On 25 November, join the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA’s) Central Branch and fellow members for an exciting event on waste-to-energy.

As South Africa continues to surge in renewable energy ventures, there is still one area that it has yet to conquer: waste-to-energy (W2E).

South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has stated that the country generates about 60-70 million cubic meters of waste annually – which indicates a huge potential for the W2E sector. However, South Africa is fairly new to the game only implementing its first W2E project in 2007.

W2E event topics and speakers

The topics that will be discussed during the event are:

• The inputs for a waste to energy project and then the technologies and options.
• Why waste characterization is the most critical benchmark.

Two exciting guest speakers have been confirmed. The first is Nick Mannie – Technical Director, Waste at Aurecon and he will discuss “Waste-to-Energy: Important factors to consider for developing this type of project”.

Mannie holds an MSc and is currently completing his PhD on e-waste awareness and policy and is an accredited International Waste Manager. He has been involved in the waste industry for over 16 years and has worn many hats over the years. He currently leads Waste Management and Planning at Aurecon which span South Africa, Africa and the Middle East. His primary areas of involvement are strategy, planning, technical advisory roles and feasibility studies. He is currently looking at depth into waste-to-energy projects and is advising various clients on the subject.

The second confirmed speaker is industry stalwart, Professor Suzan Oelofse, Senior Scientist  at the CSIR and President of the IWMSA. Her talk will cover the topic, “Waste Characterisation, determining the energy potential of waste”. Oelofse is a principal scientist specialising in waste governance, specifically concentrating on evidence based policy and decision-making. Her expertise lies in policy and strategy development, waste information and characteristics. Oelofse holds a PhD in Botany (Physiology) from the University of Johannesburg (formerly the Rand Afrikaans University). She worked in government for ten years in a policy and regulation capacity and was intimately involved in the development of the White Paper on Integrated Pollution and Waste Management for South Africa and the National Waste Management Strategy for South Africa. She has served as steering committee member on various waste and water related projects funded by the Water Research Commission.

Who should attend?

The seminar is aimed at those involved in the waste management industry.  IWMSA urges all members to join this important session. It costs R50 for IWMSA members and R200 for non-members. To find out more contact Sanki Nkosi on info@iwmsa.co.za.