What We Can Learn from Leading Recycling Countries

When we are young, we learn about waste. We watch our parents, teachers, siblings, and peers, slowly developing our own definition of a clean environment. Thus, like most things in life, our recycling habits are largely products of community and culture, driven by social norms.?

Some countries understand this better than others and have used it to drive real progress in sustainable nation building. By nudging their citizens towards more eco-conscious behaviour, many of these nations have been able to raise their recycling rates significantly over relatively short periods. Today, we explore some of the strategies these leading recycling countries use, and how we might adapt them for South Africa.?

Solution: The Pfand System

Country: Germany?

Germany is known for its high recycling rate and has been pioneering environmental policies since the 1990s. One shining example is the Pfand (deposit) system. In 2003, the German government ordered a mandatory deposit on all disposable PET bottles and aluminium drinks cans. When people buy products packaged in einweg (single-use) containers, they pay an additional fee. They can get this money back by returning the bottles to the shop once they are empty.?

By German law, all shops that sell drinks in single-use packaging must accept empties for recycling. While some supermarkets still process the bottle returns manually, reverse vending machines (RVM) have become the norm. Today, there are over 30,000 RVMs in Germany, giving the public a fun and convenient way to recycle their packaging.?

Using it in South Africa?

South Africans are already familiar with the idea of returnable bottles thanks to SAB’s established deposit return system. However, this system only applies to glass. Drawing from the German pfand approach could help us expand our efforts to plastic and aluminium. At the same time, it could create unfair competition for our waste pickers.?

Therefore, implementing such a system locally would require careful planning to ensure equal benefit for all stakeholders. Organising all informal waste pickers into formal bodies could be the first step. This would allow consumers to transact directly with waste pickers, who could refund their deposits on behalf of packaging producers. Once the waste pickers deliver the collected items to their final destination, they would ideally receive an equal refund plus compensation for their labour.?

Solution: Privatised Waste Collection

Country: Rwanda?

Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city, is widely regarded as the cleanest city in Africa. Many people attribute its pristine appearance to Rwanda’s legendary ban on plastic bags in 2008. However, there is a lot more behind the city’s clean streets.?

In Rwanda, the government outsources solid waste management to private companies. First, these businesses must obtain the relevant licence to operate within Kigali, smaller towns and cities, or rural areas. Then, they may collect rubbish directly from homes and businesses, setting collection fees based on the average household income in the area. Many providers also sort and recover recyclables from the collected waste to generate additional cash flow.?

Using it in South Africa?

Since 2015, the number of South African households without access to refuse removal has hovered at around 30%. That, combined with our rapidly filling landfills, highlights a significant need for investment in waste management infrastructure. Yet municipal waste budgets are often slim, leaving providers with outdated equipment and understaffed teams.?

Using Rwanda’s public-private model as inspiration, South Africa could drastically improve its waste situation. It could help drive recycling and improving service delivery in currently underserved communities. Again, this initiative would require provisions for waste pickers and reclaimers. When done correctly, private kerbside collection would create gainful employment for waste pickers, not competition.?

Solution: Volume-Based Rubbish Bags

Country: South Korea?

Another global leader in recycling, South Korea tackles waste management by making its citizens buy regulation rubbish bags for their homes. The cost of the bags covers waste removal services, so the more bags you throw away, the more you pay. This volume-based system is designed to deter people from throwing everything in the general waste and recycle as much as they can instead.?

Each municipality has a unique bag design you can only buy in that specific area and trucks won’t collect any non-regulation bags. This system helps increase accountability for litter among residents. There is also a dual rubbish system in South Korea that requires people to separate food waste from general waste, with a different bag colour for each stream.?

Using it in South Africa?

The greatest reason for using a volume-based waste system in South Africa would be to help us reduce pressure on our burdened landfill sites. Leading the public towards “zero-waste” living would mean sending less to landfills and more to recycling depots, which in turn could provide work for waste pickers and strengthen our recycling economy.?

However, launching such an unfamiliar system would naturally come with challenges. Education and awareness would be paramount to its success. Additionally, municipalities may need to run pilot projects to test the waters and compare results in different areas. Pushback from communities that do not have access to waste removal services may arise, and rubbish bag subsidies would need to be discussed. Another alternative might be offering this system through a private company for those who want to opt out of using municipal wheelie bins.?

In Conclusion?

Waste management is crucial to a functional society. Therefore, we should not let it go stagnant. As our technology advances, so should our waste systems to reflect our new priorities, ie: preserving nature and finite resources. Incorporating recycling into the mix is key.?

Yet to make recycling a reality, it must become a part of our daily culture. The countries highlighted in this article saw success thanks to a well-developed public ethos of personal responsibility for the environment. Cultivating this in South Africa could be the first step towards sustainable change. While there is no copy-and-paste in strategy, we may use these stories as case studies to draw our own unique roadmap towards a greener future.