The City of Ekurhuleni scooped the top award for the best managed municipal landfill sites in Gauteng at the Waste Khoro 2016 conference held in Durban last week.

The city has five operational landfill sites at Rooikraal, Weltevreden, Rietfontein, Simmer and Jack and Platkop, which are located in various towns around the city.

“Ekurhuleni currently collects over one million tons of waste per annum from over one million households every week. The collected waste consists of general domestic waste, industrial waste and garden waste with asbestos waste only accepted at Platkop landfill site,” the city said in a statement.

Upon receiving the award, Ekurhuleni’s Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environmental Development Portfolio Ndosi Shongwe said: “Ekurhuleni’s main focus is on developing new markets for its waste as well as diverting waste disposal from landfill sites. The main goal is to dispose of waste in an integrated manner with an energy source as an end result and to create as much jobs in the process as possible.

“In addition to reducing the Ekurhuleni’s carbon footprint and creating a renewable energy supply, job creation and skills development is of utmost importance in any project implemented by the City.”

Ekurhuleni established a landfill gas extraction and utilisation project at four of its landfill sites namely Simmer and Jack, Weltevreden, Rooikraal and Rietfontein.

The extraction and utilisation of landfill gas reduces harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and prevents explosion hazards at the landfill sites from the accumulation of methane gas.

Through this project Ekurhuleni has afforded its citizens the provision of improved air quality in surrounding residential areas and created over 100 jobs.

Ekurhuleni currently utilises the landfill gas to generate electricity at the Simmer and Jack landfill site which is distributed directly to the municipal grid resulting in savings of approximately R400 000 a month to the municipality.

Shongwe said the process of electricity generation is expected to expand to other three landfill sites.

Since its inception the project has thus far reduced 748 781 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) up to May 2016, the installed capacity at all sites is expected to be approximately 7.5 MW at full capacity.

 

 – SAnews.gov.za (edited)