WASTE MANAGEMENT LICENSES
INTRODUCTION:
Waste management licenses (“WML”) are required by any person or company (usually
industrialists), municipality or even state department that wishes to undertake one or
more waste management activities or has already commenced with such activities
without waste management licenses.
These activities, commonly referred to as “listed waste management activities”, are
listed in Government Notice (“GN”) No. 921 of 29 November 2013 (as amended),
which was promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management: Waste
Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008) (“NEM:WA”).
These listed waste management activities have or are likely to have, a detrimental
effect on the environment, and include recycling or recovery, treatment and disposal
type activities.
GN No. 921 differentiates between different categories of listed activities, which have
different approval / licensing requirements. These categories are called “Category A”,
“Category B”, and “Category C”. “Category A” (Appendix 1) and “Category B”
(Appendix 2) activities require an environmental impact assessment (“EIA”) process to
be undertaken prior to obtaining a WML, while “Category C” (Appendix 3) activities
require adherence to norms and standards.
WHAT IS WASTE?
The NEM: WA defines waste as:(a) any substance, material or object, that is unwanted,
rejected, abandoned, discarded or disposed of, or that is intended or required to be
discarded or disposed of, by the holder of that substance, material or object, whether
or not such substance, material or object can be re-used, recycled or recovered and
includes all wastes as defined in Schedule 3 to the waste act. Schedule 3 identifies and
differentiates between different hazardous waste material (in contrast to general
waste as described above.)
1.2 WASTE CLASSIFICATION – GENERAL OR HAZARDOUS?
To simplify the classification of waste, Schedule 3 of the NEM:WA groups waste into
two categories, namely hazardous waste and general waste. The classification of the
waste assists in clarifying the management and licensing requirements for each waste
type.
Hazardous waste means any waste that contains organic or inorganic elements or
compounds that may, owing to the inherent physical, chemical or toxicological
characteristics of that waste have a detrimental impact on health and the environment
and includes hazardous substances, materials or objects within business waste, residue
deposits and residue stockpiles.
Hazardous waste would, as example, include petroleum products, toxins, acids, waste
from ferrous thermal metallurgy, printing inks, sealants, paints, grease, hydrologic oils,
electrical / electronic waste, bitumen, coal, tar, etc.
General waste means waste that does not pose an immediate hazard or threat to
health or to the environment, and includes domestic waste, construction and
demolition waste, business waste, inert waste and any waste classified as non-
hazardous waste. Category “B” under the heading “Defined Wastes” of Schedule 3 of
the NEMWA (as amended in 2014) has a detailed list of general waste.
It is important to note that for the purposes of obtaining a WML, effluent, waste water
or sewage is excluded from the waste management listed activities.
1.3 LICENSING AUTHORITY;
The licensing authority (“LA”) for a WML application is determined by the classification
of the waste (i.e. general or hazardous). In this regard, the Provincial department of
the province in which the application is submitted is the licensing authority for general
waste, while the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (“the
DFFE”) is the LA for hazardous waste.
A WML is also regarded as an environmental authorization and as such, the process to
follow to obtain a WML is regulated by the Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”)
regulations of 2014, promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management
Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) (“the NEMA”).
Category A waste management listed activities trigger a basic assessment (“BA”)
process, whilst Category B waste management listed activities, trigger a scoping and
environmental impact reporting (“S&EIR”) process.
UNLAWFUL WASTE ACTIVITIES;
Unlawful waste activities refer to activities which trigger activities in Categories A or B
for which an environmental authorization is required but where a WML has not been
issued prior to the commencement of such waste management activities.
A person who unlawfully commenced with a waste management listed activity, may
submit an application to rectify such unlawful commencement in terms of section 24G
of the NEMA.
The application must be supported by a report, which will then form the basis for a
decision whether to grant or refuse the application. The applicant may be required to
rehabilitate the area impacted by the unlawful activity and will be issued with an
administrative fine for the unlawful commencement of the listed activity.
A WML is not required if an activity commenced prior to the promulgation of
regulations requiring a WML for such an activity however, please note that even if an
activity commenced prior to it requiring a WML, or if it commenced after the
promulgation of the regulations, but was below the thresholds, and the activity was
subsequently unlawfully expanded beyond the thresholds specified in the regulations,
the person responsible for undertaking the activity will be advised that they may
undertake a section 24G process.
If an activity requiring a WML commenced under the previous regulations (i. e GN No.
718 of 3 July 2009), without a WML, and is not similarly listed under GN No. 921, the
applicant need not apply for authorization in terms of section 24G of the NEMA.
However, if the activity is similarly listed under GN No. 921, the applicant may apply
for such authorization.
Operating without a license (i. e not applying for the section 24G rectification process)
is classified as a criminal offence under section 67 (1)(a) of the NEM:WA and a person
convicted of such an offence is liable to a fine not exceeding R10 000 000 or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or to both such fine and such
imprisonment, in addition to any other penalty or award that may be imposed or made
in terms of the NEM, as detailed in section 68 of the NEM; WA.
WHO IS AUTHORISED TO APPLY FOR A WML ON BEHALF OF A PERSON?;
Only an environmental assessment practitioner (“EAP”) who is a member of EAPASA
(Environmental Assessment Practitioners of South Africa) is qualified to conduct a basic
assessment, S&EIR or application, in terms of section 24G of the NEMA, as legal
avenue in obtaining a waste management license.