The City of Johannesburg’s mandatory separation at source programme is in full swing leaving many wondering what the programme entails.

As of the 1 July 2018, the City implemented the mandatory separation at source of dry recyclables and garden waste in affected areas. What this means is that from the effective date it will be compulsory for residents in the affected areas who currently receive a recycling bag to place dry recyclables (such as paper, plastics, metal and glass) for kerbside collection by Pikitup or its service providers for further processing.

Similarly for residents in the affected areas where there is typically a high generation of garden waste to will also be required to take their garden waste to the nearby drop-off sites (i.e. garden sites) for further processing.

Why now?

While the separation at source programme was rolled out on a voluntary basis from 2009 in some areas of the City, the municipality decided to ramp up efforts by making it mandatory because it was not achieving the desired extraction rates for dry recyclables.

“Based on a previous study done in 2004, we should be extracting an average of circa 13kg of dry recyclables per household per month, which we aim to reach by 2021. However, based on 2016/17 tonnages of dry recyclables collected, we extracted circa 4.5kg of dry recyclables per household per month in the areas where separation at source has been rolled out, which is far below the estimated extraction rates from the study,”Pikitup notes.

Will there be penalties?

According to Pikitup there are currently no penalties being implemented to effect mandatory waste separation at source. This is to give residents a fair opportunity to improve the recycling rates in the affected areas without the threat of a fine being imposed at this stage.

“Whilst implementing penalties remains an option that the City is considering for those households that do not participate, the City is also currently considering various options to incentivise those communities whose recycling rates increase over time as a result of mandatory waste separation at source.”

The City is appealing to residents in the affected areas to obey the mandatory separation at source programme and apply peer pressure through various community forums and media platforms to encourage those residents that will still choose not to participate in the mandatory programme.

For communities that fall outside the targeted areas for mandatory separation at source are encouraged to recycle through the drop-off recycling programme

For a comprehensive list of affected suburbs, visit www.pikitup.co.za.