This is the version of this By-law as it was from 4 June 2010 to 29 June 2016. Read the latest available version.
Integrated Waste Management By-law, 2009
Related documents
- Is amended by Integrated Waste Management By-law: Amendment
- Is amended by Integrated Waste Management By-law: Amendment
Cape Town
South Africa
South Africa
Integrated Waste Management By-law, 2009
- Published in Western Cape Provincial Gazette 6651 on 21 August 2009
- Assented to on 30 March 2009
- Commenced on 21 August 2009
- [This is the version of this document as it was from 4 June 2010 to 29 June 2016.]
- [Amended by Integrated Waste Management By-law: Amendment on 7 May 2010]
- [Amended by Integrated Waste Management By-law: Amendment on 4 June 2010]
Preamble
WHEREAS the City has under the Constitution, legislative competence in respect of refuse removal, refuse dumps and solid waste disposal;Whereas the City of Cape Town (“the City”) has an obligation to regulate and control waste management so as to ensure a safe, healthy and sustainable environment and to ensure that the rights of individuals are protected;Whereas the City wishes to reduce the generation and the environmental impact of waste to ensure that the socio-economic development, the health of the people within the City’s boundaries and the quality of environmental resources are not unduly adversely affected by waste;Whereas the City wants to ensure that all residents, organisations, institutions, businesses, visitors or tourists and government departments are able to access services from a legitimate waste management service provider; andWhereas the City wishes to regulate waste generation, cleaning, separation, storage, collection, processing, treatment, recycling, re-use and disposal of waste, including littering and illegal dumping and the regulation of facilities used for the management of waste, with the ultimate aim of avoiding or minimising the generation of waste.BE IT ENACTED by the City of Cape Town, as follows:—1. Definitions
In this By-law, unless the context indicates otherwise:“accredited service provider” means a person or entity accredited by the City in accordance with its guidelines published from time to time and who provides a waste management service in the City and may include, but is not limited to, large and small business, entrepreneurs, community cooperatives, and venture learnerships;“building waste” means waste produced through the construction, alteration, repair or demolition of any structure both manmade and natural, and includes rubble, earth, wood and rock that is displaced during any construction, alteration, repair or demolition, but excludes garden waste;“business waste” means waste that emanates from premises that are used, whether lawfully or unlawfully mainly, for commercial, retail, wholesale, entertainment or government administration purposes, and also applies to waste generated by informal traders and residential premises where commercial activities are being conducted;“chemical waste” includes discarded solid, liquid and gaseous chemicals;“City” means the City of Cape Town established by Provincial Notice No. 479 of 2000 or its successors in title;“Director” means the Director responsible for solid waste management in the City;“dump” means to dispose of waste in any manner other than one permitted by law and includes, without derogating from the generality of the aforegoing, to deposit, discharge, spill or release waste, whether or not the waste is in a container or receptacle, in or at any place whatsoever whether publicly or privately owned, including but not limited to vacant land, rivers, waterways, catchments, and sewage and storm water systems, but excludes littering;“event waste” means waste that originates from the activities related to an event that is held in the City;“garden waste” means organic waste which emanates from gardening or landscaping activities at residential, business or industrial properties including but not limited to, soil, grass cuttings, leaves and branches, and includes any biodegradable material and includes such waste emanating from residential, business or industrial properties, but excludes waste products of animal origin;“hazardous waste” means health care risk waste and any waste that may, by circumstances of the production, use, quantity, concentration or inherent physical, chemical or toxicological characteristics thereof, have a significant adverse effect on the environment, or the health of a person or other living organism;“health care waste” means any waste—(a)Generated by or derived from medical care or medical research including but not limited to—(i)infectious waste;(ii)pathological waste;(iii)sharp waste;(iv)pharmaceutical waste;(v)genotoxic waste;(vi)chemical waste;(vii)pressurized container waste;(viii)waste with heavy metals;(ix)radioactive waste;(x)general waste(b)That has been in contact with blood, bodily fluids or tissues from humans, or infected animals from veterinary practices;“infectious waste” means waste that is suspected to contain pathogens in a sufficient concentration or quantity to cause disease in susceptible hosts, and includes cultures and stocks of infectious agents from laboratory work, waste from surgery and autopsies on corpses with infectious diseases, waste from infected patients in isolation wards, waste that has been in contact with infected patients undergoing haemodialysis, infected animals from laboratories, sanitary waste materials and tissues including swabs and any other instruments or materials that have been in contact with infected persons or materials;“pathological waste” includes all human tissues, organs, body parts, foetuses, blood and bodily fluids and those also those of animals;“sharp waste” includes items that could cause cuts or puncture wounds and includes, but is not limited to, needles, hypodermic needles, scalpels and other blades, knives, infusion sets, saws, broken glass and nails, and the word “sharp” has a corresponding meaning;“pharmaceutical waste” includes expired, unused, spilt and contaminated pharmaceutical products, drugs, vaccines and sera that are no longer required and that need to be disposed of appropriately;“genotoxic waste” means highly hazardous waste that may have mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic properties and includes certain cytostatic drugs as well as vomit, urine or faeces from patients treated with cytostatic drugs, chemicals and radioactive material;“pressurized container waste” includes pressurized cylinders and cartridges used in health care facilities to store gases;“radioactive waste” includes solid, liquid and gaseous materials contaminated with radionuclides, including waste produced as a result of procedures such as in vitro analysis of body tissue and fluid, in vivo organ imaging and tumour localization and various investigative and therapeutic practices;“general waste” is a generic term for waste that, because of its composition and characteristics, does not pose a significant risk to public health or the environment if managed properly, and typically consists of plastics, paper, food and liquids not considered to be infectious or contaminated with hazardous chemicals or radioactivity;“health care risk waste” means that portion of health care waste that is hazardous and includes infectious waste, pathological waste, sharp waste, pharmaceutical waste, genotoxic waste, chemical waste, waste with heavy metals, radioactive waste, and any other health care waste which is defined as hazardous in terms of the waste Management Series: Document 1: Minimum Requirements/or the Handling, Classification and Disposal of Hazardous waste, as published by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry or any other applicable legislation;“holders of waste” means any person who imports, generates, stores, accumulates, transports, processes, treats, exports or disposes of waste and also includes recyclers and scrap dealers;“industrial waste” means waste that emanates from premises that are used wholly or mainly for industrial purposes and generate waste through manufacturing, industrial or fabricating processes including premises used for agricultural activities, mining activities or the operation of power stations;“integrated waste management plan” means an integrated waste management plan which is required by the City in terms of this By-law or that is required in terms of any other applicable legislation;“licenced waste disposal facility” means a site, or premises which is licenced by the Province of the Western Cape or the National Government and used for the accumulation or disposal of waste;“litter” means waste, excluding hazardous waste, arising from activities in public areas that has not been disposed of in a public litter container;“owner” includes the registered owner, lessee or occupier of a premises, or the person in charge or control of any premises or part thereof who is over 16 years of age, and any person who obtains a benefit from the premises or is entitled thereto;“person” includes any organ of state;“priority waste” means waste declared to be such by the Director in terms of this By-law or in terms of national or provincial legislation;“recyclable materials” means any material that can be converted into raw material that can be re-used to make new products or resources;“residential waste” means waste that emanates from premises used wholly or mainly for residential, educational, sport or recreational purposes and may include recyclable materials and non-recyclable material, but excludes hazardous waste;“Tariff Policy and Tariff By-Law” means the Tariff Policy and Tariff By-Law adopted by the Council of the City and published in the Provincial Gazette from time to time;“waste” means any substance, whether or not that substance can be reduced, re-used, recycled and recovered—(a)that is surplus, unwanted, rejected, discarded, abandoned or disposed of;(b)which the generator has no further use of for the purposes of production;(c)that must be treated or disposed of; or(d)that is identified as a waste by the national Minister by notice in the Gazette in terms of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008), and includes waste generated by the mining, medical or other sector, but—(i)a by-product is not considered waste; and(ii)any portion of waste, once re-used, recycled and recovered, ceases to be waste;[definition of “waste” substituted by section 1 of the Amendment By-law, 2010 (as corrected)]“waste generator” means a property owner, a household, organisation or business entity, the inhabitants, occupants or employees of which generate waste and includes sorters of waste such as recycling or waste minimisation groups, scrap dealers and buy-back centres;“waste management officer” means the Director: Solid Waste Management, or an officer referred to in section 25 of this By-law;“waste minimisation club” means a group of persons, typically residing in a high density residential or office building, or a multi-property cluster residential or business development, that have an agreement approved by the Director in terms of this By-law to minimise waste in exchange for a lower tariff according to an integrated waste management plan.“waste with heavy metals” includes mercury waste from thermometers, blood- pressure gauges, residues from dentistry, cadmium waste from discarded batteries, reinforced wood panels used in radiation proofing, and drugs containing arsenic;2. Application of this by-law
In the event of conflict between this By Law and any other by law of the City dealing with waste management this By Law must prevail.3. Categorisation of waste
4. Obligations of waste generators
5. Hazardous waste
6. Event waste
7. Priority waste
8. Emergencies requiring the management of waste
9. Establishment of formal waste minimisation clubs in communities or businesses
10. Integrated waste management plan
11. Exemptions from submitting an integrated waste management plan
12. Storage and transportation of waste
13. Recycling, re-use, sorting and recovery of waste
14. Prohibition of unauthorised disposal of waste
No person may—15. Littering and dumping
16. Licences
Any person who, or entity which, requires a license in terms of national, provincial or municipal legislation will have to prove on request, to the waste management officer that such person or entity has obtained the appropriate license within 30 days or such lesser period as specified by such officer.17. Waste management services, applications and registration for waste collection and removal services
18. Access to private property
19. Premises inaccessible for refuse collection
Should the City be impeded from handling or collecting refuse due to the layout of a person’s premises, and if this impediment imposes a danger to employees of the City, the Director may require the owner to do such alterations or additions to the premises as are necessary to remove such impediment at that persons cost.20. Compliance notices
21. Service of documents and process
Whenever any notice, order, demand or other document is authorised or required to be served on a person in terms of this By-law, it shall be deemed to have been effectively and sufficiently served on such a person—22. Failure to comply with the by-law and enforcement
23. Offences and penalties
24. Delegations by the waste management officer
The waste management officer shall be entitled to delegate to any other official of the City any of his or her powers or obligations in terms of this By-law.25. Functions and powers of waste management officer
The waste management officer shall be responsible for regulating, controlling, managing and enforcing the provisions of this By-Law and national and provincial legislation relating to waste management.26. Amendments to waste removal services
The City may amend any existing waste removal or cleansing services once a process of public notification, participation and comment has been completed and provided the amendment is practical, cost effective and has as its objective the prevention of the proliferation of waste, the minimisation of waste or the reduction of waste to be removed.27. Transitional provisions
Any approvals given in accordance with previous by-laws will be valid in respect of the premises for which they were granted and in respect of the person to whom they were granted, but cannot be transferred to any other person.28. Guidelines
The Council may make guidelines not inconsistent with other legislation generally for the better carrying out of the objects and purposes of this By-law.29. Repeal of by-laws
The By-laws in Schedule 1 hereto are hereby repealed.30. Interpretation
In the event of a conflict between English, Xhosa and Afrikaans versions of this By-law, the English version shall be decisive.31. Short title
This By-law is called City of Cape Town: Integrated Waste Management By-law, 2009.[section 31 substituted by section 4 of the Amendment By-law, 2010 (as corrected)]History of this document
30 June 2016
04 June 2010 this version
Amended by
Integrated Waste Management: Amendment
07 May 2010
Amended by
Integrated Waste Management: Amendment
21 August 2009
30 March 2009
Assented to