Waste management

National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008

National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008 or NEMWA is the specific environmental management act regulating waste in South Africa.

Download NEMWA

NEMWA defines ‘waste’ as

  • Any substance, material, or object that is unwanted, rejected, abandoned, discarded, or disposed of—or intended or required to be discarded or disposed of—by its holder, whether or not it can be reused, recycled, or recovered. This includes all wastes listed in Schedule 3 of NEMWA.
  • Any other substance, material, or object not included in Schedule 3 but declared as waste by the Minister through a notice in the Gazette.
NEMWA does not apply to:
  • Radioactive waste regulated under the Hazardous Substances Act 15 of 1973, the National Nuclear Regulator Act 47 of 1999, or the Nuclear Energy Act 46 of 1999.
  • The disposal of explosives governed by the Explosives Act 15 of 2003.
Did you know?

The South African Government has a duty to implement uniform measures aimed at minimising waste generation. Where waste is produced, it must be reused, recycled, or recovered in an environmentally responsible manner before being safely treated and disposed of.

The National Environmental Management: Waste Act (NEMWA) imposes a general duty on individuals to:

  • Avoid generating waste, and when unavoidable, minimise its toxicity and volume.
  • Reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover waste.
  • Ensure waste requiring disposal is treated and disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
  • Manage waste to prevent risks to health, harm to the environment, or nuisances such as noise, odour, or unsightly impacts.
  • Prevent employees or individuals under their supervision from violating this Act.
  • Prevent waste from being used for unauthorised purposes.
There is a list of waste management activities that have or may have a detrimental effect on the environment. These activities are divided into three categories:

 

Category A

You must conduct a basic assessment process set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations as part of a waste management licence application

Category B

You must conduct a scoping and environmental impact reporting process set out in the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations as part of a waste management licence application

Category C

You must comply with the relevant requirements or standards

Waste Management Activities

Littering is strictly prohibited under NEMWA. Section 27 states that no person may discard litter in any public place, land, vacant erf, stream, watercourse, street, road, or any area accessible to the public, except in designated containers or areas provided for that purpose.

NEMWA also regulates contaminated land (sections 35–41). Importantly, contaminated land cannot be transferred without notifying the buyer of its condition. Contamination is defined by NEMWA as “the presence of a substance or microorganism in or under any land, site, buildings, or structures, at concentrations above normal levels, which directly or indirectly affects or may adversely affect soil or environmental quality.”