National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008)

Notices

National Domestic Waste Collection Standards

8. Communication, awareness creation and complaints

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8.1Waste Management officer

 

The Waste Management Officer will be designated to deal with general communications and awareness raising regarding waste. This officer will also be responsible for the handling of all complaints and resolving such complaints within a set period, as follows:

(a)The complaint handling mechanisms will be in line with the type of municipality and availability of infrastructure to handle such complaint mechanisms;
(b)The time frame for responding to complaints is a maximum of 24 hours. The complainer must receive notification of how the complaint will be addressed within this 24 hour period;
(c)Complaints from both households and waste collectors (including service providers/municipality) must be dealt with;
(d)Where complaints arise from negligence or lack of awareness on the part of households, communication and general awareness creation must be improved; and
(e)An efficient and effective register containing all complaints must be kept.

 

8.2Awareness creation and guidelines to inform the households

 

(a)The municipality must create awareness amongst households about the following:
(i)the types of waste collection services provided;
(ii)separation at source - the removal of recyclables and re-usable waste from the general household waste;
(iii)the potential of composting of some of the household waste and the benefit of such to the household;
(iv)the unacceptability of illegal dumping and littering;
(v)measures to be taken against individuals that litter and dump waste illegally;
(vi)the cost of cleaning up illegal dumping and littering, and the implications on household waste collection rates; and
(vii)the advantages of reporting illegal dumping activities.
(b)The municipality must provide clear guidelines to households about the following:
(i)the different types of waste generated in households;
(ii)separation of non-recyclable and non-reusable household waste from compostable waste and recyclable waste;
(iii)appropriate containers for each type of waste;
(iv)removal schedules for each type of waste; and
(v)what to do with waste other than those waste forming part of the regular schedule of waste collection services.
(c)Awareness raising and guideline communications must be done at regular intervals to ensure that all households are well informed about all issues listed under (b) above.