South Africa: City Looks for Place to Dump Its Garbage Hot

Cape Town is running out of space to dump its rubbish and the city is looking to create a new landfill near Atlantis or at Kalbaskraal outside of Malmesbury.

Residents opposed to having a mountain of trash established near their residency have been given a month's extension to voice their opposition.

Public comment on the placing of a landfill site in either of the two areas was due on April 17 but the City yesterday announced they would extended it to May 14 in order to give the public the chance to read through the voluminous amount of paperwork that stands half a metre high.

The two sites were chosen according to strict guidelines in a City approved Environmental Impact Assessment, which covers proximity to residences but also considers transportation costs. The new sites are expected to take 1.8 million tonnes of rubbish but Councilor Shehaam Sims, Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services, is optimistic about the impact the City's new Think Twice recycling program will have on space saved at the landfill.

"We expect at least a 11.1% diversion of recyclable waste such as plastic and rubber from landfill sites."

Sims does not expect bad feedback from Kalbaskraal and Atlantis residents, "there were 75 landfill sites in Cape Town in 2000. That number dwindled down to four and now there are two. The sites were chosen along very careful criteria and are not close to residents. They have a chance to have their say in the next month."

Councilor Heather Brenner, Blaauwberg sub-Council Chairn into whose jurisdiction the Atlantis site falls, says that the issue of where to put the new landfills has been going on for some time and the region urgently needs the space. She believes the extension is a public participation opportunity.

"The public response to the planned landfills is a hard to gauge, you can never please everyone."