1 NATIONAL ENVIORMENTAL MANAGEMENT: WASTE AMENDMENT BILL PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE: WATER AND ENVIRONMENT 28 JANUARY 2014

Outline Introduction Specific comments Conclusion 2

Introduction This submission presents the South African Local Government Association (SALGA)’s comments on the National Environmental Management: Waste Amendment Bill, We would like to express our appreciation for being afforded an opportunity to provide input into this Bill on behalf of municipalities, in keeping with section 154(2) of the Constitution. SALGA is an association of 278 municipalities with its mandate derived from Section 163 of the Constitution This submission should be understood within the context of SALGA’s mandate and role as outlined above, and does not preclude any input that municipalities may have submitted individually 3

Specific comments on the Bill Definition The Bill defines waste as any substance, whether or not that substance can be reduced, re-used, recycled and recovered— –(a) that is surplus, unwanted, rejected, discarded, abandoned or disposed of; –(b) which the generator has no further use of for the purposes of production; –(c) that must be treated or disposed of; or –(d) that is defined as a waste by the Minister by notice in the Gazette, –and includes waste generated by the mining, medical or other sector, but— (i) a by-product is not considered to be waste; [and] or (ii) any portion of waste, once re-used, recycled and recovered, ceases to be waste 4

Definition cont- A by-product is not considered to be waste by the Bill. A by- product can be any secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction (i.e. the coal by- products produced at coal-fired power stations, industrial or institutional boilers ash which contains mostly hazardous substances that can cause harm to the environment and human wellbeing). Excluding this from the definition of waste may be problematic especially in regard to the control measure for the use of these by-products. It is therefore recommended that this aspect be carefully considered or make necessary provision to regulate the use of a by-product 5

Amendment of section 11 of Act : Certain Organs of State to prepare Integrated Waste Management Plan The Bill states that once municipal Integrated Waste Management Plans have been developed, they must be submitted to the MEC for endorsement, not for approval as it was in the Act. We support this amendment as it is in line with the constitutional integrity of municipalities to govern their own affairs (i.e. municipal councils are the decision making structures) 6

Establishment of Waste Management Agency (Insertion of Section 34) The proposed Agency would be of greater benefit to the waste management sector in local government if it delivers on its mandate and functions. The following are the additions to the objectives and functions: Objects of the Agency In addition to the facilitation of the preparation of industry waste management plans, the Agency must also focus on assisting in the development, review and implementation of municipal Integrated Waste Management Plans as many municipalities are still struggling in regard to this area of work. 7

Establishment of Waste Management Agency cont- Functions of the Agency Added to the functions indicated in the Bill, the Agency must: Facilitate partnerships between municipalities and industry (i.e. waste separation at source, and alternative ways of managing waste). This is important in achieving NWMS targets and goals Assist in uplifting the profile of the waste management issues across all spheres of government as well as to the public. This will assist in making the community aware of the need to have an environment which is free of litter/waste Support municipalities to establish appropriate institutional arrangements for the provision of waste management services. Most of municipalities haven't addressed their delivery mechanism/s for waste management services 8

Concluding remarks In conclusion, SALGA supports the good intentions of the Bill Our proposed additions will assist in the delivery of municipal waste management services We appreciate the opportunity to comment and trust that the committee will consider our comments during its deliberations on this Bill. 9

THANK YOU 10