In the Western Cape, municipalities and businesses will be required to divert 50% of organics from landfills from 2022, leading up to a 100% ban in 2027. If this is an indication of upcoming legislation, then all provinces across the country should start preparing for a national ban of organics at landfills.
Why food waste?
Environmental and climate change impacts
Food at landfills emits methane gas during its decomposition processes, which traps heat in the atmosphere at a rate 25x higher than carbon dioxide (CO2). Rotting food may also impact the land’s biodiversity and pollute groundwater bodies.
Food Security
The organics ban forms part of a greater challenge to significantly reduce global food waste. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 aims that “by 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.”
It is estimated that 20 million people in South Africa go to bed hungry every night, whilst 10 million tonnes of food is wasted every year. Reducing waste is the first step in improving food security in disadvantaged areas and decreasing the carbon footprint associated with food production activities.
Don’t Waste time, let us help you
Whilst we wait for the provincial government to advise on the roadmap to meeting the targets of a 50% food waste diversion rate, Don’t Waste has been proactive in identifying and researching solutions for the avoidance and recycling of food waste (Read: Technology vs food waste: Part 1-How software can help avoid food waste? and Technology vs food waste: Part 2-How hardware can help recycle food waste?
Don’t Waste also provides operational and financial modelling for various technology options and is also involved in the operation of the units. In addition, our software systems allowed for the integration of the new on-site treatment into the standard service offering, so that the correct grades are sorted and checked. Don’t Waste adopts an innovative approach of sourcing material through cross customer engagement, to maximise the utilisation of the technology.
Complementing the technology are the monthly volume and environmental reporting allowing for easy management of the system as a whole, and an indication of environmental and waste cost savings. These models have proven to be successful in reducing organic waste volumes across our SA and UK client sites.
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Don’t Waste provides industry leading business intelligence, site management, and waste management services to Property, Retail, Commercial, Industrial and Hospitality industries. Our customers include the world’s leading property management groups. To find out more about our innovative value-added systems and services in onsite waste operations, contact:
Linus Naik- Group Manager: Sustainability & Business Development (Email: I Mobile: +27 82 552 0675).
Michael Foreman- UK Managing Director and International Business Development (Email: I Mobile: +44 7939 027193).
