on the right track, at last? The principle of extended producer responsibility forms part of our main waste act. It
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When asked where do the chicken pieces come from most people will point to a supermarket shelf. Very few consider the steps beforehand, hatching the chick, growing and slaughtering it. Then getting it weighed, cut into pieces, packed and put on the shelf. Even fewer people think about what happens when the chicken passes its
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For all the bad that the coronavirus has and is doing it is also doing some good. COVID-19 has brought our lifestyle choices into sharp relief. And given us the time to think about them. Are these random events or the result of unintended consequences? There are odd glimpses of our world from a variety
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Waste is the dirty toilet which is not talked about in polite company. Everyone knows their toilets need to be cleaned but they would rather someone else does it. So why – if you don’t want to talk about it – do you want to read about? If one starts to think about waste as
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What do babies and shopping centres have in common? They both produce waste – continuously. Someone has to clean up that waste, a necessary but thankless job. Like a caring parent Smart Waste takes care of the waste at shopping centres so that they are clean and healthy. While customers go in through the front
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