[GreenYes] Urgent need for details of Waste Management program

[Neil Tangri <ntangri@essential.org>]

Dear Greenyesers,

Here is a request from allies of ours in South Africa who are fighting off
an incinerator. They want to push the government into instead adopting a
wet/dry segregation system which would allow for both composting and
intensive recycling. Marie-Lou knows of a successful system in Cairo, but I
think many of the folks on this list will also have useful information for
her. Do any of you have experience with such systems which would be helpful
to them in making their case? Or any other suggestions to offer? Please
write directly to Marie-Lou, as she's not on the Greenyes list, and cc me
so I learn as well!

Thanks,

Neil


>From: "M L Roux" <mlroux@new.co.za>
>To: "Neil Tangri" <ntangri@essential.org>
>Subject: Urgent need for details of Leila's Cairo Waste Management program
>Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 03:57:14 +0200
>Organization: Habitat Council
>
>Dear Neil
>  
>Could you please forward this to Leila in Cairo. We urgently need her help
regarding the Wet/Dry waste management system.
>  
>We most urgently need practical details of, for example, 
>  
>* the categories into which they sort the 'Dry Waste" in the Cairo project;
>* the amounts of waste they handle on average - per day or month or year; 
>* how the sorting area is set up ( is it done inside a building or
buildings, or in the open? I take it that since the material is dry, there
will not be a major fly problem);
>* the size of the area used as sorting station;
>* how many 'sorting jobs' are created; 
>* what facilites Cairo offers for recycling, etc., etc.
>  
>We would also need to know more about the ' Wet' section:
>  
>How is this handled? and what amounts are handled?
>  
>  
>We have to persuade the City of Cape Town authorities to introduce a
Wet/Dry system here as soon as possible, so that we can get a proper
sorting system - which really diminishes the waste load - going.
>  
>The urgency of the matter is that a Scoping Study has just about been
completed for the erection of what is being called  a  ' Waste Transfer
station'  to be situated between Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain on the
Cape Flats, where the City Council has to close an existing (unregistered
and unlined) 
>Swartklip municipal waste dump on the instructions of the Department of
Water Affairs. (It is feared the dump will leach into a major aquifer).
>The consultants state that their process will bring about a 22% reduction
in the amount of waste, by the sorting of the material as it proceeds along
a conveyor belt. (22%  - big deal)  At the end of the belt the remainder
(78%,  in other words) is then compacted into bales and is to be taken 40 k
away to the Cape's hazardous waste site, Vissershok. The composition of the
waste that is to be handled is totally unsorted wet and dry household stuff.
>  
>Solomon Cedile, who was with us at the GAIA launch, and I attended a sort
of workshop on this Scoping Report on Saturday 17 Feb.. The 'alternatives '
the consultants have addressed in the report are only whether the compacted
bales should be transported by road or by rail !!
>  
>We have warned them that unless they address the alternative method of
wet/dry separation and detailed sorting for re-use, recycling etc, we shall
officially appeal against the process they hve followed, since this major
alternative will have been neglected.
>  
>The consultants then requested me to let them have an outline in writing
on what process we are referring to.
>  
>So I desperately need more detail:
>  
>1)     to go to the Mayor of Cape Town with
>2)     to place before the consultants who have to do the EIA
>  
>and 3) - (for good measure) 
>         to submit to the Ministers of Water Affairs and Environmental
Affairs, and to         our Portfolio Committee for Environmental Affairs
>  
>Please help me to get more inforamtion as soon as possible.
>  
>With kind regards
>  
>Marie-Lou
>