THE WASTE ACT
The Waste Act will affect your business and the focus has shifted for waste management in South Africa in accordance with the objectives of the National Environmental Waste Management Act.
The objects of the National Environmental Management Waste Act 59 of 2008
1. To protect health, well-being and the environment by providing reasonable measures for-
- Minimizing the consumption of natural resources
- Avoiding and minimizing the generation of waste;
- Reducing, re-using, recycling and recovering waste;
- Treating and safely disposing of waste as a last resort;
- Preventing pollution and ecological degradation;
- Securing ecological sustainable development while promoting justifiable economic and social development;
- Promoting and ensuring the effective delivery of waste services;
- Remediating land where contamination presents, or may present a significant risk of harm to health or the environment; and
- Achieving integrated waste management reporting and planning
2. To ensure that people are aware of the impact of waste on their health, well-being and the environment
3. Generally, to effect section 24 of the Constitution in order to secure an environment that is not harmful to health and well-being.
NOSA RATING:
An Integrated Waste Management Plan will also assist with the following:
- Safer environment
- Healthier working environment
- More planning and reporting
- Tracking
- Improved site rating
ISO 14001:
Requires conformity with a series of elements of an EMS (Environmental Management System). That is, the organization must show that it has a working system in place to achieve the required outcomes. ISO does not require that an organization be in compliance with any environmental law, but it does require that the organization know what regulations it is subject to and that they have in place a verifiable system for achieving compliance and for avoiding noncompliance before it occurs. This responsibility must involve everyone in the organization from top management down to the line worker, wherever any employee has an influence on the environmental impacts of the company.
Skipwaste will assist with:
- Providing an environmental reporting system
- Specialist training for staff that is in line with the waste management plan on site if required
- Staff recycling program to get everybody involved
- Create a dedicated environmentally friendly waste area for all staff to see
- Finally to create a waste system that all believe will benefit the environment and that the Manager can report on.
Carbon Footprint:
Is the amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly to support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Recent investigations have shown that inconceivable catastrophic changes in the environment will take place as soon as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere reaches the level of about 450ppm (part per million). Today’s concentration is at about 380 ppm and it rises on average 2-3 ppm each year, so that critical value will be reached in approximately 25 to 30 years from now.
Skipwaste will assist:
- To reduce transport cost and frequency
- Monitoring the carbon footprint into the future on your premises
- Integrated Waste Plan to include a reduction in CO2
MINDSET SHIFT AND SKILLS TRAINING:
Skipwaste will assist:
- Changing the mindset of Waste Removal to an environmentally friendly and holistic solution, creating a culture of accountability
- The importance of various waste stream reporting
- More pro-active environmental solutions
- Training on waste systems
- Implementing Green Solution Systems
RISK MANAGEMENT ON SITE:
An Integrated Waste Management System will also assist with a decline of certain risk factors:
HEALTH:
- Sustainable company profile and contingency plan
- Greener solution for the benefits to staff
- Less unwanted products in the market
- A Project to protect uninformed end user in the market
BRAND EQUITY
- Protecting your company’s Brand on site
- Greener solution aligning with environmental strategy
- Increased rebates on recyclables
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
- No unwanted product in landfill site
Packaging and contents recycling