We have only one planet, and it is our duty to protect it at all costs by creating sustainable jobs and growth while protecting the environment, writes Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs
South Africa is geared to play an important role in assisting Africa to create a sustainable circular environment economy model. During a joint media briefing at the World Economic Forum in Durban, I and Daniel Calleja, director-general of the EU’s Directorate-General for Environment, outlined opportunities created by the circular economy model through several first-rate testimonials and technical interventions.
The circular economy seminar brought together a number of high-profile delegates and successful companies worldwide as well as start-ups, experts and policy-makers. The circular economy is an economic model that minimises resource input and waste generation. The value of the resources used in products is retained by returning them into the product cycle at the end of their use.
By doing so, the circular economy imitates nature, where nothing is wasted.
Opportunities for job creation exist in moving waste away from landfills towards alternative waste treatment across the entire waste hierarchy. This can be achieved through cleaner production, industrial efficiency, dismantling, refurbishment and re-use, as well as new methods of collection, sorting, reprocessing and manufacturing.
The circular economy is a trillion-dollar opportunity with huge potential for innovation, job creation and economic growth. The wealth to be found in waste could generate a host of jobs and viable enterprises, helping to counter any country’s unemployment rates, thus contributing to economic growth.
During the dialogue and the discussions between South Africa and the EU, we hope to continue with the work being done to align the global Sustainable Development Goals with the National Development Plan (NDP).
The South Africa-EU strategic dialogue covered crucial and important matters as varied as product design, waste management, symbiotic technologies, remanufacturing.
The circular economy model creates enormous opportunities for sustainable and inclusive growth as well as new jobs. We underlined the importance of the model for transitioning to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
The minister further emphasised implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 goals, as well as the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The circular economy package provides the opportunity to develop, re-use activities and create jobs locally.
Calleja pointed out how the EU is rapidly pursuing the transition to a circular economy as a priority, adding that it is undertaking in-depth reforms to enable Europe’s economy to transition towards ambitious sustainability objectives while strengthening the competitiveness of our companies and maintaining a healthy environment for our citizens.
We need to forge alliances between like-minded partners, such as the EU and South Africa, not only at government level but also through innovative business and research partnerships.
The seminar follows the signing on September 23, 2016 of the new terms of reference for the Forum on Environment, Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Water between the European Commission and both the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Water and Sanitation of South Africa. The forum met in Pretoria on the May 3, 2017, where the circular economy was also discussed among other issues of mutual interest.
As a sustainable-development model, the idea behind the circular economy will keep resources at their highest possible level of value at all times, thus eliminating the very idea of waste, and leaving “enough for all forever”.
Waste in the context of a circular economy is broader than physical rubbish. It also refers to product end-of-life and the enormous under-utilisation of products and assets in markets. For example, a discarded product that is not recycled is a waste, but so is ending the working life of a product prematurely or letting it sit idle. A typical car, for example, is used only 5% to 10% of the time, and as much as 80% of the items stored in a typical home are used only once a month.
With the right business model, products could remain in the economy much longer, and consumption rates of everything from cars to consumer goods could increase tenfold by utilising innovative sharing models. Most notably, the circular economy encourages companies to think about how goods can be designed, produced and marketed with re-use in mind.
A key challenge for the global economy is to decouple economic growth from resource constraints. If nothing is done to address the situation, demand for constrained resource stocks such as biomass, fossil energy and many metals is expected to reach 130 billion tons by 2050.
Even with an optimistic forecast for technological innovation, the economy is unlikely to be able to produce more than 80 billion tons, leaving a shortfall of around 40 billion tons by 2050. Such shortages will expose countries and companies to significant risks. That’s where the circular economy comes into play.
By prioritising its implementation in line with the 2030 Development Agenda, the government is contributing significantly to unlocking much of the value to be found in waste products. By focusing on the development of the waste economy, many more jobs can be created in the formal and informal sectors through a process led by the Department of Environmental Affairs called Working on Waste.
While implementation of the circular economy is new in South Africa, the country’s tyre industry serves as an important case study of how it can successfully turn “waste into worth”.
As a result, in the past few years it has succeeded in generating new jobs, establishing a number of viable small businesses, and recycling a growing percentage of South Africa’s waste tyres.
The Tyre Plan makes the entire operation possible by managing the operations of, and revenue in, the sector.
It also helps what is referred to as waste pickers organise themselves into co-operatives, generates jobs for waste transporters, sets up the necessary storage depots as new small businesses, and provides financial and other aid to many of the recycling plants needed to repurpose the spent tyres.
Emphasis was also made on moving waste away from landfills, which provides considerable social, economic and environmental opportunities for a country, including job creation and enterprise development.
In South Africa and other developing countries, where unemployment is high, this will not only provide access to valuable resources through the development of the circular economy, but will also provide benefits while reducing the environmental and social impacts of waste, including greenhouse gas emissions.
The government has identified a host of sectors where wealth could be extracted from the so-called dead capital of waste products. One of these is plastics.
We, as the South African government, are working hard to amend the waste legislation to allow for independent operators to run clean-up and processing operations in the various waste management sectors. Wherever this is economically feasible, more than one operator should work in each sector, to encourage more participation and promote efficiency.
The South African waste sector employed 30 000 people in 2012, of which 20 092 are in the public sector – mostly in local and metropolitan municipalities – and 9 741 worked in the private sector.
Another important factor is the inclusion of the youth. Youth unemployment in South Africa is worse than that experienced in many other emerging markets. Overcoming this problem and opening up opportunities for young people is vital to social and economic stability. This is recognised in the NDP, published in 2012.
The public sector could absorb an additional 5 000 employees – mostly young people – if current vacant positions in municipalities were filled.
However, if South Africa is to achieve this, the government must look towards the private waste sector for growth and employment opportunities in the present economic climate.
Opportunities for job creation exist in moving waste away from landfills towards alternative waste treatment across the entire waste hierarchy. This can be achieved through cleaner production, industrial efficiency, dismantling, refurbishment and re-use, as well as new methods of collection, sorting and reprocessing.
The dialogue is in line with the South Africa-EU Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement and the Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan. I am hopeful that this dialogue will enhance political co-operation on regional, African and global issues.
Molewa is Minister of Environmental Affairs and the first female chancellor of the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (formerly known as the Medical University of South Africa, or Medunsa)