The annual Waste Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap has highlighted the importance of evidence and skills in shaping the future of South Africa’s waste sector, as well as the impact of waste on climate change.

While many cities and towns experience littering and the illegal dumping of waste, South Africa must invest in training young people to help address these challenges, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Waste RDI Roadmap Implementation Unit manager Professor Linda Godfrey says.

During the past year, 60 students were supported on research projects and eight postgraduate students were supported through direct scholarships, while 49 postgraduate students were mentored under the two Waste RDI Roadmap and National Research Foundation South African Research Chairs Initiative hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the University of the Western Cape.

Further, 18 postgraduate students were mentored under the UKZN and North-West University coursework degrees, seed funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). Since 2015, 41 students have successfully graduated from the various waste programmes supported by the Waste RDI Roadmap.

The South African waste sector, like those of most developing countries, faces real challenges around city cleansing, waste collection and safe disposal. Landfilling of waste, in many instances, to uncontrolled or controlled dumpsites with associated open burning remains the dominant technology solution for managing waste in South Africa.

“While the South African waste sector has been slow to adopt alternative waste treatment technologies, it is hoped that these young, enthusiastic graduates will venture out into the waste sector, whether it be working for private industry or government, and help transform the sector from the inside through the application of their knowledge,” said Godfrey.

“The DSI recognised the opportunity to support the transformation of the South African waste economy by investing in human capital development and RDI. Skills development is a cornerstone of the Waste RDI Roadmap,” said DSI Environmental Services and Technologies director and Waste RDI Roadmap custodian Dr Henry Roman.

The DSI also supports the professional development of researchers at South African universities and science councils. A total of 162 researchers and collaborators were supported on research grants this past year, he noted.

“In this way, we are able to strengthen the knowledge base around waste management and unlock new opportunities for innovation, including new technology development, which can be adopted by industry and government,” he added.

The intention is to support the development of new high-value end-use markets through RDI that will assist in diverting waste away from landfill towards value-adding opportunities.

“We are pleased to share the findings of three projects completed this past year. These projects range from understanding why people litter and how to mitigate this, to the development of high-value products from agricultural waste streams, to assessing the level of circularity of the South African economy,” said Roman.

The research funded by the DSI under the Waste RDI Roadmap was released through 49 scientific publications in the past year. These include, among others, technical reports, journal papers and conference presentations.

Further, as these research projects are publicly funded, research outputs are made publicly available on the Waste RDI Roadmap website to benefit the broader waste community in South Africa and internationally, he highlighted.

The Waste RDI Roadmap serves as a guide to South Africa’s public and private sector investment in waste RDI for the period 2015 to 2025. It also highlights the potential to generate jobs in waste prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery.