THE Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is hoping to reduce the amount of waste created by its residents by a third, despite a 9% annual population growth.
Joburg has about 3.2-million people.
Pikitup's executive for legal environment, compliance and safety, Zandile Mpungose, said: "Landfill space is fast depleting and is impacting the environment negatively at an alarming pace, mostly because of the rapid population growth in the City, and that, in turn, links directly to excessive waste production."
Mpungose was addressing the annual EnvirCon Conference at Villa Paradiso in Hartebeespoort yesterday. The conference was attended by environmental managers and specialists from large organisations around South Africa. Its aim is to present solutions and opportunities to the environmental issues which the country faces.
"We simply do not have the space to accommodate the continuously increasing levels of waste being generated as more people move into the city. Critical to this process is changing the public's mindset and attitude towards the creation and management of waste," Mpungose said.
Pikitup is looking to divert at least 33% of waste from landfills through a combination of product stewardship or take-back programmes where manufacturers take back their own packaging and other recyclable products, and the development of facilities which promote re-use, recycling and composting.