Waste management is a global concern and landfill sites are facing a crisis of handling capacity. This is worsened by the fact that many consider landfilling as an environmentally responsible and cost-effective solution to waste disposal. Carnival City generates vast quantities of solid waste on a daily basis and most of it ends at the landfill, which it acknowledges that it’s a wastage of recoverable resources, hence its commitment of “zero-waste-to-landfills by 2022”. This study evaluated solid waste management practices at Carnival City Casino in Brakpan. Informed by an interpretive paradigm, qualitative methods including interviews, observations, photographs and document reviews were used to collect data. Based on abductive reasoning, the waste management hierarchy and the ISO 14001 standard were used as frameworks for recontextualising and presenting the collected data. The waste hierarchy sets out the preferred order of waste management practices, from the most favoured to the least preferred option. The effectiveness of current waste management practices is limited as Carnival City heavily depends on landfilling and implement waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and recovery on a small scale. Absence of a waste separation at source policy limits recycling activities significantly. The researcher noted the presence of some areas of conformity to South African legislation pertaining to waste management, international standards and Carnival City’s standard operating procedures, and some areas of good practice. The study showed that there is room for improving concerning Carnival City’s current waste management practices. It recommends that waste management training and awareness be undertaken on a continuous basis to improve current practices and ensure that more waste is diverted from landfill sites. Investment into waste to energy technologies should be considered to help Carnival City to meet Sun International’s commitment of “zero-waste-to-landfills by 2022”. Recycling must be maximised and its environmental and financial benefits be highlighted. The research recommends developing of a separation at source policy and its enforcement by the Environmental Committee as the absence of the documented procedures results in deviations from environmental objectives. Offenders who do not follow procedures should be duly punished. It also recommends that a disciplinary action and a fine be introduced for kitchens that will deviate from the policy. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

Thesis (M. Com. (Accounting)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / South Africa has seen an increase in population over the years and that has resulted in the increase in waste which has created problems in waste collection. Waste management service delivery has become one of the essential services provided by local municipalities. It is essential for local municipalities to effectively provide waste management services to the public. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of the waste management budget on waste management service delivery. A quantitative research approach is used in the study and secondary data was sourced from local municipalities' websites for 12 years, that is, the reporting period from 2010 - 2021. The study tests the correlation between waste capital expenditure, waste operating expenditure, waste collection revenue, Budget performance and municipal waste management service delivery in selected municipalities in South Africa. Using the Generalised Method of Moment (GMM) the results indicated that there is a significant correlation between municipal waste management service delivery and waste capital expenditure, waste operating expenditure, waste collection revenue and budget performance. The study suggests that local municipalities should increase their municipal waste budget to improve the quality of waste management service delivery.

The purpose of this study was to observe high school students as they progressed through a Science-Technology-Society (STS) project that involved the closing of a landfill. In this STS project, students investigated the best vegetation for reseeding a closed landfill. This project was initiated because a highway was to be built across the landfill to Explore Park. The director of Explore Park requested an experimental vegetation instead of the standard vegetation mixture. He wanted a vegetation that was aesthetically pleasing and environmentally acceptable. The study investigated the involvement of students in the construction of knowledge of local environmental issues. Students shared their perceptions about the STS process through interviews, journal entries, a questionnaire, field notes, and written artifacts. All data were transcribed and coded for themes. Ethnographic methods were used to tell this story in twelve vignettes. The results of this study are important because they show how educators can use local issues to build classroom curriculum. Students became actively involved in the learning process as they advanced through identified STS instructional goals. The first goal was the Foundations Level. Basic content associated with landfill management and revegetation issues were introduced. Facts about garbage and the need for reducing, reusing, and recycling were investigated. The second goal was the Issue Awareness Level. This goal included becoming involved, identifying the players, and investigating values and beliefs. The third goal was the Investigation and Evaluation Level. Students were exposed to concepts and strategies necessary to investigate and analyze the issues and evaluate alternative solutions. This level encompassed designing plant experiments. The fourth goal was the Citizenship Responsibility Level. Students were introduced to strategies necessary for making responsible decisions concerning solutions to the issues. The conclusions of this study suggest that for many students, the teaching of science through local technological and societal issues allowed them to become actively engaged in the learning process. Students who took ownership of their investigations created opportunities to enhance self-esteem, made connections, and enhanced their knowledge of scientific investigations and scientific content in the context of real life issues. / Ph. D.

Sustainable development and the Triple Bottom Line integrated sustainability concept focus on the choices between the imperatives of economic efficiency, social development and environmental sustainability. Corporate governance is being imposed by stakeholders and corporate social responsibility is indicated as being the most important socio-environmental demand being made on contemporary leaders. The influence of idealism and realism on, and the reasons for failure of, solid waste reduction projects in terms of sustainability is the foundation of the theories postulated in this research. It is the objective of this research to identify the motivational factors, with special reference to developing countries, of social capital, including management processes leadership and people management, that will augment solid waste reduction projects that are lethargic at starting, or deteriorating, to achieve sustainability. The methodology is to review the literature available to identify the augmenting (motivational) factors, and use analytical philosophical and empirical research to test formulated constructs using hypotheses. The criterion for the research sample is to obtain the opinions of environmental specialists in South Africa using a questionnaire. The technique employed is multivariate data analysis to identify the type of interdependent relationships, including cluster and multidimensional scaling analyses. Hypothesis testing, in this research, leads to the conclusion that additional motivational factors are needed to support the economic imperatives to make the process sustainable. `Reality' is statistically significantly different to `idealistic'. The inference is that for solid waste reduction projects to succeed leaders from government and the private sector are required, through the use of legislation and taking into consideration the value of waste, to instil economic incentives. According to this research, personal values and belief systems have little to contribute to the process of sustainability. The outcome of this research provides a strategy-benchmarking-model that leaders can use to target and prioritise their efforts in respect of achieving success with waste projects. The contribution it makes to the knowledge base of the subject and responsible leadership is contained in its summation of the augmenting factors required, their relative importance, and the lessening of the complexity of approach to these projects. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D.B.L.

Sustainable development and the Triple Bottom Line integrated sustainability concept focus on the choices between the imperatives of economic efficiency, social development and environmental sustainability. Corporate governance is being imposed by stakeholders and corporate social responsibility is indicated as being the most important socio-environmental demand being made on contemporary leaders. The influence of idealism and realism on, and the reasons for failure of, solid waste reduction projects in terms of sustainability is the foundation of the theories postulated in this research. It is the objective of this research to identify the motivational factors, with special reference to developing countries, of social capital, including management processes leadership and people management, that will augment solid waste reduction projects that are lethargic at starting, or deteriorating, to achieve sustainability. The methodology is to review the literature available to identify the augmenting (motivational) factors, and use analytical philosophical and empirical research to test formulated constructs using hypotheses. The criterion for the research sample is to obtain the opinions of environmental specialists in South Africa using a questionnaire. The technique employed is multivariate data analysis to identify the type of interdependent relationships, including cluster and multidimensional scaling analyses. Hypothesis testing, in this research, leads to the conclusion that additional motivational factors are needed to support the economic imperatives to make the process sustainable. `Reality' is statistically significantly different to `idealistic'. The inference is that for solid waste reduction projects to succeed leaders from government and the private sector are required, through the use of legislation and taking into consideration the value of waste, to instil economic incentives. According to this research, personal values and belief systems have little to contribute to the process of sustainability. The outcome of this research provides a strategy-benchmarking-model that leaders can use to target and prioritise their efforts in respect of achieving success with waste projects. The contribution it makes to the knowledge base of the subject and responsible leadership is contained in its summation of the augmenting factors required, their relative importance, and the lessening of the complexity of approach to these projects. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D.B.L.

Integrated management of municipal and hazardous waste is one of the challenges facing the new municipalities in South Africa, especially those located in previously disadvantaged rural areas. However, much of the research on solid and hazardous waste management in South Africa has examined waste management problematics in urban areas, the majority of which are located within the jurisdiction of local governments which are comparatively effective in terms of providing adequate disposal services. By contrast, this study has examined the environmental risk assessment associated with unregulated landfill sites in the Albert Luthuli municipality, in the Mpumalanga province. The determination of the environmental risk was achieved by the use of questionnaire surveys and landfill analysis forms in selected study areas. The findings have highlighted a very high environmental risk, nearly four times and above, the threshold limits set by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT, 2005:15) for all of the landfill sites examined. Several exposure pathways stemming from associated environmental impacts have also been identified for the study. The higher environmental risk determined for the problem sites is ascribed to numerous factors, including their ill-planned location, the sensitivity and vulnerability of the natural environment and adjacent rural settlements, the lack of appropriate waste pre-treatment processes prior to disposal, and most significantly, the lack of regulatory and control measures to contain the myriad of environmental problems generated. In conclusion, it is recommended that several measures (including closure) should be taken in order to reduce and contain the magnitude of environmental risks involved. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc.(Environmental Sciences)

Integrated management of municipal and hazardous waste is one of the challenges facing the new municipalities in South Africa, especially those located in previously disadvantaged rural areas. However, much of the research on solid and hazardous waste management in South Africa has examined waste management problematics in urban areas, the majority of which are located within the jurisdiction of local governments which are comparatively effective in terms of providing adequate disposal services. By contrast, this study has examined the environmental risk assessment associated with unregulated landfill sites in the Albert Luthuli municipality, in the Mpumalanga province. The determination of the environmental risk was achieved by the use of questionnaire surveys and landfill analysis forms in selected study areas. The findings have highlighted a very high environmental risk, nearly four times and above, the threshold limits set by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT, 2005:15) for all of the landfill sites examined. Several exposure pathways stemming from associated environmental impacts have also been identified for the study. The higher environmental risk determined for the problem sites is ascribed to numerous factors, including their ill-planned location, the sensitivity and vulnerability of the natural environment and adjacent rural settlements, the lack of appropriate waste pre-treatment processes prior to disposal, and most significantly, the lack of regulatory and control measures to contain the myriad of environmental problems generated. In conclusion, it is recommended that several measures (including closure) should be taken in order to reduce and contain the magnitude of environmental risks involved. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc.(Environmental Sciences)

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing household awareness and participation in domestic waste disposal and recycling, focusing on environmental educational (EE), wealth and location of suburb. The study was carried out in four suburbs in the Tshwane Metropolitan Area (TMA), namely Waterkloof, Lynnwood, Sunnyside and Mamelodi. A literature review was conducted, covering concepts of domestic waste management - waste prevention, collection, recycling and reuse, followed by household analysis using empirical data. The analysis shows that there is a low level of household awareness about the environmental implications of domestic waste management in TMA, and hence low level of participation in domestic waste sorting, disposal and recycling. Among relevant factors are the level of EE and income of the households across all suburbs. This calls attention to the need for strengthening EE not only in schools, but also in suburbs using both formal and informal outreach programmes. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Environmental Education)

The Clean Community System (CCS) is a method of waste management education widely used in the USA by the Keep America Beautiful organization. The CCS has been applied by the eThekwini Municipality since 1981. The training of staff and volunteers in the CCS has to date been limited and based on the American model. The aim of this study is to provide guidelines for the training of participants in the Clean Community System in the South African context. This will be achieved by a study of two community groups that have successfully applied the CCS. The results of the research will be compared with the principles of the CCS and relevant literature. The conclusions drawn from the study will provide guidelines for the training of participants in the CCS. / Further Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Didactics)

Waste minimisation is implemented worldwide and has become an urgent priority in South Africa as evidenced in the promulgated National Environmental Management Waste Act (2008). The most common waste disposal method in South Africa is by landfill, which is unacceptable. Local municipalities have made little progress towards waste minimisation. The aim of this study was to present a solution to waste minimisation for the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM) by determining the feasibility of establishing composting facilities on landfill sites. One third of all municipal waste consists of green waste, which is compostable and can be converted on landfill sites. Nine municipal landfill sites were screened. The four most feasible sites were evaluated further by applying identified parameters that address physical, social and operational requirements. It is a possible to establish composting facilities on all four sites investigated, with Hatherley ranking as the most suited. The findings of this study clearly provided the basic parameters and requirements for constructing a composting facility and practical procedures applicable within a South African context. The evaluation method used can be applied as a model to evaluate similar studies in other municipalities to aid them in the decision-making process for waste minimisation. / Environmental Management / M.A. (Environmental Management)