The metro scooped the top award as the best managed municipal landfill sites in the whole of Gauteng.
The award was received at the Waste Khoro 2016 conference held in Durban, recently.
“The top accolade entails that the city’s effective operation of five of its operational landfill sites at Rooikraal, Weltevreden, Rietfontein, Simmer and Jack and Platkop which are located in various towns around the city has yielded positive results,” said the metro’s spokesman.
“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, industrial and garden waste with asbestos waste only accepted at Platkop landfill site.”
The city’s main objective of effective waste management has important economic and social impacts in addition to environmental benefits.
Upon receiving the award, Ekurhuleni’s Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environmental Development Portfolio, Clr 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 many jobs as possible in the process.”
In addition to reducing 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 metro.”
“The metro has established a landfill gas extraction and utilisation project at four of its landfill sites namely: Simmer and Jack, Weltevreden, Rooikraal and Rietfontein,” explained Gadebe.
“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 the metro has afforded its community the provision of improved air quality in surrounding residential areas and created over 100 jobs.”
Gadebe also said Ekurhuleni currently utilises the landfill gas to generate 1MW of 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 the other three landfill sites.
“Since its inception, the project has thus far reduced 748 781 tCO2e (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) up to May 2016, the installed capacity at all sites is expected to be approximately 7.5MW at full capacity,” concluded Shongwe.
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