MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR - DWAF

1 MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR WASTE DISPOSAL BY landfill Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Republic of South Africa DRAFT Third Edition 2005 _____ MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill , Third Edition, 2005 i Published by Department of Water Affairs & Forestry Private Bag X313 PRETORIA 0001 Republic of South Africa Tel: (012) 338 7500 Printed and bound by First Edition 1994 Second Edition 1998 Third Edition 2005 ISBN 0620-22993-4 Copyright Reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without full acknowledgement of the source

2 _____ This document should be cited as: Department of Water Affairs & Forestry, Third Edition, 2005. Waste Management Series. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill . Project Leader: Leon Bredenhann, Department of Water Affairs & Forestry Project Co-ordinator (First and Second Editions): Jarrod Ball, Jarrod Ball & Associates cc, Johannesburg, South Africa Departmental Project Co-ordinator (Third Edition): Romy de Jager, Romy van Jaarsveld Consultants cc Editor: Kathleen Langmore, Jarrod Ball & Associates cc, Johannesburg, South Africa ii MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill , Third Edition, 2005 This document forms part of the Waste Management Series, produced by the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry.

3 Thus far, the series comprises: Document 1: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for the Handling, Classification and Disposal of Hazardous Waste. Document 2: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill . Document 3: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for the Monitoring of Water Quality at Waste Management Facilities. Document 1: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for the Handling, Classification and Disposal of Hazardous Waste, sets out the waste classification system. In this, wastes are placed in two classes, General or Hazardous, according to their inherent toxicological properties. Hazardous wastes are further subdivided, according to the risk that they may pose at disposal, using a hazard rating.

4 In this way, a less hazardous waste is distinguished from an extremely hazardous waste. Wastes with a hazard rating of 1 or 2 are very or extremely hazardous, while wastes with a hazard rating of 3 or 4 are of moderate or low hazard. The REQUIREMENTS for pre-treatment and disposal are set in accordance with the waste classification. Hazardous waste prevention and minimisation are briefly addressed, because of their importance, as is handling, transportation and storage. Protocols are included for evaluating downstream uses of waste and for fixed scenario and site specific risk-based approaches in the application of MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS . Risk is also based on both eco- and mammalian toxicity.

5 The hazardous waste classification tables have been extended to include organic contaminants. Document 2: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill , addresses landfill classification and the siting, investigation, design, operation and monitoring of landfill sites. In the landfill classification system, a landfill is classified in terms of waste class, size of operation, and potential for significant leachate generation, all of which influence the risk it poses to the environment. Graded REQUIREMENTS are then set for all aspects of landfilling, including public participation. Although the primary focus of this document is landfills, the classification system is also applied to disposal sites other than landfills, including waste storage areas, transfer stations, materials recovery plants, treatment plants, and pre- and post-incineration areas.

6 Graded REQUIREMENTS are also set for these disposal sites. An Integrated Disposal Site Authorisation procedure harmonises the EIA application process and the disposal site permit procedure. Document 3: MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Monitoring at Waste Management Facilities, addresses the monitoring of water quality at and around waste disposal facilities. Other documents in the process of being finalised as part of the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS series include MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for landfill Auditing, MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Management Training, and MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Upgrading Waste Disposal Operations. PREFACE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill , Third Edition, 2005 iii PREFACE The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (the Department) first published the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS for Waste Disposal by landfill in September 1994.

7 In 1998, a Second Edition was published to incorporate feedback from workshops held to involve Interested and Affected Parties (IAPs) and other sources. In the Third Edition, the document has been extensively reviewed and extended to incorporate important aspects that were missing from the regulatory and technical framework in the Second Edition. Also, as in the past, experience gained since implementation and recent research have been used to enrich the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS and to address waste disposal in South Africa more extensively in a way that is practical, affordable and implementable. REQUIREMENTS addressed and extended in the Third Edition include those for an Integrated Disposal Site Authorisation (IDSA) procedure, public participation, buffer zones, sites other than landfills that are legally defined as disposal sites, waste salvaging1, landfill final height, leachate treatment, liners and covers, air quality control, gas management, and sewage sludge.

8 The IDSA procedure was developed during the finalisation of the EIA Regulations to be promulgated in terms of Section 24(5) of the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) and the transfer of the disposal site permit function from the Department of Water Affairs to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. This procedure can therefore only be fully refined after a reasonable period of implementation. The IDSA presents a single application procedure that harmonises Environmental Authorisations and the disposal site permit procedure (in terms of the Environment Conservation Amendment Act (Act 50 of 2003)). In IDSA, the relevant provincial environmental authority serves as point of entry and authorises both disposal site permits and Environmental Authorisations.

9 This will only apply after the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has delegated the power to permit disposal sites to the MECs of the relevant provinces. This Edition of the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS has been written based on the assumption that all relevant provincial environmental departments have been assigned as Competent Authorities, also for disposal site permit authorisations. The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism serves as point of entry and as authorising authority in respect of provinces not yet assigned with the disposal site permit authority. The approach to the climatic water balance has been revised, based on recent research, and certain areas that were classified B- will be classified2 B+.

10 All permit applications for new sites, existing unauthorised sites and amendments will be classified or reclassified according to the new approach. At this stage, authorised sites do not have to be reclassified unless the leachate detection system, which has always been a MINIMUM Requirement for B- sites, indicates that significant leachate is being produced, see Section 1 Although the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and the Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism strongly support waste separation at source for further re-use, recycling and recovery, they recognise that waste salvaging takes place at landfills in South Africa and that it may be the only form of livelihood for local families.