The City of Johannesburg will embark on an aggressive campaign to promote recycling as it is running out of landfill space.

Low levels of household waste recycling, coupled with increased urban migration, are putting a strain on the City’s waste disposal efforts, according to Matshidiso Mfikoe, Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment, Infrastructure and Services.

In a statement presented at a media briefing earlier this week Mfikoe said the city had, through its waste management company Pikitup, developed an aggressive waste minimisation strategy to respond to this and other challenges.

She said the strategy was geared towards moving away from the traditional waste hierarchy where 93% of waste is disposed at landfill sites towards a new paradigm where only 7% of waste will be disposed at landfills by 2040.

Mfikoe added that the management of waste disposal was of great concern to both the country and the city. “According to data from the Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africans disposed of 41 683 249 tons of waste in 2013,” she pointed out.

She said there was evidence that landfills, if not managed properly, could be a public health and environmental hazard. Gases emitted could also result in climate change.

“The presence of waste is an indication of overconsumption and that materials are not being used efficiently. The capacity of the natural environment to absorb and process these materials is also under stress,” she added.

This financial year, 14 000 tons of recycled waste was successfully diverted away from landfills. Though the current participation rate was only 25%, the City hopes to raise it to 70% by 2016. This will be done through Jozi@Work initiatives.