South African waste management group EnviroServ is committed to an inclusive approach to the management of, and value extraction from, the various landfill sites around the country for which it is responsible. So assured group public affairs and communications head Makgabo van Niekerk, speaking at the International Solid Waste Association 2024 conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

“We have been involved in working with communities for a number of years,” she said. “EnviroServ is really committed to being neighbourly and inclusive.”

The company’s aim is to involve the communities around its sites with its operations, as it manages these sites. It holds open days, in which local stakeholders and local schools are invited to visit EnviroServ facilities, and community days, in which company employees go into the local communities, to explain what it does, and to offer career guidance at schools.

The group also worked with the informal “reclaimers”, who hunted across the landfill sites for materials they could retrieve and sell for recycling. There were just over 300 such reclaimers, spread across all the company’s sites. Working with the reclaimers involved, she admitted, a lot of challenges, but the company was willing to address those challenges, “head on”. Most of the reclaimers were older women, some over 65 years of age, and some of whom were completely illiterate. Van Niekerk reported that one of the key desires of the reclaimers was that people listen to them, and not seek to dictate to them. Working with them, she highlighted, diverted waste from the landfills and helped develop the circular economy and sustainability. 

The group also aligns itself with environmental organisations around the country. It engages with them, is transparent with them, and invites them to its facilities. EnviroServ also engages with its industry peers.

A key lesson the group has learned is that, although South Africa is one country, it is highly regionalised. A single national framework does not work. The company does, however, have a uniform approach – understand the area; engage with stakeholders; understand the context; “do more, talk less”; dedicate resources to relations with local communities; and, when necessary (as a result of feedback from communities), review company policies.

EnviroServ is also promoting waste separation at source. It is making communities aware of the benefits of recycling. In fact, in some communities, it has established and is operating buyback centres, where people can sell waste for recycling.