The constitutional democracy in South Africa, ushered in by the first democratic elections of 1994, has opened up opportunities for the rise of various issues that were previously marginalised. The current political dispensation, supported by new progressive legislation, has rendered reckless management of waste management unacceptable. As a result, the management of waste, particularly the dominant landfill site waste management facilities, has come under increasing scrutiny from civil society organisations, the public and affected communities. Whilst the new constitutional order has demarcated responsibility for the management of solid waste, reality indicates that in spite of various legislative attempts to ensure the institutionalisation of sound and integrated waste management, solid waste is still poorly managed by responsible authorities. It has also been evident that many municipalities in South Africa still rely on the problematic landfill sites as the dominant waste disposal facility, this despite the obvious environmental problems that land filling engenders. It has been noted that waste problems are still marginalised from the mainstream development initiatives of responsible municipalities. The poor management of solid waste and the negation of responsibility, as in the case in the Msunduzi Municipality, are indicative of the politics involved in the identification of policy issues that government attends to from the available pool of existing social concerns. The failure to find policy solutions to identified waste problems in the Msunduzi Municipality has provoked questions around how policy issues negotiate their way onto the government agenda. The biggest issue from a public policy perspective is how does government decide on which issues they will address amongst the numerous and equally pressing social problems that warrant government attention. Using Kingdon‟s agenda-setting theory, this dissertation found that problem definition, policy dynamics and political interests all play influential roles in the agenda status of social problems and whether they are addressed or not. As a result, the study argues that there must be positive interaction between the three, problem, policy and political streams, in order to produce a solution to the policy issues of waste management in the Msunduzi Municipality. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The constitutional democracy in South Africa, ushered in by the first democratic elections of 1994, has opened up opportunities for the rise of various issues that were previously marginalised. The current political dispensation, supported by new progressive legislation, has rendered reckless management of waste management unacceptable. As a result, the management of waste, particularly the dominant landfill site waste management facilities, has come under increasing scrutiny from civil society organisations, the public and affected communities. Whilst the new constitutional order has demarcated responsibility for the management of solid waste, reality indicates that in spite of various legislative attempts to ensure the institutionalisation of sound and integrated waste management, solid waste is still poorly managed by responsible authorities. It has also been evident that many municipalities in South Africa still rely on the problematic landfill sites as the dominant waste disposal facility, this despite the obvious environmental problems that land filling engenders. It has been noted that waste problems are still marginalised from the mainstream development initiatives of responsible municipalities. The poor management of solid waste and the negation of responsibility, as in the case in the Msunduzi Municipality, are indicative of the politics involved in the identification of policy issues that government attends to from the available pool of existing social concerns. The failure to find policy solutions to identified waste problems in the Msunduzi Municipality has provoked questions around how policy issues negotiate their way onto the government agenda. The biggest issue from a public policy perspective is how does government decide on which issues they will address amongst the numerous and equally pressing social problems that warrant government attention. Using Kingdon‟s agenda-setting theory, this dissertation found that problem definition, policy dynamics and political interests all play influential roles in the agenda status of social problems and whether they are addressed or not. As a result, the study argues that there must be positive interaction between the three, problem, policy and political streams, in order to produce a solution to the policy issues of waste management in the Msunduzi Municipality. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1992. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2938. Abstract precedes thesis as 3 preliminary leaves. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-100).

No description available.

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Biotechnology, Technikon Natal, 2001. / Landfills play an important role in the removal of waste from the surroundings. There is a limit to the types of waste that can be recycled and the landfill becomes the final method of waste disposal. Because waste constitutes a wide variety of materials, the microbial consortia that develop within a landfill will be equally varied, depending on the type of waste deposited, the temperature of the landfill and moisture content of the waste. The metabolism of these microbial consortia can result in products that are either harmful or beneficial. In order to increase the pool of knowledge on landfill microbiology, it is important to study the various consortia that inhabit the landfill to determine the various microbial interactions that occur and subsequently to manipulate these interactions to enhance the benefits of a landfill site and reduce the harmful effects. In this research, an attempt was made to isolate anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria from a landfill site. Six waste samples, varying in age were obtained over a period of two years. Samples were excavated from a maximum depth of 4m. Samples are processed in anaerobic, phosphate buffer and cultivated in various pre-reduced anaerobic media and incubated under anaerobic conditions. Samples were also collected from other potential anaerobic sites namely, anaerobic sludge, decomposing bagasse, compost, manure, rumen and pond sediment. Results of degradation of the cellulose source (Whatman No. 1 filter paper) indicated that it was possible to cultivate cellulose-degrading microorganisms from the landfill. Zones of clearing around colonies, which would be indicative of cellulose degradation on solid media, were not obtained. Samples from the anaerobic sludge, compost and rumen showed degradation of cellulose in liquid media but not on solid media. It is concluded that the solid media used was unsuitable for the cultivation of anaerobic, cellulolytic bacteria or that the anaerobic conditions employed were not adequate to initiate the growth of the anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria. / M

A final research report submitted in fulfilment of part of the requirements for the degree of MSc Project management in construction in the school of construction economics and management, University of Witwatersrand / Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste generation is a universal problem and available landfill space is reducing as landfills reach capacity. Despite the huge effect of construction and demolition waste on the environment, there has been very little research on legislation around waste, and it is therefore increasingly important that compliance with legislation pertaining to management and disposal of construction and demolition waste be assessed. This study explored departmental awareness of the Waste Act in the City of Johannesburg municipality and also in the utility Pikitup, and assessed how the Act has been able to reduce waste. Qualitative data collection techniques in the form of unstructured interviews were used to interview 4 persons in the City of Johannesburg legal department, and 3 persons in the Pikitup department. The challenges and barriers the municipality faces due to the ineffectiveness of the relevant legislation were assessed to gain insight into difficulties with compliance. In addition, the study evaluated the effectiveness of the enforcement strategies that have been used. The results revealed that there is little or no awareness of the legislation so it is difficult for construction site workers to apply it effectively in their waste management activities. In addition, the results exposed a need for a review of the Waste Act as it applies to smaller construction firms and also renovation works, since it was found that it is impracticable for smaller companies to comply effectively with the legislation. All in all, this research sheds more light on the legislation and its purpose, and also on the reasons why it has been quite difficult to achieve compliance with this legislation in the construction and demolition sector. The research will enable useful recommendations for the municipality and also potentially raise awareness of the importance of legislation within the construction community. Key words: Construction waste, Creation, Disposal, Legislation, Management, / GR2017

Habilitationschrift--Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-381).

Waste is commonly disposed in landfills, this result in the formation of leachate which needs to be treated to acceptable standards before being discharged to the environment. High concentrations of pollutants, particularly ammonia, in the landfill leachate are persistent even after the closure of the landfill and it requires ad hoc treatment. Treated leachate can still be characterized by high concentrations of nitrates, which exceeds the discharge standards. This phenomenon is observed in the Mariannhill landfill site in Durban, where leachate is nitrified in a Sequencing batch reactor and produces effluent with over 1000 mg/l (Trois et al, 2010a). Denitrification can be used to remove nitrate concentrations, this process occurs under anoxic conditions in the presence of an external carbon source. Denitrification treatment methods utilize chemicals such as methanol and ethanol as carbon sources, but the large scale application of these chemicals is often uneconomical. This research aims at identifying the cost effective treatment system for bio-denitrification that utilizes commercial garden refuse (CGR raw and lightly composted for 10 weeks “CGR 10”) as carbon sources. The feasibility checks for applying these substrates were based on the efficiency and kinetics of nitrate removal over a short and long-term period, thus providing the estimates for operational procedures. Initial characterization tests, batch and column tests were performed in the lab towards achieving the aim of this research. All batch tests achieved 100% of nitrate removal, but CGR raw was faster than CGR 10 with a time difference of 16% and 20% for batches at 100 and 500 mg/L, respectively. The significant difference in the kinetic removal efficiency was observed in batch tests at 2000 mg/L, where CGR raw was about 18 times faster than CGR 10 and about 2 times faster than that of CGR raw at 500 mg/L. Thus, the kinetics of nitrate removal in CGR raw at 2000 mg/L was suspected to be due to chemical reaction other than biological reaction. In the second set of batch tests the kinetics of nitrate removal for CGR raw was about 3 times that of CGR 10. The column tests, which were operated as continuous flow reactor did not achieve full denitrification due to high flow rate applied. First set of column tests (columns A) used previously used substrates to treat synthetic nitrate solution (500 and 2000 mg/L). Second set of column tests (columns B) used fresh substrates to treat pre-treated landfill leachate with nitrate concentration of about 2000 mg/L. CGR 10 achieved better removal efficiency than CGR raw when treating synthetic solution. Whereas, CGR raw achieved better nitrate removal when treating pre-treated landfill leachate. Decrease in flow rate improved the removal efficiency of the substrates. Dilution of nitrified leachate to about 500 mg/L could improve the efficiency of the substrates. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82-87).