South Africa produced an estimated 3.6-million tonnes of uncollected domestic waste in 2020, and at least one-million tonnes of plastics and one-million tonnes of paper are not recycled every year.

Through thermal technologies, such as incineration, gasification and pyrolysis, waste-to-energy facilities offer a way to convert solid waste into usable electricity or heat.

Every two-million tonnes of waste collected can generate 100 MW of baseload power, says circular economy organisation Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa) executive committee member Dr Chris Crozier.

Further, a 2024 Statistics South Africa report indicated that 37% of households have no domestic waste collection.

Therefore, Redisa calls on government to pursue workable waste-to-energy solutions to help address South Africa's energy crisis and as an answer to the increasing levels of solid waste pollution.

“Osaka, Vienna, Copenhagen and Singapore use waste-to-energy to great effect. South Africa can solve two pressing problems, while creating jobs and stimulating economic growth,” says Redisa CEO Hermann Erdmann.

Waste-to-energy plants are not cheap to build and operate, but cost less than the environmental, health and amenity costs of unmanaged waste. These plants also represent worthy long-term investments, says Crozier.

An Extended Producer Responsibility Organisation model could centralise waste management fees to establish and operate the collection, sorting, storage and delivery network that would feed these plants, without requiring government funding.

Redisa has produced a comprehensive plan that shows a waste-to-energy programme can create 60 000 direct jobs; between 120 000 and 480 000 indirect jobs; 2 000 small, medium-sized and microenterprises in recyclers, waste sites and metal recovery facilities; and other supporting businesses.

The waste management fees collected across thousands of producers would have a minimal impact on product costs while solving a massive environmental problem, he says.