By Fiona Arthur, Procurement category manager at Redefine Properties
14 February - When it comes to property development and management, a component that has gained attention recently has been the business of waste. As many organisations prioritise sustainability and sustainable business practices and integrate them into their operational strategy, waste gathering and disposal have become key factors in lowering emissions and minimising our environmental impact.
Many buildings around South Africa, ones that comprise property companies’ portfolios, are confronting how they deal with the waste generated by tenants. Recognising this, property owners are stepping up to facilitate and coordinate greening and recycling initiatives on behalf of their tenants.
This proactive approach enables tenants to meet their green objectives effortlessly, allowing them to focus on their core business activities. By taking the lead, property companies not only improve their environmental footprint but also add significant value to their services, fostering a collaborative effort to make buildings greener. This starts by addressing how we, and the rest of the country, deal with waste.
The state of South Africa’s landfills
It’s easy to not think about what happens to your waste after you throw it in the bin and it’s out of sight. While many countries around the world have made progress regarding how they deal with waste, South Africa has been on the back foot.
We face a growing challenge, as industry experts report our country’s landfills nationwide are filling up at an alarming rate. Many landfills are being filled beyond permitted volumes and many have since closed putting additional pressure on the existing landfills, with municipalities unable to deal with the problem due to a lack of skills, funds and machinery. This is also despite South Africa having some of the best legislation in the world regarding waste management.
However, landfills are not a quick and easy fix to meeting South Africa’s disposal requirements. It takes several years to build a landfill – it can take at least nine to 12 months to obtain environmental approval – and even when it reaches the end of its lifecycle, it’s subject to a recommended post-closure monitoring period of up to 30 years. So, what other options do we have?
Separate at the source
Properties will generate waste during their lifespan, depending on how long people or businesses occupy them. The first step in dealing with that is knowing what makes up the volume. According to waste stream audits conducted on Redefine properties as part of our rationalisation process, 61% of generated non-recyclable waste was found to be organic (food, biodegradables, etc.).
A third of all food produced globally goes to waste, contributing to 8% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Organic waste has 25% more global warming potential than other grades of waste, like paper or plastic, due to the Co2 and methane gases it emits as it decomposes making it a prime focus area. If organic waste is not separated, it can contaminate recyclable materials such as cardboard and paper and impact the ability to recover these materials.
The key to managing a property’s waste stream is to separate at the source. If you can separate organic waste at the source, you increase the amount of waste you can repurpose or recycle.
According to our estimates, in doing this, companies can increase their recycling rates by up to 80% per property. Provided companies get buy-in from tenants, especially businesses such as restaurants and others in the food industry, they can substantially minimise the amount of waste that goes to landfills.
It's not just about being sustainable. There is a financial incentive for such initiatives. Managing waste upstream proves to be more cost-effective than managing it downstream. Companies could hire sorters and pickers to handle the waste for them, but that is throwing unnecessary money and labour at the problem. Additionally, by handling waste management processes internally, companies can pass the resulting savings onto their tenants. Furthermore, in the broader economic sense the recycling of waste to recover and then reprocess materials into new products, known as a circular economy, can help the local economy, as we stand 80% of recycled material is used within South Africa.
Waste management and disposal in the 21st century
A prime example of effective, internal waste management can be found at Blue Route Mall, located in the Tokai suburb of Cape Town. After conducting an audit, engaging with food industry tenants to determine potential volumes, and following a trial period with waste management company Don’t Waste, Blue Route Mall was officially recognised by the City of Cape Town as an entity that produces a significant amount of waste, a status termed 'waste generator.' This designation came complete with a tailored waste management plan, reflecting the mall's substantial role in waste production and its commitment to responsible waste handling.
Waste is collected twice a day from all of the mall’s tenants. The waste is then weighed, and a record of each tenant’s weight is kept. Staff check the waste to ensure there is no contamination. Each tenant adheres to a waste segregation plan with colour coding and bin labelling for each type (cardboard, food, dry mixed recycling, and general waste). Don’t Waste manages on-site waste operations (including sorting and processing), maximising the recovery of recyclable items, while minimising that which is sent to landfills.
The comprehensive approach at Blue Route Mall exemplifies the broader movement towards sustainability in property management, highlighting the importance of collective action. This initiative underscores the potential of sustainable practices to drive significant environmental benefits and foster a culture of responsibility.
Redefine Properties' commitment to retrofitting its properties with internal waste services by Q2 2024 amplifies this ethos, demonstrating a unified effort towards a more sustainable future. South Africa's vibrant potential for sustainability innovation is evident, and by continuing to invest in responsible practices, we can unlock new opportunities that benefit both the economy and the environment.
The journey of Blue Route Mall serves as a powerful reminder of the impact achievable when we embrace sustainable solutions, reinforcing the idea that real change comes from not discarding, but rather recycling our innovative ideas into effective actions.
