Cape Town generates an average of 4 600 tons of rubbish every day – all of which has to be collected from an area covering 2 487 square kilometres, transported, minimised and disposed of.

Taking into account current growth in waste generation by the city’s expanding population of 3,2 million residents, this will translate into 1,8 million tons of rubbish in the next year.

To tackle this problem, the City of Cape Town has earmarked R415 million to develop its infrastructure for solid waste management in the coming financial year.

Most of this budget will go towards developing landfill infrastructure and integrated transfer stations.

According to Alderman Clive Justus, Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services, the current sites at Vissershok, Bellville South and Coastal Park are almost filled to capacity. “But the City is pro-actively addressing this challenge by implementing the Integrated Waste Management Strategy and by producing an Integrated Waste Management By-law,” he said.
Another part of the budget will go towards replacing 25 vehicles in the refuse removal fleet at a cost of R40-million. This includes 20 compactor trucks.

“These trucks have a limited life span as the wear and tear is much higher due to the continuous stop and start during the waste collection process, as well as Cape Town’s hilly topography,” Justus said.

The City has 165 compactor vehicles. The average age of the City’s compactor fleet is nine years, but some disposal equipment is 16 years and older, while the vehicle replacement plan provides for replenishment every seven years.

Justus said one way of extending the lifespan of these specialised vehicles is to shorten the distances to disposal sites. The City is therefore building two integrated waste transfer stations in Kraaifontein and Bellville that will reduce the distance between collection and disposal.

“On completion, these stations will be able to process 3 840 tons of refuse per day,” he said.
The City has employed 21 community-based contractors to provide an integrated refuse collection and cleaning service in all informal areas, empowering these communities. A dedicated contract monitoring unit oversees these contractors.

In addition, the City has outsourced nearly a quarter of formal residential areas to private contractors, where the Think Twice projects provide separate collection of recyclables in addition to the refuse collection service.