In the past year South Africa has seen a sharp rise in the amount of waste treated than in previous years.

According to statistics from the South African Waste Information Centre, a total of18 165 798 tonnes of waste was treated last year. This is a dramatic increase from the 61 102 tonnes treated in 2012 and the 439 196 tonnes in 2011.

The vast majority of this waste was treated chemically, while very little was treated biologically (biodegradation, composting, biogas generation).

Mpumalanga treated the majority of the waste last year – 18 081 175 tonnes. This is a massive increase from the 2 580 tonnes of waste they treated in 2012.

There has also been a large increase from previous yearsin the amount of waste recovered and recycled.3 993 298 tonnes of waste was collected or recycled in 2013. This is a dramatic increase from the 915 456 tonnes in 2012 and the 187 771 tonnes in 2011.

However, some provinces are performing much better in this regard than others. While the Eastern Cape had 2 003 549 tonnes of recovered or recycled waste, the Northern Cape had only 14 tonnes.

Note: Statistics are based on waste reported by registered waste facilities in South Africa, and does not include unregistered and non-reporting waste facilities.